The line graph illustrates the correlation between the percentage of unemployed Irish citizens and the number of people emigrating from Ireland over a twenty-year period, starting in 1988.
Overall, both indicators showed a general downward trend during the 1990s, reaching their lowest points around the year 2000. However, while unemployment remained relatively stable thereafter, emigration figures began to climb sharply towards the end of the period.
In 1988, emigration was at its peak with 60,000 people leaving the country, while the unemployment rate stood at 17%. By 1992, emigration had dropped significantly to 35,000, despite a temporary rise in unemployment to 15%. Throughout the mid-1990s, both metrics declined steadily. By 2000, the unemployment rate had fallen to a low of 5%, and the number of people leaving Ireland reached a nadir of 25,000 in 2002.
From 2002 onwards, the trends diverged. While the unemployment rate remained low, hovering between 5% and 6%, the number of emigrants rose consistently. By 2008, the number of people leaving Ireland had surged back to 50,000, whereas the unemployment rate saw only a marginal increase to 6%.