Deaths from Covid-19 down by one third

The deaths from Covid-19 of almost 200 people were recorded in the second quarter of this year, one-third of the number of deaths due to the disease recorded in the same period last year, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The CSO’s vital statistic report shows 13,447 births and 8,749 deaths were registered between April and June this due.

The numbers of death attributed to Covid-19 show a marked decline with 196 deaths due to COVID-19 in quarter two 2023, accounting for 2.2 per cent of deaths in the quarter.

In the same quarter last year, 621 deaths were due to COVID-19, accounting for 6.7 per cent of deaths during that period.

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Of the 161 who died of Covid in quarter two of this year, 82 per cent were aged 75 and over, a similar profile to last year when 81 per cent were 75 years of age or older.

Cancer and circulatory disease remain the biggest causes of death in Ireland, accounting for 5,028 or 57.5 per cent of deaths in the second quarter of 2023, compared with 5,152 or 55.2 per cent in quarter two of 2022.

The natural increase, defined as births minus deaths, fell by 8.3 per cent compared with the same period in 2022. The number of births decreased by 1,002 or 6.9 per cent and there were 577 fewer deaths, down 6.2 per cent when compared with the same period in 2022.

The average age of all mothers was 33.3 years, up slightly from 33.2 years as recorded in quarter two in 2022. The average age 10 years ago was 32.2 years for the same period. Births to mothers aged less than 20 fell from 222 in the quarter in 2022 compared to 176 in the same period in 2023.

More than two in five or 40.9 per cent of births were outside of marriage or civil partnership, compared with the same quarter a year earlier when 44.2 per cent of births were to mothers outside of marriage. Ten years ago, in quarter two 2013, this proportion was just over more than one in three or 34 per cent births.

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