Analytics, Crisis, Employment, EU – Baltic States

Of 65,100 people who left the country in the year to April, by far the biggest group was those from the European Union's 12 newest member states: 30,100 headed home, or elsewhere, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said.

The 12 countries are Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania, informs AFP/LETA.

The number of immigrants also dropped in the same period from 83,800 to 57,300.

Immigrants coming from the EU 12 showed the greatest fall-off to 13,500 in the year to last April, compared to 33,700 a year earlier.

"These combined changes have resulted in a return to net outward migration from Ireland of minus 7,800 for the first time since 1995," the CSO said.

Ireland had traditionally been a country of emigration, with generations of Irish heading overseas for better jobs and prospects. But during the prosperity of the Celtic Tiger years it became a magnet for immigrants seeking work.

However, the country entered recession during the first half of 2008 – the first eurozone nation to do so – and the unemployment rate has surged to 12.4%, the highest level since April 1995.