Foreign-born residents in Ireland are more likely to be employed, active in the labour market and well-educated compared to the Irish-born population, a report has found.
However, migrants also have lower incomes and are more likely to experience poverty and deprivation.
Migrants are also much more likely to be affected by high housing costs, with about one in three spending more than 30 per cent of their income on housing, compared to 9 per cent of Irish-born residents.
The monitoring report on integration 2024 is published jointly by the ESRI, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), and the Department of Justice.
It is the latest in a series that investigates how migrants in Ireland are faring.
The report compares outcomes for Irish and foreign-born residents in the areas of employment, education, social inclusion and active citizenship.
Migrant employment and rates of participation in the labour market have remained higher than those of Irish-born residents since 2022.
Employment rates have maintained their recovery since 2021, when they fell to the same level as the Irish-born rate during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Outcomes vary according to place of birth. In 2024, migrants born in the EU, Asia and the rest of the world had broadly better labour market outcomes than Irish-born residents.
Those born in Europe but not in the EU had poorer labour market outcomes.
Other groups had similar or worse labour market outcomes, depending on the indicator.
Labour market outcomes for African migrants show continued improvement, maintaining progress first observed in the monitoring report on integration in 2022.
In recent years, African employment rates have risen, and unemployment rates have fallen, with both figures now similar to those of Irish-born residents.
In line with previous monitoring reports, migrants have higher levels of educational attainment than Irish-born overall.
Across 2021 to 2023, 59 per cent of working-age foreign-born residents had tertiary education, compared to 42 per cent of Irish-born residents.
Tertiary education rates vary by place of birth, with the lowest figure among those born in eastern EU countries at 38 per cent, and the highest among those born in Asia at 79 per cent.
Migrant students, at 15 years of age, score lower on English reading and maths tests compared to non-migrant students.
The rate of early school leaving among young migrants was low and similar to the rate of the Irish-born population.
Migrants are much more likely to experience high housing costs. Some 37 per cent of migrants pay more than 30 per cent of their income on housing costs, compared to 9 per cent of Irish-born residents.
Migrants face higher levels of poverty and deprivation than Irish-born residents. It primarily affects those born in eastern EU states and outside the EU.
Of those born outside the EU, 20 per cent are considered “at risk of poverty”, compared to 11 per cent of Irish-born residents.
Those born in the UK, eastern EU and outside the EU are more likely to experience material deprivation than the Irish-born population. Those born in the western EU are less likely to experience this.
In 2023, more than 18,200 naturalisation certificates were issued, up more than a third from 2022. More than one in ten naturalisation certificates were issued following marriage to an Irish national.
Average processing times for a citizenship application decreased from 22 months in 2022 to 15 months in 2023.
Political participation of immigrants has increased, with the number of immigrants both running for and winning a seat doubling in the 2024 local elections, albeit from a very low base.
The proportion of councillors with a migrant background remains low overall, at 2.2 per cent.
The report shows that while migrants are likely to be employed and are well-educated, they have lower incomes and are more at risk of poverty.
The authors of the report said this may indicate that foreign qualifications are not receiving the recognition they deserve, leaving some migrants overqualified for their jobs.
Mainstream issues, such as housing, can disproportionately affect migrants and addressing such issues is essential for improving migrant integration.
Evan Carron-Kee, co-author of the report, said: “Recent positive developments in migrant integration include strong growth in the African employment rate and improvements in citizenship processing times.
“However, there are also some persistent challenges.
“Migrants are disproportionately impacted by the housing crisis and are much more likely to experience income poverty and deprivation.
“These issues require urgent policy attention.”
