The number of babies born in the second quarter of last year fell by 2.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2010.
Figures published by the Central Statistics Office today show there were 18,381 births registered in the second three months of 2011. But this was still 20 per cent higher than in 2002, when 15,247 babies were registered.
Based on the latest vital statistics, the birth rate is 16.4 babies per 1,000 of the population. The rate for the corresponding quarter of 2010 was 16.9 per cent, and in 2002 it was 15.6 per 1,000.
Of the 18,381 births in the second quarter, 6,013 were registered as outside marriage. Of these, 3,396 were to unmarried parents with the same address, or 18 per cent of all births.
The highest percentage of births outside marriage occurred in Limerick city at 47 per cent, while the lowest percentage occurred in Cork county and Galway county, both at 25 per cent.
According to the CSO, the average age of mothers for births registered in the second quarter of 2011 was 31.8 – 0.3 years older than the corresponding figure in the same period of 2010.
The age of women giving birth has risen by 0.7 years since the second quarter of 2006, and a full 1.3 years since the same three months in 2002.
The average age of mothers having their first child in the second quarter of last year was 29.9.
Some 7,277 deaths were registered in the three-month period, an increase of 5 per cent on the previous year. This is a death rate of 6.5 per 1,000 of the population, compared with 6.2 in 2010. The death rate in the same quarter of 2002 was 7.8 per 1,000.
While there has been a levelling off in the number of births since a peak in 2008, the CSO indicated the slight drop in the second quarter last year was not of any major statistical significance.
The estimated population in April 2011 was 4,484,300.