Derry's Kathy Conway and Tyrone's Cathy Hughes at the Cormac McAnallens GAA competition at Maroubra Beach in April this year. (Pic: Martin Brady)

There is now almost 90,000 people born on the island of Ireland living in Australia, according to census data provided to the Irish Echo by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

A total of 89,911 people living in Australia cited Ireland or Northern Ireland as their country of birth when filling in the country’s 100th census form on August 9 of last year.

While revealing a snapshot of the Australian population born in the Republic of Ireland, the census data also provides a rare insight into the number of Northern Irish people who know call Australia home.

Some 67,316 people listed the Republic of Ireland as their country of birth, as opposed to 50, 260 in the 2006 census.

A total of 22,595 residents in Australia listed Northern Ireland as their country of birth.

The new total figure of 89,911 can also be broken down based on gender.

Some 11,524 males from Northern Ireland were recorded, while there was a total of 36,231 males from the Republic of Ireland recorded.

When it came to females there were 11,071 from Northern Ireland and 31,085 from the Republic of Ireland.

The median age of all Northern Irish born residents in Australia is 57.

The median age of all residents in Australia born in the Republic of Ireland is 43.

When it came to Irish ancestry a total of 2.08 million people said that Ireland was their most common country of ancestry when surveyed.

This figure can also be broken down based on gender.

Some 995,521 of those selecting Irish as their most common ancestry were male while 1.09 million of those surveyed were female.