Population: 3 619 480 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 22% (male 406 741; female 384 459)
15-64 years: 67% (male 1 218 514; female 1 200 214)
65 years and over: 11% (male 173 978; female 235 574) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.36% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 13.49 births/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 8.51 deaths/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.39 migrant(s)/1 000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.74 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 6.04 deaths/1 000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 76.19 years
male: 73.44 years
female: 79.11 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 1.82 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Irishman(men) Irishwoman(men) Irish (collective plural)
adjective: Irish

Ethnic groups: Celtic English

Religions: Roman Catholic 93% Anglican 3% none 1% unknown 2% other 1% (1981)

Languages: Irish (Gaelic) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard English is the language generally used

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 98% (1981 est.)
male: NA%
female: NA%