THE BIRTH rate between April and June last year rose by 40 per cent on the same period in 1999, according to the Central Statistics Office.
Figures published yesterday show that 19,027 births were registered in the second quarter of last year, an increase of 5,442 – or 60 births a day – on the same three-month period in 1999. The annual increase alone was 11 per cent.
This means the natural increase in the population (births minus deaths) for that period was 11,457 – almost double the natural rise of 5,808 recorded in 1999.
However, there was a notable rise in the rates of infant and neo-natal deaths in the second quarter of last year, when compared to 2007.
The figure for registered infant deaths, which covers children under 1, rose from 60 to 90, while neo-natal deaths (children who died younger than 28 days) increased from 34 to 62.
While similar totals were recorded in 2002, these annual rates of increase are higher than any in the past decade.
Overall, the average age of women giving birth was 31.2 years, the same as the corresponding figure for 2007 but a year older than in 1999. The largest number of births was to women in the 30-34 age group, who had 6,525 children. This compares to 4,486 babies born to women aged 25-29, and 2,238 to women aged between 20 and 24.
Some 830 births were registered to those in the 40-44 age group, while 39 women in the 45 and over age group registered births in the quarter. Thirteen girls aged 15 and under also gave birth in this period.
Of all births from April to June 2008, about 41 per cent were to first-time mothers. These mothers’ average age was 28.9 years, ranging from 26.4 in Limerick city to 31.7 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.
A total of 6,171 (32 per cent) of all births were registered as outside of marriage, 3,346 of which were to unmarried parents with the same address.
The highest percentage of births outside marriage occurred in Limerick city (54 per cent), while the lowest was in Galway county (20 per cent).
In all, there were 7,570 deaths in the second quarter of 2008, an annual rate of 6.8 per 1,000 population, the CSO found. For those aged 65 and over, the annual death rate was 48.6 per 1,000 population, an improvement of almost 17 per cent since 1999.
More than one-third of all deaths were attributed to circulatory diseases (35 per cent), while 28 per cent were due to cancers and 13 per cent to respiratory diseases.
The figures also show the number of marriages registered during the three-month period was 5,370, slightly below the corresponding figure for 2007 but 17 per cent higher than in 1999.
The CSO said the estimated population of the State in April 2008 was 4,422,100.
