Demography of Northern Ireland

Map of population density in Northern Ireland according to the 2011 census

Northern Ireland is the smallest of the four countries of the United Kingdom in terms of both area and population, containing 2.9% of the total population and 5.7% of the total area of the United Kingdom. It is the smaller of the two political entities on the island of Ireland by area and population, the other being the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign state independent of the United Kingdom since 1922. Northern Ireland contains 28.3% of the total population and 16.5% of the total area of the island of Ireland.

Northern Ireland, as recorded by the UK Census 2011, has a population of 1,810,863, an increase of 125,800 (7.5%) over the ten-year period since the last census.^[1] The population density is 133 people per km², about half that of the United Kingdom as a whole but about twice that of the Republic.^[2] The Belfast Metropolitan Area dominates in population terms, with over a third of the inhabitants of Northern Ireland.

Like Britain (but unlike the Republic of Ireland), Northern Ireland has a large proportion of Protestants and its people speak dialects of English heavily influenced by the Scots language, largely because of settlements of Protestants in Ulster in the 17th century, such as the Plantation of Ulster. Also unlike the Republic, a large proportion of people in Northern Ireland have a British national identity. Many people in Northern Ireland have a Northern Irish identity, whether in addition to a British or Irish identity or by itself.

Historic population trends

Population census
Year	Pop.	±%
1841	1,648,945	—
1851	1,442,517	−12.5%
1861	1,396,453	−3.2%
1871	1,359,190	−2.7%
1881	1,304,816	−4.0%
1891	1,236,056	−5.3%
1901	1,236,952	+0.1%
1911	1,250,531	+1.1%
1926	1,256,561	+0.5%
1951	1,370,921	+9.1%
1961	1,425,042	+3.9%
1971	1,536,065	+7.8%
1981	1,543,000	+0.5%
1991	1,607,300	+4.2%
2001	1,685,267	+4.9%
2011	1,810,863	+7.5%
2016	1,860,122	+2.7%
Note: 1981, 1991 and 2016 data based on estimates[3] Source: [4]

Place of birth

Map showing the percentage of the population born outside Northern Ireland according to the 2011 census.

In 2001, 91.0% of the population were born in Northern Ireland, 7.2% were born in other parts of the UK and Ireland, and 1.8% were born elsewhere. By 2011, the number of immigrants from outside the UK and Ireland had risen to 4.3%, while the number born within them fell to 6.7%. The highest number of non-British/non-Irish immigrants are in Belfast, followed by Craigavon Urban Area and Dungannon. Dungannon has a bigger share of immigrants than any town in Northern Ireland, while Strabane has the smallest share of these immigrants.^[5]

Place of Birth	2001 population[6]	2001%	2011 population[7]	2011%
Northern Ireland:	1,534,268	91.04	1,608,853	88.84
England:	61,609	3.66	64,717	3.57
Scotland:	16,772	1.00	15,455	0.85
Wales:	3,008	0.18	2,552	0.14
Republic of Ireland:	39,051	2.32	37,833	2.09
Member States of the EU:	10,355	0.61
Member States of the EU joined prior to 2004			9,703	0.54
Member States of the EU joined after 2004			35,704	1.97
Other Outside the EU:	20,204	1.20	36,046	1.99
Total	1,685,267	100.00	1,810,863	100.00

Age bands broken down by place of birth in the 2011 census.^[8]

Place of birth	All ages	0 to 15	16 to 34	35 to 64	65 and over
Northern Ireland	88.8%	93.7%	86.3%	87.4%	90.2%
England	3.6%	2.0%	3.4%	4.7%	3.1%
Scotland	0.9%	0.4%	0.7%	1.1%	1.1%
Wales	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.2%	0.2%
Republic of Ireland	2.1%	0.6%	1.6%	2.4%	4.3%
Other EU: Member countries prior to 2004 expansion	0.5%	0.3%	0.8%	0.6%	0.2%
Other EU: Accession countries 2004 onwards	2.0%	1.5%	4.3%	1.4%	0.1%
Other	2.0%	1.4%	2.7%	2.3%	0.8%

Ethnicity

The following table shows the ethnic group of respondents in the 2001 and 2011 censuses.

Map showing the percentage of the population who are not white according to the 2011 census.

Ethnic group	2001 population[9]	2001%	2011 population[10]	2011%
White:	1,670,988	99.15	1,778,449	98.21
White: Irish Traveller/White Gypsy	1,710	0.10	1,301	0.07
White: Total	1,672,698	99.25	1,779,750	98.28
Asian or Asian British: Indian	1,567	0.09	6,198	0.34
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani	668	0.04	1,091	0.06
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi	252	0.01	540	0.03
Asian or Asian British: Chinese	4,145	0.25	6,303	0.35
Asian or Asian British: Asian Other	194	0.01	4,998	0.28
Asian or Asian British: Total	6,824	0.40	19,130	1.06
Black or Black British: Caribbean	255	0.02	372	0.02
Black or Black British: African	494	0.03	2,345	0.13
Black or Black British: Other	387	0.02	899	0.05
Black or Black British: Total	1,136	0.07	3,616	0.20
Mixed: Total	3,319	0.20	6,014	0.33
Other: Any other ethnic group:Total	1,290	0.08	2,353	0.13
Total	1,685,267	100	1,810,863	100

See also Ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland

Languages spoken

English is by far the most commonly spoken language in Northern Ireland. Two regional languages of Northern Ireland, Irish and Ulster Scots, are protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Several other languages are spoken by immigrants to Northern Ireland, the most common of which is Polish.

