One of the most remarkable aspects of the Catholic story in Ireland is its recent transformation from the country with perhaps the highest rate of Catholic practice to a country where Catholic life is spoken about in the past tense. Many Irish under age 60 identify themselves as “Catholic but not religious.” In very many ways, Ireland looks fairly secular today, but no one disputes the emphasis on sacraments, and devotional qualities of Irish Catholicism endure today. Read more...
National Demographics
Religious Affiliation
Chart source: Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 2010
Note: The Catholic Church's Ireland data amalgamates statistics for both the Republic of Ireland and the six counties comprising Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.
Total Population
4,803,748 1
Urban
63.2% 1
Rural
36.8% 1
Immigrants as % of Population
17.6% 2
Homicides
0.46 per 100,000 people (global median: 5.8) 3
Level of Public Corruption
77 (100 is very clean, 0 is highly corrupt) 4
Fertility Rate
1.80 live births per woman 5
Under-Five Mortality Rate
3.00 deaths per 1,000 live births 5
Life Expectancy at Birth
82 years 5
Internet Users
95% 6
GDP per Capita
US$78,779 5
Population Living Below US$2.15 per Day
0.1% 7
Gender Gap Ranking based on economy, health, education, and politics
11 (146 is the lowest ranked country; 1 is the highest ranked country) 8
Religious Freedom: Government Restrictions Index (GRI)
1 - Moderate
Religious Freedom: Social Hostilities Index (SHI)
2.1 - Moderate
- 1 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2018 Revision, Online Edition (New York: United Nations, 2018).
- 2 United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, International Migrant Stock 2020 (New York: United Nations, 2020).
- 3 Data as of 2021. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, "Intentional Homicide," United Nations, Accessed April 9, 2024; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Global Study on Homicide 2023 (Vienna: United Nations, 2023).
- 4 "2023 Corruption Perceptions Index," Transparency International, Accessed April 9, 2024.
- 5 United Nations Children's Fund, The State of the World's Children 2023 (Florence: UNICEF Innocenti – Global Office of Research and Foresight, 2023).
- 6 International Telecommunication Union, "Individuals using the Internet (% of population)," The World Bank, Accessed April 24, 2024.
- 7 Poverty and Inequality Platform, "Poverty headcount ratio at $2.15 a day (2017 PPP) (% of population)," The World Bank, Accessed April 24, 2024.
- 8 World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2023 (Geneva: World Economic Forum, 2023).
- 9 As Pew describes it, "Government restrictions on religion include laws, policies and actions that regulate and limit religious beliefs and practices. They also include policies that single out certain religious groups or ban certain practices; the granting of benefits to some religious groups but not others; and bureaucratic rules that require religious groups to register to receive benefits." As noted on pp. 45-47 of the report, the index summarizes data from 19 sources. The index does not differentiate whether the laws are directed toward Catholics. Pew Research Center, Globally, Government Restrictions on Religion Reached Peak Levels in 2021, While Social Hostilities Went Down (Pew Research Center, 2024).
- 10 As Pew describes it, "Social hostilities include actions by private individuals or groups that target religious groups; they also include actions by groups or individuals who use religion to restrict others. The SHI captures events such as religion-related harassment, mob violence, terrorism/militant activity, and hostilities over religious conversions or the wearing of religious symbols and clothing." As noted on pp. 45-47 of the report, the index summarizes data from 19 sources. The index does not differentiate whether the hostilities are directed toward Catholics. Pew Research Center, Globally, Government Restrictions on Religion Reached Peak Levels in 2021, While Social Hostilities Went Down (Pew Research Center, 2024).
Catholic Demographics
These statistics are derived from the Vatican's official publication, Statistical Yearbook of the Church 2020 (Vatican City: Librera Editrice Vaticana, 2022). The numbers may differ from data reported by other sources on this site.
Baptized Catholics
5,630,000
Baptized Catholics as % of Total Population
76.08
Baptisms per Year (Under age 7)
42,747
Baptisms per Year (Over age 7)
487
First Communions per Year
59,516
Confirmations per Year
65,887
Students Enrolled in Catholic Primary Schools
527,129
Students Enrolled in Catholic Secondary Schools
352,808
Students Enrolled in Catholic Higher Education
36,016
Church Marriages per Year
6,540
Church Marriages in Which Both Spouses are Catholics
6,134
Priests
3,928
Women Religious (Nuns & Sisters)
5,091
Catholics per Priest
1,433
Parishes
1,358
Catholic Hospitals
22
Homes for Aged, Handicapped, Invalids
29
