Latest estimates suggest that the island’s population is at a record high - and is close to topping 85,000 for the first time.

The figure of 84,975 for the first quarter of this year is an increase of 906 since the last census in 2021 - but is nevertheless only 478 more than it was in 2011.

And the growth has been driven entirely by inward migration as the natural population continues to decline with deaths once again outstripping births.

The estimates are based in large part on income tax data concerning the number of people leaving and arriving on the Isle of Man.

Statistics Isle of Man describes the estimates presented in their report as ‘experimental’ and ‘should not be regarded as definitive’.

They suggest that the island has seen an inward migration of 8,065 people between the 2021 Census and the end of the first quarter of 2025.

Natural population change is acting to reduce the effect this has on overall population numbers, the report notes.

In 2024 there were 925 deaths in the island but only 574 births, continuing a decade-long trend of no natural population growth.

The report adds: ‘The estimated increase in population numbers that is recorded for the first quarter of 2025 is notable.

‘It is, however, currently impossible to say with any degree of certainty whether this increase will be seen to continue throughout 2025.’

The report states that the most recent estimate of outward migration is that 5,838 residents have left the Isle of Man since the 2021 census.

A total of 41% those were in the 20 to 34-year-old age range.

The report notes that economic and career factors play a large role in influencing outward migration with people leaving to progress to the next stage or seek a change of career.

Average age of those taking up residency in the Isle of Man is 40 - although 56% of new and returning residents were younger than this age.

Half of the new arrivals were employed in just 11 economic sectors with medical and health the area employing the greatest number.

The report notes: ‘We were not able to find evidence of employment or income for approximately a quarter of such residents.

‘This does not necessarily mean that these people were or are unemployed, rather it may be because the records are not yet complete enough to identify the business sector in which these people are employed.’

A key part of the government’s economic strategy is to grow the population - but its target of 100,000 seems a long way off.

The latest version of the economic strategy talks about ‘further developing the infrastructure and services of our community to plan for an estimated population of 100,000 by 2037’.

The Statistics Isle of Man report is the third in a series that attempts to estimate annually the size of the population in the Isle of Man.