Foreign languages. Map showing the percentage of people whose main language was other than English or Irish (Gaelic) in the 2011 census. Those stating Ulster Scots as their main language were negligible in number and not analysed geographically by NISRA.

Main language of all usual residents aged 3 and over in the 2011 Census^[11]

Main Language	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion
English	1,681,171	96.86%
Polish	17,731	1.02%
Lithuanian	6,250	0.36%
Irish (Gaelic)	4,164	0.24%
Portuguese	2,293	0.13%
Slovak	2,257	0.13%
Chinese	2,214	0.13%
Tagalog/Filipino	1,895	0.11%
Latvian	1,273	0.07%
Russian	1,191	0.07%
Malayalam	1,174	0.07%
Hungarian	1,008	0.06%
Other	13,090	0.75%

Percentage of people aged 3+ claiming to have some ability in Irish in the 2011 census

Ability in Irish of all usual residents aged 3 and over in the Census^[12][13]

Ability in Irish	2001		2011
	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion
Can understand	133,352	8.2%	161,662	9.3%
Can speak	115,731	7.2%	104,943	6.0%
Can read	102,784	6.4%	87,871	5.1%
Can write	90,879	5.6%	76,647	4.4%
Has some ability	167,490	10.4%	184,898	10.7%
Can understand, speak, read and write	75,125	4.6%	64,847	3.7%

Percentage of people aged 3+ claiming to have some ability in Ulster Scots in the 2011 census

Ability in Ulster Scots of all usual residents aged 3 and over in the Census^[14]

Ability in Ulster Scots	2011
	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion
Can understand	134,157	7.7%
Can speak	35,404	2.0%
Can read	37,501	2.2%
Can write	18,187	1.0%
Has some ability	140,204	8.1%
Can understand, speak, read and write	16,373	0.9%

Religion

See also Religion in Northern Ireland and List of districts in Northern Ireland by religion or religion brought up in

Map of religion or religion brought up in from the 2011 census in Northern Ireland. Stronger blue indicates a higher proportion of Catholics. Stronger red indicates a higher proportion of Protestants.

The following table shows the religion stated by respondents to the 2001 and 2011 censuses.

Religion stated	2001[15]		2011[16]
	Number	%	Number	%
Roman Catholic	678,462	40.2	738,033	40.8
Presbyterian Church in Ireland	348,742	20.7	345,101	19.1
Church of Ireland	257,788	15.3	248,821	13.7
Methodist Church in Ireland	59,173	3.5	54,253	3.0
Other Christian	102,221	6.1	104,380	5.8
(Total non-Roman Catholic Christian)	767,924	45.6	752,555	41.6
(Total Christian)	1,446,386	85.8	1,490,588	82.3
Other religion	5,028	0.3	14,859	0.8
No religion			183,164	10.1
Religion not stated			122,252	6.8
(No religion and Religion not stated)	233,853	13.9	305,416	16.9
Total population	1,685,267	100.0	1,810,863	100.0

The religious affiliations in the districts of Northern Ireland at the time of the 2011 census were as follows. Note that these boundaries changed in 2015.

Districts of Northern Ireland by predominant religion as they were at the time of the 2011 census. Blue is Catholic and red is Protestant.

District	2001[17]			2011[18]
	Catholic	Protestant and other Christian	Other	Catholic	Protestant and other Christian	Other
Antrim	35.2%	47.2%	17.6%	37.5%	43.2%	19.2%
Ards	10.4%	68.7%	20.9%	10.9%	65.4%	23.6%
Armagh	45.4%	45.5%	9.1%	44.8%	43.0%	12.2%
Ballymena	19.0%	67.8%	13.3%	20.4%	63.3%	16.3%
Ballymoney	29.5%	59.1%	11.3%	29.6%	56.7%	13.6%
Banbridge	28.6%	58.7%	12.7%	29.4%	55.3%	15.3%
Belfast	42.1%	40.3%	17.5%	41.9%	34.1%	24.0%
Carrickfergus	6.5%	70.4%	23.1%	7.6%	67.2%	25.2%
Castlereagh	15.8%	64.9%	19.3%	19.5%	57.3%	23.2%
Coleraine	24.1%	60.5%	15.4%	25.0%	56.8%	18.2%
Cookstown	55.2%	38.0%	6.8%	55.1%	34.0%	11.0%
Craigavon	41.7%	46.7%	11.6%	42.1%	42.1%	15.8%
Derry	70.9%	20.8%	8.4%	67.4%	19.4%	13.1%
Down	57.1%	29.2%	13.7%	57.5%	27.1%	15.4%
Dungannon	57.3%	34.9%	7.7%	58.7%	29.8%	11.5%
Fermanagh	55.5%	36.1%	8.4%	54.9%	34.3%	10.8%
Larne	22.2%	61.9%	15.9%	21.8%	59.7%	18.5%
Limavady	53.1%	36.1%	10.7%	56.0%	34.3%	9.7%
Lisburn	30.1%	53.6%	16.4%	32.8%	47.9%	19.3%
Magherafelt	61.5%	32.0%	6.5%	62.4%	28.3%	9.3%
Moyle	56.6%	33.8%	9.6%	54.4%	32.3%	13.3%
Newry and Mourne	75.9%	16.4%	7.7%	72.1%	15.2%	12.7%
Newtownabbey	17.1%	64.5%	18.4%	19.9%	57.8%	22.3%
North Down	10.0%	64.5%	25.5%	11.2%	60.3%	28.5%
Omagh	65.1%	26.3%	8.6%	65.4%	24.8%	9.8%
Strabane	63.1%	30.9%	6.0%	60.1%	30.7%	9.2%

Religions broken down by place of birth in the 2011 census.^[19]

Map showing the proportion of the population in Northern Ireland who stated they had no religion in the 2011 census.

