The CSO today released the Vital Statistics First Quarter 2013 report.
Some of the key points highlighted in the report are as follows:
There were 17,563 births registered in the first quarter of 2013, a decrease of 9% in the number of births registered in the corresponding quarter of 2012.
Births in the first quarter of 2013 represented an annual birth rate of 15.3 per 1,000 population. The rate for the corresponding quarter of 2012 was 16.9 per 1,000 population and 15.7 per 1,000 population in quarter 1 2004. In quarter 1 2013, Fingal recorded the highest birth rate of 19.6 per 1,000 population, while Donegal recorded the lowest birth rate of 11.4 per 1,000 population.
Of the 17,563 births, there were 6,406 births registered as outside marriage. This accounted for 36.5% of all births. Of these, 3,685 births were to unmarried parents with the same address, 21% of all births. The highest percentage of births outside marriage occurred in Limerick City at 58%, while the lowest percentage occurred in Leitrim at 22%.
A total of 6,752 births (38.6%) were to first time mothers in quarter 1 of 2013. Second time mothers had 6,099 births (34.9%). The average age of mothers for births registered in this period was 32.1 years, while the average age of mothers having their first child was 30.2 years.
There were 8,347 deaths registered in quarter 1 2013, an increase of 4.6% in the number of deaths registered in the first quarter of 2012. The quarter 1 2013 total represents a death rate of 7.3 per 1,000 population, a slight increase from the rate of 7.0 per 1,000 population in the corresponding quarter in 2012. The death rate in quarter 1 2004 was 7.9 per 1,000 population.
One third (33.5%) of all deaths in the quarter were attributed to circulatory disease (2,797), while 27.3% were attributed to malignant neoplasms (2,275), 13% to respiratory diseases (1,079) and 4% to external causes (332).
For those aged 65 and over, the annual death rate was 49.4 per 1,000 population (6,782 deaths). This compares with a rate of 48.5 per 1,000 population for the corresponding quarter of 2012. There is a decrease in the rate of 14% since 2004 (57.5 per 1,000 population).
There were 55 infant deaths registered in quarter 1 2013 giving an infant mortality rate of 3.1 deaths per 1,000 live births. The corresponding rate in quarter 1 2012 was 3.2 per 1,000 live births and was 4.6 per 1,000 live births in quarter 1 2004. The number of neonatal deaths (deaths of infants at ages under 4 weeks) in quarter 1 2013 was 36, 2.0 deaths per 1,000 live births.
The natural increase in the population (births minus deaths) for quarter 1 2013 was 9,216. This represents a rate of 8.0 per 1,000 population, 1.9 below quarter 1 2012 and 0.2 above quarter 1 2004.
There were 3,642 marriages registered in quarter 1 2013, 815 more than the corresponding quarter of 2012 and an increase of 887 from the number of marriages registered in quarter 1 2004.
Vital Statistics First Quarter 2013 is available on our website Vital Statistics First Quarter 2013 (PDF 184KB)
For more information contact Carol Anne Hennessy on 021 453 5307 or Marie Crowley on 021 453 5016
Central Statistics Office 30 August 2013
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