CSO data shows number of births in State continuing to fall

There were 21 sets of triplets and two sets of quadruplets born in 2019, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The number of births continued to fall that year, with a decrease of 21.5 per cent from 2009, the peak year so far for births this century.

The CSO’s vital statistics annual report for 2019, published on Friday, shows almost two in five births were outside marriage or civil partnerships. The number of births to teenage mothers (858) has fallen by 61.8 per cent since 2009 when the figure was 2,249.

There were 59,294 live births in Ireland in 2019, down 2.8 per cent on the previous year, with 30,271 males and 29,023 females born.

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The average age of mothers who gave birth was 33.1. Mothers under the age of 30 accounted for just over a quarter of births.

The number of maternities in 2019 which resulted in multiple live births was 1,081 consisting of 1,058 sets of twins, 21 sets of triplets and two sets of quadruplets.

The CSO said over the past 20 years, the twinning rate has “increased significantly” – from 13.7 per 1,000 maternities in 1999 to a high of 19.0 per 1,000 maternities in 2016. The twinning rate was 18.2 in 2019.

January 29th saw the highest number of babies born in one single day (230) in 2019. This was followed by September 19th with 222 births.

The fewest number of babies born was on Christmas Day, with only 81 births, followed by St Stephen’s Day with 85 births.

Cancer

Meanwhile, cancer and circulatory disease were the biggest causes of death in Ireland two years ago.

Deaths due to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in 2019 were almost twice as prevalent in females than in males.

There were 31,184 deaths in Ireland in 2019, an increase of 44 on the previous year. More than 30 per cent of deaths were attributed to malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumours), while 29 per cent were attributed to diseases of the circulatory system.

Deaths from suicide accounted for 1.3 per cent (or 390) of all deaths in 2019, of which over three-quarters were males.

There were 167 deaths of infants aged less than one year giving an infant mortality rate of 2.8 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2019, down slightly on the previous year.

There were 128 neonatal deaths (infants aged under four weeks) registered. Almost two-fifths of all infant deaths occurred within the first day of birth, while 57 per cent occurred within the first week.