Place of birth	Catholic	Protestant and other Christian	Other Religion	None or not stated
Northern Ireland	88.7%	92.9%	49.7%	81.1%
England	2.6%	3.2%	6.9%	6.7%
Scotland	0.5%	0.9%	1.1%	1.6%
Wales	0.1%	0.1%	0.4%	0.3%
Republic of Ireland	3.3%	1.1%	1.8%	1.6%
Other EU: Member countries prior to 2004 expansion	0.4%	0.3%	1.0%	1.4%
Other EU: Accession countries 2004 onwards	3.1%	0.3%	1.8%	3.5%
Other	1.4%	1.1%	37.3%	3.8%

The religious affiliations in the different age bands in the 2011 census were as follows:^[20]

Stated religion for each age in the 2011 Northern Ireland census.

Ages attained (years)	Catholic	Protestant and other Christian	Other Religion	None or not stated
0 to 4	44.3%	31.7%	0.9%	23.2%
5 to 9	45.5%	36.1%	0.7%	17.7%
10 to 14	45.9%	37.9%	0.6%	15.6%
15 to 19	44.8%	37.6%	0.6%	17.0%
20 to 24	43.4%	35.2%	0.7%	20.7%
25 to 29	44.8%	33.1%	1.1%	21.0%
30 to 34	44.0%	34.3%	1.4%	20.3%
35 to 39	41.5%	37.8%	1.2%	19.5%
40 to 44	40.4%	41.1%	0.9%	17.7%
45 to 49	40.0%	42.8%	0.8%	16.3%
50 to 54	39.2%	44.9%	0.7%	15.1%
55 to 59	38.1%	46.5%	0.8%	14.6%
60 to 64	35.8%	50.0%	0.7%	13.4%
65 to 69	33.7%	54.4%	0.7%	11.2%
70 to 74	32.9%	56.4%	0.7%	10.1%
75 to 79	32.0%	58.1%	0.6%	9.3%
80 to 84	30.0%	60.0%	0.6%	9.3%
85 to 89	28.1%	61.8%	0.5%	9.6%
90 and over	25.8%	64.0%	0.5%	9.6%

The percentage of respondents in each religious category of the census in Northern Ireland or the area that would later become Northern Ireland. Note that there was a high level of non-enumeration during the 1981 census mainly due to protests in Catholic areas about the Republican hunger strikes.^[21]

National identity

Map of predominant national identity in the 2011 census in Northern Ireland

See also List of districts in Northern Ireland by national identity

In Northern Ireland national identity is complex. Many in Northern Ireland have a British national identity and view the English, Scots and Welsh as fellow members of their common nation while regarding people from the Republic of Ireland as foreigners. Many others in Northern Ireland view people from the Republic of Ireland as being members of their common nation encompassing the island of Ireland and regard the English, Scots and Welsh as foreigners. Co-existing with this dichotomy is a Northern Irish identity, which can be held alone or, as is also the case with Englishness, Scottishness and Welshness, alongside a British identity, or alongside an Irish identity. A small number of people see themselves as being both British and Irish.

Although there is a strong correlation between religion and national identity, Catholics tending to identify as Irish and Protestants tending to identify as British, this is not an absolute relationship, and the correlation is much weaker amongst Catholics than it is amongst Protestants. Amongst Catholics, geography also plays an important role, with Catholics in heavily Protestant parts of Northern Ireland being more likely to call themselves British and less likely to call themselves Irish than Catholics in more Catholic areas of Northern Ireland. (The reverse is true for Protestants, but to a lesser extent.) In the 2011 census there were four of the twenty-six districts of Northern Ireland, all on the east coast, where more Catholics considered themselves British than considered themselves Irish.

While in the 2011 census Protestants outnumbered Catholics in only half of the districts in Northern Ireland, those who considered themselves British outnumbered those who considered themselves Irish in twenty of the twenty-six districts in Northern Ireland. This is partly because Catholics were more likely to see themselves as British than Protestants were to see themselves as Irish (13% vs. 4% respectively), but is also partly because those of no religion were substantially more likely to see themselves as British as see themselves as Irish. The irreligious tend to live in Protestant areas, suggesting that they are mostly of Protestant descent.

Northern Irish identity was almost equally held amongst Protestants as amongst Catholics, and it varied little according to geography.

In the 2011 census respondents gave their national identity as follows.

