Derry/Strabane population grows by 276 as city experiences net migration out
The population of Derry and Strabane grew by 276 people last year due largely to births outnumbering deaths.
New figures from the NI Research and Statistics Agency (NISRA) show Derry and Strabane’s population rose from 152,383 to 152,659 between the middle to 2024 and 2025.
This was driven by 1,621 births outweighing 1,343 deaths and 'other factors' in the year to the middle of 2025.
Net migration was negative with only 721 international migrants arriving in the city compared with 768 leaving (-47 people).
NISRA’s latest 2025 mid-year population estimates show a longer term trend of stagnation.
Over the past 10 years Derry and Strabane experienced the lowest level of population growth in the North with an increase between 2015 and 2025 of just 2.1 per cent.
Neighbouring Causeway Coast and Glens actually experienced population decline of -0.2 per cent over the decade.
Derry and Strabane is also continuing to age, the NISRA bulletin shows.
The median age in Derry and Strabane has increased by 3.3 years from 36.9 years to 40.2 years over the past ten years.
This is defined as the age of the person in the middle of the group, such that one half of the group is younger than that person and the other half is older.
Across the North in general the population increased by a mere 600 (0.03 per cent) to 1,928,400 between mid-2024 and mid-2025.
Earlier this year NISRA forecast that the population of Derry and Strabane is set to decline by 1.1 per cent from 150,800 in 2022 to 149,200 in 2032 with net migration out of the city outstripping natural growth.