8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Europe / Northern Europe

Born in Ireland

About 1 in 2,479 people born in 2023 started life in Ireland. A boy can expect to live 80 years and a girl 85, up from 65 and 67 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 2,479
odds of being born here
53,300 births · Ranked 131st of 230
80 / 85
years of life, boys / girls
Was 65 / 67 in 1950
$21,592
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 48th of 203 · extrapolated
64%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 17 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 53 in every 1,000 births to 3.3.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0204060195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth80.4 years for boys, 84.5 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 53.3 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year36,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people3.9World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles89%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.2%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year5 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 3.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.6, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0246195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.60UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth32.7 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 38 and the poorest fifth 9.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
9%Poorest fifth
13%Second
17%Middle
22%Fourth
38%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $21,592 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth38% / 9% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment4.2% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises6.3% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-4.3% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming5% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed13% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment131% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Dublin, with 1.0 million people.

64%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
97%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Dublin1.0 million
Cork224,004
Limerick102,287
Galway85,910
Tallaght81,022
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English98%
Irish22%
French13%
English, Irish is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Leinster1.7 million
Munster522,484
Connacht106,518
Ulster22,549

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

People on the move

About 14% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United Kingdom, United States, Australia.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United Kingdom360,446
United States125,844
Australia90,203
Residents born abroad23.1% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 13.5% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited Kingdom (360,446), United States (125,844), Australia (90,203)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $726.1 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

96% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 100%.

96%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
100%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 20249,744Our World in Data, from WHO
Hurricane-strength storms since 19801NOAA IBTrACS

Now live it.

Born in Ireland, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Ireland

Elsewhere in Europe

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences