Almost two thirds of all Irish people live in cities – CSO

Almost two thirds of all Irish people live in cities – CSO

The urban population of Ireland is now 62pc of the total population, in just 2.4pc of the total land area, according to the most recent figures released by the Central Statistics Office.

The migration of people to cities is a global trend where people are following the investment, employment and innovation opportunities of cities, according to Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

Aebhric McGibney, Dublin Chambers director of policy, said: “There has been a global urban shift, cities have become the lightning rods of investment, the centres of innovations, the epicentre of employment and the engines of national economies. Cities are responsible for generating more than 80pc of global gross domestic product yet they occupy just 2pc of the world’s land area. This is a trend that Ireland is following.”

Dublin Chamber recently launched a report entitled ‘The Case for City Regions’ which showed that Dublin ranked 77 of the 78 largest city region economies in the OECD – the only Irish city to be ranked. However, over the next 15 years there will be another 136 major cities in the developing world vying for investments currently located in Ireland.

“Cities have a higher GDP per capita than their national average, a higher labour productivity level, and many of them tend to have faster growth rates than the national average for their countries,” McGibney continued.

“It is forecast that GDP per capita for the top 600 cities in the world will rise from US$23,000 in 2007 to US$38,000 in 2025. This means that Ireland’s cities have significant opportunities for growth, but will equally face growing competition amongst cities across the globe. The Government must ensure that Irish cities are strategically positioned to compete.”

Bernice Barrington