Allocations of PPSN to reign nationals 2011-2016 Source: CSO Ireland

OVER 100,000 FOREIGN nationals across all age groups were allocated a PPS Number in 2016, an increase of 13% on the year before.

The latest report from the Central Statistics Office looked into the number of PPSN (Personal Public Service Number) allocations to foreign nationals over the past six years – from 2011 to 2016.

It found that there was a total of 107,767 allocations to foreign nationals across all of last year.

For foreign nationals aged 15 and over, there were 94,978 allocations – this marks an increase of 12,000 on 2015 (when there were 82,779 allocations).

Of the PPSN allocations in 2016, just over 63% (or 60,443) had some form of either PAYE employment or engagement with the social welfare system.

Just under 52,000 of all the allocations in 2016 registered some form of employment activity that year – marking a 4.1% increase on 2015.

In terms of social welfare, 8.9% of foreign nationals who were allocated a PPSN last year registered some form of social welfare activity in 2016.

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The United Kingdom had the highest number of PPSN allocations (15,917) in 2016, and has continued to account for the highest number of allocations by country since 2009.

Romania had the second highest number – with 11,206 allocations. Poland was third.

You can view a full breakdown of the report here