IRELAND'S POPULATION.

Shannon News, 2 November 1926, Page 3

IRELAND'S POPULATION.

DROPS TO 2,972,802. Much disappointment has been expressed in Dublin at the preliminary report of the census, which shows a decline. The returns for Northern Ireland had shown a slight increase, hut the Saorstat (Free State) population shows a slump of 166,886, or 5.3 per cent. The population is now 2,972,802. . The Free State has 973 women to every .1000 men. This is accounted for by the greater proportional increase of women emigrants, especially to the United States. The statistical officer accounts partly for decreased population by i noting that the withdrawal of the British Army and its dependents diI minished the population by about i 34.000 and that 27,405 Irish soldiers were killed in the European war The Free State birth rate is comparatively i low, .being 31.1 P.er thousand followI ing a low marriage rate. The death ! rate is 16 per thousand and the emi- ! gration rate 8.8 per thousand. Of persons born in Ireland, l,Bif. • 457 are Hying out of the country, an ! equivalent of 43 per cent of the present population. Norway is said to be ) next in this respect, but its propor- ! tion is only 14.8 per cent, i A feature of the returns is th» steady flow of the rural population to the towns, though the Free State ' lives by agriculture and has few ' urban industries. Dublin City has inj creased its population by 21,000 to 419,115, including suburbs.