2011 Census^[22]

National identity	Respondents
British	876,577
Northern Irish	533,085
Irish	513,390
English, Scottish or Welsh	29,187
Other	61,884

National identity by religion^[23]

National identity	All	Catholic	Protestant and other Christian	Other religions	No religion
British	48.4%	12.9%	81.6%	50.1%	55.9%
Irish	28.4%	57.2%	3.9%	12.4%	14.0%
Northern Irish	29.4%	30.7%	26.9%	18.0%	35.2%
English, Scottish or Welsh	1.6%	0.8%	1.5%	2.9%	5.2%
All other	3.4%	4.4%	1.0%	29.1%	7.1%

Detail by religion^[24]

National identity	All	Catholic	Protestant and other Christian	Other religions	No religion
British only	39.9%	10.3%	68.3%	42.4%	42.9%
Irish only	25.3%	53.2%	2.1%	8.1%	9.4%
Northern Irish only	20.9%	26.9%	14.5%	12.0%	23.7%
British and Northern Irish only	6.2%	0.9%	11.1%	3.3%	7.9%
Irish and Northern Irish only	1.1%	2.0%	0.2%	0.5%	0.8%
British, Irish and Northern Irish only	1.0%	0.8%	1.0%	1.0%	2.1%
British and Irish only	0.7%	0.8%	0.5%	0.7%	1.0%
English, Scottish or Welsh only	1.0%	0.6%	0.8%	2.1%	3.5%
Other	4.0%	4.7%	1.6%	29.9%	8.7%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%

National identity by age^[22]

National Identities in each age band in the 2011 census.

Ages attained (years)	British	Irish	Northern Irish	English, Scottish or Welsh	All other
0 to 15	45.1%	31.4%	30.5%	0.9%	3.6%
16 to 24	44.2%	32.3%	29.6%	1.5%	3.3%
25 to 34	40.5%	31.0%	30.0%	1.7%	8.6%
35 to 44	47.3%	28.7%	29.3%	2.1%	4.5%
45 to 54	50.8%	28.3%	28.0%	1.9%	2.2%
55 to 64	54.5%	24.9%	28.8%	1.9%	1.1%
65 to 74	57.5%	21.3%	29.8%	1.7%	0.4%
75 to 84	58.6%	19.6%	29.1%	1.6%	0.3%
85 and over	61.7%	18.0%	26.5%	2.0%	0.2%

National identity by district^[25]

Map of districts of Northern Ireland colour coded to show the predominant national identity in the 2011 census. Stronger green indicates a higher proportion of people describing themselves as Irish. Stronger blue indicates a higher proportion of people describing themselves as British. Percentages show the difference between the proportion of people describing themselves as Irish and the proportion of people describing themselves as British.

District	British	Irish	Northern Irish	English, Scottish or Welsh	All Other
Antrim	55.2%	20.1%	30.4%	2.3%	3.9%
Ards	73.6%	7.5%	31.9%	1.9%	1.5%
Armagh	44.4%	32.4%	27.1%	1.1%	3.9%
Ballymena	69.0%	11.1%	27.9%	1.4%	3.8%
Ballymoney	60.6%	16.4%	30.9%	1.7%	1.7%
Banbridge	61.1%	16.2%	31.8%	1.5%	1.8%
Belfast	43.2%	34.8%	26.8%	1.5%	5.1%
Carrickfergus	76.5%	5.3%	30.3%	2.1%	1.8%
Castlereagh	66.2%	14.7%	31.3%	1.5%	2.6%
Coleraine	62.4%	14.5%	31.6%	2.0%	3.2%
Cookstown	37.3%	33.5%	32.1%	1.2%	3.7%
Craigavon	48.3%	25.6%	28.7%	1.4%	6.4%
Derry	23.7%	55.0%	24.6%	1.4%	2.0%
Down	40.2%	32.2%	34.1%	1.9%	2.0%
Dungannon	30.9%	38.8%	27.1%	0.9%	9.6%
Fermanagh	37.2%	36.1%	29.5%	1.7%	3.1%
Larne	69.8%	10.1%	31.4%	2.1%	1.2%
Limavady	42.2%	32.0%	30.7%	1.5%	1.4%
Lisburn	55.6%	24.7%	28.7%	2.0%	2.4%
Magherafelt	31.4%	42.7%	29.8%	1.0%	2.8%
Moyle	38.6%	34.1%	32.1%	2.2%	1.4%
Newry and Mourne	20.2%	53.0%	27.6%	1.2%	4.3%
Newtownabbey	66.5%	13.4%	31.2%	1.3%	2.4%
North Down	71.1%	9.1%	33.0%	3.0%	2.4%
Omagh	28.6%	40.9%	32.7%	1.1%	3.4%
Strabane	33.0%	39.2%	31.8%	1.4%	1.3%

National identity by religion or religion brought up in for each district^[25]

