Ireland had the highest birth rate in the European Union last year, at 14.4 per 1,000 residents. That is compared to the EU average of 10.1.
Just behind us are France, the UK and Sweden - while the lowest birth rates were seen in Portugal, Italy, Greece and Germany.
According to EU population estimates from Eurostat, Ireland now has a population of 4.6 million - 0.9% of the EU population.
The largest population increase last year was seen in Luxembourg, while the largest decrease was recorded in Cyprus.
Ireland's population is growing | Source: Eurostat
With 16% of the total EU population, Germany continues to be the most populated EU country - ahead of France at just over 13% and the UK at 12.9%.
Germany, France, the UK and Italy together make up more than half the EU population.
Bulgaria had the highest death rate in 2014 - at 15.1 per 1,000 residents - followed by Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania and Croatia.
At the opposite end of the scale, Cyprus had the lowest - followed by Ireland and Luxembourg.
