Which countries have the biggest Irish populations outside Ireland?
The United States first, by a distance: 32.4 million people claimed Irish ancestry in the 2024 American Community Survey. Canada is next among the countries that count ancestry: 4.4 million people reported Irish ethnic origin in the 2021 census, making Irish the third largest ancestry in the country. Australia counted 2.41 million Irish ancestry responses in its 2021 census, 9.5 percent of the population. Britain is the harder one to number. It was the nearest destination and, for many emigrants, the first stop rather than the last; hundreds of thousands of Irish-born people live there, with millions more of Irish descent whom the British censuses do not count as a group.
Useful pages: Irish in USA · The Irish surnames map · Trace your Irish roots · Coming home · Irish around the world
Sources
- US Census Bureau: Facts for Features, Irish American Heritage Month and St Patrick's Day, and the American Community Survey, census.gov
- Statistics Canada: 2021 Census of Population, ethnic or cultural origins, statcan.gc.ca
- Australian Bureau of Statistics: 2021 Census ancestry responses, abs.gov.au
More in Irish in USA and the diaspora
- What is the Foreign Births Registration, and who qualifies?
- What documents do I need for a Foreign Births Registration application?
- Does my child qualify if I register my own foreign birth after they are born?
- What is the difference between citizenship by descent and the Foreign Births Register?
- Can I claim Irish citizenship through a great-grandparent?