District	Catholic				Protestant and other Christian				Other Religion or None
	British	Irish	Northern Irish	All Other	British	Irish	Northern Irish	All Other	British	Irish	Northern Irish	All Other
Antrim	23.1%	43.7%	34.2%	7.1%	80.6%	3.1%	27.8%	3.3%	60.4%	6.5%	26.8%	19.0%
Ards	34.1%	31.7%	38.2%	6.4%	80.9%	3.7%	30.4%	2.2%	67.7%	6.0%	35.1%	9.1%
Armagh	7.1%	62.5%	28.7%	6.2%	81.6%	3.6%	25.7%	2.3%	49.3%	10.5%	25.1%	25.3%
Ballymena	24.6%	38.9%	34.7%	11.0%	83.6%	2.7%	25.7%	2.5%	62.3%	6.5%	28.4%	14.4%
Ballymoney	19.0%	44.5%	38.8%	4.1%	81.1%	2.9%	27.2%	2.2%	65.1%	8.4%	28.0%	13.3%
Banbridge	22.6%	41.7%	39.4%	4.5%	81.2%	3.8%	27.7%	2.0%	59.1%	8.3%	33.8%	11.5%
Belfast	11.7%	64.3%	25.0%	5.6%	78.3%	5.5%	28.7%	3.6%	47.7%	13.3%	27.5%	26.3%
Carrickfergus	41.1%	24.6%	35.6%	10.7%	82.0%	3.0%	29.2%	2.4%	68.3%	5.3%	33.7%	8.5%
Castlereagh	22.1%	50.0%	34.5%	6.3%	81.3%	3.9%	29.9%	2.3%	61.9%	8.9%	33.7%	11.8%
Coleraine	25.0%	39.2%	36.5%	8.4%	79.1%	4.3%	29.3%	2.6%	56.5%	10.3%	33.4%	16.8%
Cookstown	8.1%	53.8%	37.7%	5.2%	82.5%	3.6%	24.0%	2.1%	44.2%	9.1%	24.4%	31.5%
Craigavon	12.2%	51.2%	31.5%	10.6%	82.5%	3.2%	26.3%	2.7%	49.9%	9.1%	26.7%	26.4%
Derry	7.3%	70.5%	24.3%	2.5%	76.7%	7.2%	25.9%	3.5%	39.4%	24.7%	21.9%	26.2%
Down	20.1%	47.4%	37.1%	2.9%	77.4%	5.6%	28.7%	3.6%	52.1%	14.4%	32.1%	16.7%
Dungannon	5.7%	57.6%	28.6%	13.0%	79.6%	4.5%	24.5%	3.0%	33.3%	12.0%	22.8%	42.1%
Fermanagh	11.4%	56.2%	32.4%	4.8%	77.1%	6.2%	25.5%	3.0%	43.4%	16.8%	24.0%	28.1%
Larne	38.8%	30.6%	37.7%	3.0%	81.7%	3.0%	28.6%	2.5%	64.1%	6.5%	35.4%	12.1%
Limavady	18.1%	50.5%	34.4%	2.5%	79.8%	4.1%	24.9%	2.5%	51.4%	10.9%	28.8%	18.7%
Lisburn	16.5%	58.6%	27.8%	4.3%	80.2%	4.7%	29.0%	3.2%	62.2%	8.8%	30.3%	13.9%
Magherafelt	6.5%	62.1%	33.0%	3.8%	82.4%	4.2%	23.1%	2.3%	46.9%	13.4%	30.2%	22.1%
Moyle	14.6%	53.1%	35.3%	2.8%	76.3%	5.0%	27.8%	3.3%	49.4%	17.8%	23.8%	19.8%
Newry and Mourne	7.1%	64.7%	28.0%	5.0%	76.3%	5.8%	26.8%	3.8%	34.6%	22.8%	22.1%	28.9%
Newtownabbey	24.7%	46.1%	34.1%	5.7%	80.9%	3.4%	30.1%	1.7%	63.1%	7.3%	32.1%	12.3%
North Down	37.1%	31.5%	36.1%	9.7%	78.8%	5.2%	31.9%	3.4%	63.7%	7.9%	35.7%	11.6%
Omagh	8.7%	55.7%	36.0%	4.4%	78.5%	4.9%	25.0%	2.5%	40.6%	15.9%	23.7%	28.9%
Strabane	8.9%	57.4%	35.4%	2.6%	79.2%	4.7%	25.2%	1.9%	40.9%	21.1%	25.5%	26.4%

National identity by place of birth^[26]

Map of districts of Northern Ireland colour coded to show the predominant national identity amongst Catholics in the 2011 census. Stronger green indicates a higher proportion of Catholics describing themselves as Irish. Blue indicates more Catholics describing themselves as British than as Irish. Percentages show the difference between the proportion of Catholics describing themselves as Irish and the proportion of Catholics describing themselves as British.

Place of birth	British	Irish	Northern Irish	English, Scottish or Welsh	All Other
Northern Ireland	49.8%	28.8%	31.9%	0.3%	0.4%
Republic of Ireland	15.9%	77.6%	10.9%	0.2%	0.5%
Channel Islands and Isle of Man	58.4%	19.9%	12.6%	2.5%	17.2%
Great Britain	60.7%	13.5%	10.7%	29.0%	0.7%
England	64.4%	14.8%	11.2%	22.8%	0.8%
Scotland	46.6%	8.7%	9.0%	51.3%	0.4%
Wales	50.2%	7.5%	7.8%	51.4%	0.7%
EU countries excluding the UK and Ireland	12.4%	7.4%	6.4%	1.1%	80.4%
EU member countries prior to 2004 expansion excluding the UK and Ireland	35.5%	10.1%	12.1%	2.8%	52.7%
Germany	62.4%	8.0%	17.3%	5.3%	21.9%
Portugal	8.2%	9.6%	5.2%	0.6%	85.8%
EU accession countries 2004 onwards	6.2%	6.6%	4.8%	0.6%	88.0%
Poland	5.1%	6.0%	4.6%	0.6%	89.9%
Lithuania	5.2%	7.7%	4.5%	0.5%	87.7%
Slovakia	6.0%	5.1%	4.3%	0.2%	89.0%
Latvia	7.8%	7.7%	4.9%	0.7%	84.9%
Romania	12.3%	9.1%	6.8%	0.5%	79.5%
Other Europe: Non EU countries	34.2%	11.3%	10.5%	1.7%	30.3%
Africa	44.6%	17.1%	13.6%	1.9%	41.7%
South Africa	51.5%	14.6%	15.4%	2.1%	35.4%
Middle East and Asia	42.3%	7.4%	6.4%	0.9%	53.6%
China	30.5%	6.3%	4.8%	0.9%	65.2%
Hong Kong	76.1%	3.5%	6.9%	1.3%	21.4%
India	38.5%	5.3%	4.8%	0.8%	57.8%
Pakistan	46.1%	7.7%	7.7%	0.6%	47.9%
Bangladesh	52.8%	9.4%	3.9%	0.6%	42.8%
Philippines	46.8%	5.1%	4.0%	0.2%	56.9%
North America and Caribbean	29.2%	32.1%	18.2%	1.0%	45.3%
United States of America	18.3%	39.1%	17.1%	0.7%	52.4%
Canada	46.7%	21.5%	20.7%	1.2%	34.6%
Central America	35.6%	11.3%	16.0%	2.1%	62.9%
South America	33.7%	15.7%	9.0%	1.3%	62.1%
Antarctica and Oceania	36.1%	23.2%	18.5%	1.6%	42.8%
Australia	36.3%	26.5%	20.7%	0.9%	38.2%
New Zealand	40.1%	15.8%	14.2%	3.9%	48.1%
All outside Northern Ireland	37.6%	24.5%	9.8%	12.4%	27.3%
All outside the UK and Ireland	24.3%	11.0%	8.5%	1.1%	66.6%

