Ireland has the youngest population in Europe, with the highest birth rate and the second largest consumption of alcohol, new figures released by the Department of Health showed.
The Health Statistics for 2002 also revealed that 81 per cent of people over 18 perceived their own health as good or very good which was the highest rate in Europe. A total of 84.6 per cent of males and 89.5 per cent of females also claimed to follow a balanced diet.
The birth rate in 2001 was 15.1 live births per 1,000 population. Births outside marriage were 31.2 per cent, representing a reduction of 0.5 per cent over the previous year, the first reduction since the rate began to increase in the 1970s.
Life expectancy from birth for males and females was 79.2 years. This has continued to rise showing gains of around 10 years during the past 50 years. Females can expect to live approximately 5.5 years longer than males though the gap is slowly closing.
The principle causes of death were diseases of the circulatory system, which include heart disease and stroke, at 40 per cent, and one in four deaths at 25.4 per cent were from cancers.
Smoking was considered to be a contributory factor in approximately 20 per cent of all deaths in 1995. Figures for 1998 indicated that 31 per cent of the population aged 15 and over were regular daily smokers, although the Department of Health states that recently published National Health and Lifestyle Surveys found that this figure may have fallen to 28 per cent in 2002.
Alcohol consumption is continuing to increase. Ireland had the second highest consumption of alcohol in the EU in 1999. The total units of pure alcohol taken was 11.5 litres compared with 5.9 litres in 1970.
HIV/AIDS incidence in Ireland is the second lowest in the EU. Cases of and deaths from AIDS have fallen significantly since 1997.
Infant, neonatal and perinatal mortality rates in Ireland continued to show a downward trend.
The maternal mortality rate was 1.8 per 100,000 live births in 2000. This was lower than the EU average of 5.5 per 100,000 live births.
The statistics show that MMR immunisation uptake rates varied between health board/regional authority area from 66 to 87 per cent in 2001 with a national average of 73 per cent. This has fallen from the 1999 rate of 77 per cent.
Psychiatric inpatient numbers fell from 8,360 in 1990 to 3,833 in 2000 as a result of the development of more extensive community psychiatric services and facilities. Mortality is also a factor.
Acute hospital day case activity has risen by over 75,000 between 1997 and 2000. More recent figures yet to be published indicate a further increase of 81,000 in the annual day case rate up to 2001.
Average length of stay for all age groups has levelled off over the last number of years with reductions over the levels prevalent in the 1980s. The biggest reductions have been in the 75 plus age group where the average length of stay has been reduced by over seven days since 1981.