Latest estimates suggest the population of the Isle of Man has grown.

But the increase will provide little encouragement for Manx government ambitions to grow the population to 100,000.

A new report published by statisticians at the Cabinet Office estimates the population was 84,523 at the end of the first quarter of 2024.

That’s an increase of 454 people since the last Census in 2021 and an average rate of population growth of approximately 159 people per year over that period.

But the figure of 84,069 in 2021 was itself well down from the 84,497 in the previous Census - and so the latest estimate is only 26 more than in 2011.

‘This year’s population estimate shows a slight increase in the population compared with previous years, with growth slowing significantly in 2023 compared with 2022, ‘ the report concludes.

But the report also suggests that the population actually dipped in the first quarter of 2024 although it accepts it is impossible to say with any degree of certainty whether this will be seen to continue throughout that year.

The overall increase has been driven by inward migration but this has been offset both by the scale of the number of people leaving the island and by continuing natural population decline.

Current estimate is that the Isle of Man has seen an inward migration of 5,694 people between the 2021 Census and the end of the first quarter of 2024.

But the most recent estimate of outward migration is that 4,419 residents have left the island since 2021, with a large rise in the number leaving in 2023 - 1,833 - compared to 2022 (1,564).

Meanwhile the number of deaths continues to outstrip the number of births with the rate increasing last year with 907 deaths compared to 485 births, a difference of 422.

As in 2022, the medical and health services sector continues to be a significant driver of inward migration, employing a large percentage of recent arrivals to the island.

The figures go against a perception that much of thee inward migration is made up of those of or approaching retirement age.

In fact, the average age of those taking up residency in the Isle of Man is 39, compared with an average age of 44 for the population as a whole.

In total, 77% of new and returning residents were found to be under the age of 50, while only 10% were over the age of 60.

Notable is the large percentage of people in the 20 to 34 year old age range leaving the island. This age group accounts for 47% of those leaving in both 2022 and 2023.

A reasonable explanation, notes that report, is that people are leaving to progress to the next stage or seek a change of career if this is not possible in the Isle of Man, or they are students taking up work in the UK after graduation.