National identity by ethnic group^[27]

Shows the most common national identity stated in the 2011 census in Northern Ireland. Red is British, blue is Northern Irish and green is Irish.

Ethnic group	British	Irish	Northern Irish	English, Scottish or Welsh	All Other
White:	48.5%	28.6%	29.8%	1.6%	2.7%
White: Irish Traveller/White Gypsy	12.2%	68.0%	22.3%	2.8%	0.3%
White: Total	48.5%	28.6%	29.8%	1.6%	3.4%
Asian or Asian British: Indian	41.1%	7.6%	5.3%	0.7%	53.5%
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani	58.9%	8.5%	10.7%	0.9%	32.0%
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi	63.5%	8.3%	4.4%	0.4%	31.3%
Asian or Asian British: Chinese	52.6%	7.0%	7.3%	1.0%	41.5%
Asian or Asian British: Asian Other	42.2%	7.7%	4.8%	0.3%	59.6%
Asian or Asian British: Total	46.8%	7.5%	6.1%	0.7%	49.3%
Black or Black British: Caribbean	44.4%	9.9%	7.8%	6.7%	43.5%
Black or Black British: African	25.8%	15.5%	7.7%	1.1%	69.1%
Black or Black British: Other	29.1%	20.5%	12.6%	2.3%	54.2%
Black or Black British: Total	28.6%	16.2%	8.9%	2.0%	62.7%
Mixed: Total	47.3%	24.6%	26.6%	3.0%	18.7%
Other: Any other ethnic group:Total	29.8%	22.8%	13.9%	3.4%	48.4%

Passports held

Map of the most commonly held passport according to the 2011 census. Red is British and green is Irish.

As Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom those born in Northern Ireland have automatic British citizenship on the same basis and with the same provisos as those born elsewhere in the United Kingdom. As well as this, and despite the withdrawal of its constitutional claim to Northern Ireland in 1999, the Irish government also grants the right to Irish citizenship to those born in Northern Ireland on the same basis and with the same provisos as those born on its own territory. This means that most people in Northern Ireland are entitled to a British passport, an Irish passport or both, as they so choose. By agreement between the Irish government and Royal Mail, post offices in Northern Ireland provide a service whereby customers can apply for an Irish passport, operating alongside their service whereby customers can apply for a British passport. In the 2011 census respondents stated that they held the following passports.^[28][29]

Passport	All usual residents	Religion or religion brought up in
		Catholic	Protestant and other Christian	Other Religions	None
No passport	18.9%	19.2%	18.5%	9.9%	20.2%
EU/EEA Countries	82.1%	82.4%	82.4%	69.3%	78.4%
United Kingdom	59.1%	38.4%	77.8%	56.0%	65.2%
Ireland	20.8%	40.5%	4.1%	10.0%	7.2%
Poland	1.0%	2.0%	0.1%	0.6%	0.9%
Lithuania	0.4%	0.7%	0.0%	0.2%	0.8%
Other EU/EEA	0.8%	0.9%	0.4%	2.4%	4.2%
Other	1.2%	0.9%	0.7%	26.0%	3.5%

Passport	All usual residents	Religion or religion brought up in
		Catholic	Protestant and other Christian	Other Religions	None
No passport	18.9%	19.2%	18.5%	9.9%	20.2%
United Kingdom only	57.2%	36.1%	76.3%	51.6%	63.3%
Ireland only	18.9%	38.1%	2.7%	7.4%	5.9%
United Kingdom and Ireland only	1.7%	2.1%	1.3%	1.8%	1.1%
United Kingdom and other (not Ireland)	0.2%	0.1%	0.2%	2.4%	0.7%
Ireland and other (not United Kingdom)	0.1%	0.2%	0.0%	0.6%	0.2%
EU/EEA (not United Kingdom or Ireland)	2.2%	3.5%	0.4%	3.1%	5.9%
Other	0.8%	0.6%	0.4%	23.0%	2.7%

Age

According to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Authority the average (median) age increased from 34 years to 37 years between the 2001 and 2011 censuses. Over the same period, the share of the population represented by children aged under 16 years fell from 24 per cent to 21 per cent, while the proportion of people aged 65 years and over rose from 13 per cent to 15 per cent.^[30]

Population pyramid for Northern Ireland as at the 2011 census.

