Northern Ireland is one of the nations in the United Kingdom with a population of over 1.8 million. Northern Ireland is one of the countries that are least in terms of size within the UK.
Northern Ireland is just 5.7 percent of the United Kingdom in terms of surface area, while the population of the country is 2.9 percent of the whole UK.
Northern Ireland is the smaller of the two administrative units on this island in Ireland. There is another counterpart, in the Republic of Ireland and it is larger and more populous than North Ireland in land size and population.
The two countries split in 1920, and Northern Ireland was formed in 1921. Despite this division, the citizens of Northern Ireland still have a strong relationship with those from the Republic of Ireland.
The traditional culture of the people in the Republic of Ireland is practiced by a minority of people living in Northern Ireland until today.
Based on our findings, Northern Ireland’s population will reach 1,924,873 by 1st July 2022. We use the first day of July every year due to Office for National Statistics (ONS) usually releases estimated numbers for the same time frame.
The calculation is based on average annual growth of 0.56 percent over the last 10 years up to the year 2011. We believe that using the more recent number of years’ data (see in the table in the following section) will help make the estimate more accurate.
Table of Contents
Population Growth of Northern Ireland
The number of people living in Northern Ireland in the past 10 years can be used to estimate the population of the nation in 2021.
The growth rate of the country is extremely slow however it has been consistent. The range of growth is. 0.33 percent to 0.78%, adding about 13,500 to 6,100 people each year to the total.
| Year | Population | Its growth rate |
| 2011 | 1,810,863 | n/a |
| 2012 | 1,823,600 | 0.70% |
| 2013 | 1,829,700 | 0.33% |
| 2014 | 1,838,100 | 0.46% |
| 2015 | 1,851,600 | 0.73% |
| 2016 | 1,862,100 | 0.57% |
| 2017 | 1,876,600 | 0.78% |
| 2018 | 1,886,788 | 0.54% |
| 2019 | 1,897,893 | 0.59% |
| 2020 | 1,905,484 | 0.40% |
| 2021 | 1,914,232 | 0.46% |
Demographics of Northern Ireland
The major spoken language in Northern Ireland is English. Other languages are regional, and they include Irish and Scots. Polish languages are also used by a few immigrants. It’s among the most commonly used languages spoken by immigrants living in Northern Ireland.
Other languages are spoken by immigrants such as Irish, Chinese, Slovak, Lithuanian, Portuguese, and Filipino among others.
Christianity is the dominant religious system in Northern Ireland. The majority of Christians who reside in Northern Ireland attend Roman Catholic Churches followed by Presbyterian churches in Ireland, the Church of Ireland, and Methodist Church in Ireland.
Other religions constitute less than 1 percent of the total population, while 10.1 percent of the population does not have a religion.
The ethnic groups that reside in Northern Ireland are many. Whites make up 98.3 percent. Asians comprise 1.06 percent of people, and blacks make up only 0.2 of the total population.
Population Density in Northern Ireland
The density of people living in Northern Ireland is 133 people per square kilometer. This population density is approximately half of the United Kingdom.
There is a significant population increase in Northern Ireland is twice denser than the population density in the Republic of Ireland. The majority of Northern Irish live in the Belfast Metropolitan Region.
Facts About Northern Ireland
- Northern Ireland was separated from Republic of Ireland in 1920 and Northern Ireland was created a year later.
- The country is the 2nd most sparsely populated in the UK after Scotland.
- Some of the most prominent Sportsmen and Artist are of Northern Ireland.
- The Giant Causeway is a place which has around 40,000 interlocking columns.
- The day that is celebrated in the nation that is celebrated in Northern Ireland is the famous St Patrick’s day, which is celebrated in numerous countries across all over the world, not just that of the United States of America.
- Guinness and Harp lager are the most well-known Irish Breweries.
- By 2014 it is estimated that the Catholic population of Belfast has increased to 49 percent while the Protestant population dropped up to just 42 percent as per BBC News.
- On average it rains 157 times every year in Belfast the city, which is lower than Scotland but much more than Dublin.
References
The following links provide data for this topic:
- CNN: http://www.cnn.com
- Office for National Statistics: https://www.ons.gov.uk/
- BBC News: http://www.bbc.com/news