Editing Portlaoise (section)

==Demography==
{{Historical populations|state=collapsed
|1821|2677
|1831|3223
|1841|3633
|1851|2078
|1861|2935
|1871|2731
|1881|2872
|1891|2809
|1901|2957
|1911|3270
|1926|3374
|1936|3396
|1946|3170
|1951|3304
|1956|5561
|1961|5598
|1966|5873
|1971|6470
|1981|7756
|1986|8384
|1991|8360
|1996|9474
|2002|12127
|2006|14613
|2011|20145
|2016|22050
|2022|23494
| footnote=<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cso.ie/census |title=Census for post 1821 figures. |access-date=25 July 2009 |archive-date=20 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100920090814/http://cso.ie/census |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.histpop.org/ohpr/servlet/|title=HISTPOP.ORG - Home|website=www.histpop.org|access-date=6 November 2019|archive-date=28 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828234704/http://www.histpop.org/ohpr/servlet/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census |title=Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency - Census Home Page |access-date=2012-02-17 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217095720/http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/census |archive-date=17 February 2012 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| last=Lee|first=JJ| author-link =J. J. Lee (historian)|editor-last=Goldstrom|editor-first=J. M.|editor2-last=Clarkson
| editor2-first=L. A.|title=Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell
| year=1981|publisher=Clarendon Press|location=Oxford, England
| chapter=On the accuracy of the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Pre-famine]] Irish censuses}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal  | last1 = Mokyr  | first1 = Joel
| author-link = Joel Mokyr  | last2 = O Grada  | first2 = Cormac
| author2-link = Cormac Ó Gráda  | title = New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850  | journal = The Economic History Review  | volume =  37  | issue =  4
| pages = 473–488  |date=November 1984
| url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract  | archive-url = https://archive.today/20121204160709/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/120035880/abstract  | url-status = dead  | archive-date = 2012-12-04  | doi = 10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x  | hdl = 10197/1406  | hdl-access = free  }}</ref>
}}

Portlaoise was among Ireland's fastest growing towns from 2006 to 2011, with a 37.9% increase in population. In the [[2016 census of Ireland|2016 census]] it was again in the top 10 fastest growing regions, with the population of the town and its suburbs exceeding 22,000.<ref name="Pop2016"/> By the [[2022 census of Ireland|2022 census]], population reached 23,494.<ref name="cso2022"/>

In 2022, non-Irish nationals accounted for 28.47% of the population, compared with a national average figure of 20%. Polish (6.29%) were the largest single group, with the largest categories being Other European Union (7.88%) and Rest of the World (9.79%).<ref name="cso2022"/> The former Mayor, [[Rotimi Adebari]], was the first person of African descent to become a mayor in Ireland.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6251094.stm|title=Ireland elects first black mayor|work=[[BBC News]]|date=28 June 2007|access-date=10 February 2017|archive-date=1 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101030251/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6251094.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Due to rapid population growth and its location in the commuter belt, Portlaoise has seen the development of additional services, including a new fire station and a large swimming leisure complex.<ref>{{cite web|title=Portlaoise Leisure Centre|website=Laois County Council|url=https://laois.ie/departments/sport-and-leisure/leisure-facilities/portlaoise-leisure-centre-2/|access-date=2 October 2023}}</ref> Portlaoise has a high percentage of people under the age of 15,<ref name="cso2022group">{{cite web|title=Census 2022 - F1015 Population per Age Group|work=Central Statistics Office Census 2022 Reports |publisher=[[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|Central Statistics Office Ireland]] |date=August 2023 |url=https://data.cso.ie/table/F1015 |access-date=16 September 2023}}</ref> reflected in the recent construction of new secondary and primary schools.<ref>{{cite web|title=New schools open their doors in Portlaoise|website=Leinster Express|url=https://www.leinsterexpress.ie/video/180474/New-schools-open-their-doors-.html|access-date=2 October 2023}}</ref>