Ages attained (years)	Population[31]	% of total population
0–4	124,382	6.9
5–9	111,287	6.1
10–14	119,034	6.6
15–19	126,241	7.0
20–24	126,013	7.0
25–29	124,099	6.9
30–34	119,839	6.6
35–39	122,260	6.8
40–44	131,848	7.3
45–49	131,645	7.3
50–54	116,933	6.5
55–59	99,272	5.5
60–64	94,290	5.2
65–69	82,121	4.5
70–74	63,479	3.5
75–79	50,358	2.8
80–84	36,366	2.0
85–89	21,165	1.2
90+	10,231	0.6

Summary of vital statistics since 1900

	Average population (x 1000)[32][33][34][35]	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate
1901		30 782	23 954	6 828
1902		30 707	23 171	7 536
1903		31 290	23 096	8 194
1904		31 550	23 536	8 014
1905		31 405	22 949	8 456
1906		31 389	23 039	8 350
1907		30 969	23 754	7 215
1908		30 600	23 133	7 467
1909		30 640	22 275	8 365
1910	1 246	30 219	22 576	7 643	24.3	18.1	6.1
1911	1 249	30 407	21 326	9 081	24.3	17.1	7.3
1912	1 248	30 301	21 698	8 603	24.3	17.4	6.9
1913	1 243	29 880	22 510	7 370	24.0	18.1	5.9
1914	1 242	29 704	21 671	8 033	23.9	17.4	6.5
1915	1 210	28 082	22 438	5 644	23.2	18.5	4.7
1916	1 205	26 623	20 764	5 859	22.1	17.2	4.9
1917	1 208	24 949	21 011	3 938	20.7	17.4	3.3
1918	1 214	26 212	25 013	1 199	21.6	20.6	1.0
1919	1 250	27 496	22 836	4 660	22.0	18.2	3.8
1920	1 258	32 521	21 017	11 504	25.8	16.7	9.1
1921	1 264	29 710	19 301	10 409	23.7	15.4	8.3
1922	1 269	29 531	19 795	9 736	23.2	15.6	7.6
1923	1 259	30 097	18 790	11 307	23.9	14.9	9.1
1924	1 258	28 496	20 299	8 197	22.7	16.1	6.5
1925	1 257	27 686	19 784	7 902	22.0	15.8	6.3
1926	1 254	28 162	18 827	9 335	22.5	15.1	7.4
1927	1 250	26 676	18 216	8 460	21.4	14.6	6.8
1928	1 247	25 963	18 004	7 959	20.9	14.4	6.4
1929	1 240	25 410	19 822	5 588	20.5	16.0	4.4
1930	1 237	25 879	17 148	8 731	20.9	13.9	7.0
1931	1 243	25 673	18 049	7 624	20.7	14.5	6.2
1932	1 251	25 107	17 812	7 295	20.1	14.2	5.8
1933	1 258	24 601	18 154	6 447	19.6	14.5	5.1
1934	1 265	25 365	17 521	7 844	20.1	13.9	6.2
1935	1 271	24 742	18 592	6 150	19.5	14.6	4.8
1936	1 276	25 909	18 429	7 480	20.3	14.4	5.9
1937	1 281	25 412	19 282	6 130	19.8	15.1	4.8
1938	1 286	25 742	17 649	8 093	20.0	13.7	6.3
1939	1 295	25 240	17 542	7 698	19.5	13.5	5.9
1940	1 299	25 363	18 941	6 422	19.5	14.6	4.9
1941	1 308	26 887	20 034	6 853	20.6	15.3	5.2
1942	1 329	29 645	17 570	12 075	22.3	13.2	9.1
1943	1 341	31 521	17 720	13 801	23.5	13.2	10.3
1944	1 357	30 900	16 980	13 920	22.8	12.5	10.3
1945	1 359	29 007	16 432	12 575	21.3	12.1	9.3
1946	1 350	30 134	16 706	13 428	22.3	12.4	9.9
1947	1 350	31 254	16 944	14 310	23.2	12.6	10.6
1948	1 362	29 532	15 145	14 387	21.7	11.1	10.6
1949	1 371	29 106	15 670	13 436	21.2	11.4	9.8
1950	1 377	28 794	15 839	12 955	20.9	11.5	9.4
1951	1 373	28 477	17 628	10 849	20.7	12.8	7.9
1952	1 375	28 760	14 812	13 948	20.9	10.8	10.1
1953	1 384	28 984	14 813	14 171	20.9	10.7	10.2
1954	1 387	28 803	15 124	13 679	20.8	10.9	9.9
1955	1 394	28 965	15 407	13 558	20.8	11.1	9.7
1956	1 397	29 489	14 858	14 631	21.1	10.6	10.5
1957	1 399	30 108	15 187	14 921	21.5	10.9	10.7
1958	1 402	30 301	15 132	15 169	21.6	10.8	10.8
1959	1 408	30 809	15 403	15 406	21.9	10.9	10.9
1960	1 420	31 989	15 296	16 693	22.5	10.8	11.8
1961	1 427	31 915	16 108	15 807	22.4	11.3	11.1
1962	1 435	32 565	15 226	17 339	22.7	10.6	12.1
1963	1 446	33 414	15 899	17 515	23.1	11.0	12.1
1964	1 458	34 345	15 354	18 991	23.6	10.5	13.0
1965	1 469	33 890	15 551	18 339	23.1	10.6	12.5
1966	1 478	33 228	16 441	16 787	22.5	11.1	11.4
1967	1 491	33 415	14 671	18 744	22.4	9.8	12.6
1968	1 502	33 173	15 933	17 240	22.1	10.6	11.5
1969	1 513	32 428	16 338	16 090	21.4	10.8	10.6
1970	1 525	32 086	16 551	15 535	21.0	10.9	10.2
1971	1 540	31 765	16 202	15 563	20.6	10.5	10.1
1972	1 539	29 994	17 032	12 962	19.5	11.1	8.4
1973	1 530	29 200	17 669	11 531	19.1	11.5	7.5
1974	1 527	27 160	17 327	9 833	17.8	11.3	6.4
1975	1 524	26 130	16 511	9 619	17.2	10.8	6.4
1976	1 524	26 361	17 030	9 331	17.3	11.2	6.1
1977	1 523	25 437	16 921	8 516	16.7	11.1	5.6
1978	1 523	26 239	16 153	10 086	17.2	10.6	6.6
1979	1 528	28 178	16 811	11 367	18.4	11.0	7.4
1980	1 533	28 582	16 835	11 747	18.6	11.0	7.7
1981	1 543	27 166	16 256	10 910	17.6	10.5	7.1
1982	1 545	26 872	15 918	10 954	17.4	10.3	7.1
1983	1 551	27 026	16 039	10 987	17.4	10.3	7.1
1984	1 557	27 477	15 692	11 785	17.6	10.1	7.5	2.50
1985	1 565	27 427	15 955	11 472	17.5	10.2	7.3
1986	1 574	27 975	16 065	11 910	17.8	10.2	7.6
1987	1 582	27 653	15 334	12 319	17.5	9.7	7.8
1988	1 585	27 514	15 813	11 701	17.4	10.0	7.4
1989	1 590	25 831	15 844	9 987	16.2	10.0	6.2
1990	1 596	26 251	15 426	10 825	16.5	9.7	6.8
1991	1 607	26 028	15 096	10 932	16.2	9.4	6.9
1992	1 623	25 354	14 988	10 366	15.6	9.2	6.4
1993	1 636	24 722	15 633	9 089	15.1	9.6	5.5
1994	1 644	24 098	15 114	8 984	14.7	9.2	5.5
1995	1 649	23 693	15 310	8 383	14.4	9.3	5.1
1996	1 662	24 382	15 218	9 164	14.7	9.2	5.5
1997	1 671	24 087	14 971	9 116	14.4	9.0	5.4
1998	1 678	23 668	14 993	8 675	14.1	8.9	5.2
1999	1 679	22 957	15 663	7 294	13.7	9.3	4.3
2000	1 683	21 512	14 903	6 609	12.8	8.9	3.9	1.75
2001	1 689	21 962	14 513	7 449	13.0	8.6	4.4
2002	1 697	21 385	14 586	6 799	12.6	8.6	4.0
2003	1 703	21 648	14 462	7 186	12.7	8.5	4.2
2004	1 710	22 318	14 354	7 964	13.0	8.4	4.7
2005	1 724	22 328	14 224	8 104	12.9	8.2	4.7
2006	1 742	23 272	14 532	8 740	13.4	8.3	5.0
2007	1 759	24 451	14 649	9 802	13.9	8.3	5.6
2008	1 775	25 631	14 907	10 724	14.4	8.4	6.0	2.10
2009	1 789	24 910	14 413	10 497	13.9	8.1	5.8
2010	1 799	25 315	14 457	10 858	14.1	8.0	6.1
2011	1 809	25 273	14 204	11 069	14.0	7.8	6.2
2012	1 820	25 269	14 756	10 513	14.0	8.1	5.9	2.03
2013	1 830	24 277	14 968	9 309	13.3	8.2	5.1	1.95
2014	1 840	24 394	14 678	9 716	13.2	8.0	5.2	1.97
2015		24 215	15 553	8 662

