DERRY JOURNAL Editorial: Demographic timebomb means we need more migrants, not less
ONS figures show Derry experienced the fastest population growth in the North in the year to mid-2024.
At 1.01% the number of people living here rose from 150,859 to 152,383. Good news you might think. Unfortunately the long term picture is not so rosy. A joint census by the CSO and the NISRA recently showed population levels in Derry and Donegal have been stagnating. In Derry/Strabane the population grew by only 1.8 per cent between 2011 and 2022, and in Donegal the figure was 3.7 per cent – the lowest in the 26 counties.
The new ONS figures provide an insight into one of the reasons why. We are getting older. The number of people aged 65 years increased by 2% in the North between mid-2023 and mid-2024 while the number of people aged 15 and under decreased. In many places in the UK natural change – births outweighing deaths – is no longer a given. It now contributes less to population growth than international migration.
This has been seized upon by some of the usual suspects to call for borders to be closed. They couldn’t be more wrong. Falling fertility – manifest in low natural population change – means we are facing a demographic timebomb.
If we want a tax base to pay for our health service, pensions, social welfare, schools and key infrastructure, we need more migrants not less.
In the near future those bigots routinely disgracing themselves on the streets and online, might have cause to be grateful for the arrival of new Irish citizens to our shores.