Northern Ireland Net Migration

These statistics present net migration estimates for Northern Ireland by gender and single year of age (0 to 90 and over).

Variables:

Geo_Name: refers to a geographical area.

Geo_Code: refers to the geographical code associated with the area. (e.g. N92000002 refers to Northern Ireland).

Mid_Year_to_Mid_Year: Migration happens over time, therefore the estimates are reported from mid-year to mid-year. (e.g. 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017).

Gender: Migration estimates are provided for Males, Females and All Persons.

Age: The age range for the population estimates is single years from 0 to 89. In addition there is an upper age band of “90 and over”. Note that “90 and over” is represented by the integer value of 90 in order to maintain a numeric data type for this variable.

Net_Migration: refers to the number of inflows minus the number of outflows.

Migration is the most difficult component of population change to measure, as unlike births and deaths, there is no complete system for registering migration. Migration is estimated using transfers observed in medical cards, detailing the list of patients registered with a family doctor:

1. Inflows (persons who come to live in Northern Ireland for a period of at least one year) are estimated by counting the number of people who registered or re-registered with a family doctor; and
2. Outflows (persons who leave Northern Ireland for a period of at least one year) are estimated by counting the number of people who de-registered with a family doctor.

Further information on the sources used for migration estimates is available from the Administrative Data Quality Document (https://www.nisra.gov.uk/sites/nisra.gov.uk/files/publications/Population-DataQuality_1.pdf) and the mid-year estimates methodology paper (https://www.nisra.gov.uk/sites/nisra.gov.uk/files/publications/Methodology-2020.pdf).