Other statistics

Life expectancy at birth:^[36]
Men: 77.2 years
Women: 80.8 years

Infant mortality rate:^[36]
6.4 deaths/1,000 live births (1999)

Total Period Fertility Rate (TPFR):^[37]
2.06 children born/woman (2011)

HIV/AIDS prevalence rate:^[38]
0.024% (2005 est.)

People living with HIV/AIDS:^[38]
408 (2005)

See also

• Politics of Northern Ireland
• Demography of the United Kingdom
• Demographics of the Republic of Ireland
• Demography of Scotland
• Demography of England
• Demography of Wales

References

1. Population at Census Day 2011: Usually resident population by single year of age and sex -Table 1 NISRA September 2012, Accessed 16 August 2013
2. Country Profiles: Key Statistics - Northern Ireland, August 2012, Accessed 5 February 2014
3. NISRA Population Clock
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5. "NI migrant population triples in decade, says study". BBC News. 26 June 2014.
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29. "Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service". Retrieved 22 July 2014.
30. Census 2011: Key Statistics for Northern Ireland Statistics Bulletin December 2012, Accessed 22 December 2012
31. "ONS: 2011 Census: Usual resident population by five-year age group and sex, United Kingdom and constituent countries". Retrieved 22 July 2014.
32. B.R. Mitchell. European historical statistics, 1750–1975
33. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dybsets/1948%20DYB.pdf United nations. Demographic Yearbook 1948
34. Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency
35. Population and vital events, 1926-2014
36. Eastern Health and Social Services Board
37. http://www.nisra.gov.uk/demography
38. http://www.healthpromotionagency.org.uk/Resources/sexual/pdfs/shi2007/stis.pdf