The number of people with private health insurance fell by almost 50,000 between March 2013 and March 2014, new figures from the Health Insurance Authority (HIA) have shown.

According to the HIA, 2,031,000 people had private inpatient health insurance at the end of March 2014. This represented a fall of 21,000 over the quarter January to March 2014, and a fall of 47,000 in the year ending March 2014.

Private health insurance peaked at the end of 2008, when 2.3 million people had policies. This equated to almost 51% of the population.

This number then began to fall and the current number of policies is the lowest yet seen. It equates to just over 44% of the population.

The drop in the numbers covered in the first quarter of this year follows a slight increase in the numbers insured recorded in the final quarter of last year compared to the previous quarter.

However, sings that that more people were beginning to find health insurance affordable again with a reported upturn in the economy have been dashed by the latest figures.

In an interview last week with irishhealth.com, Catherine Whelan, head of the private hospitals' association, the IHAI, correctly predicted that this increase was a blip.

"I believe when 2014 first quarter results come out soon that the decline in health insurance membership that's been taking place since 2008 will be visible yet again. You are likely to see the impact of capping of tax relief on insurance subscriptions in the last Budget, which has led to further premium rises."