The number of births fell by 243 or 1.7% in Quarter 3 (Q3) 2023 to 13,848 registrations. There were 8,319 deaths registered in the same period, which was 148 fewer deaths (1.7%) when compared with the same period in 2022. Care should be taken when interpreting these figures. (See Statistician's Comment below for more detail).
There were 121 deaths due to COVID-19 in Q3 2023, accounting for 1.5% of deaths in the quarter of which 53 were male and 68 were female.
Cancer and circulatory disease were the biggest causes of death in Ireland in Q3 2023 accounting for 4,978 (or 59.8%) of deaths compared with 4,865 (or 57.5%) in Q3 2022.
The average age of all mothers in Q3 2023 was 33.1 years, down slightly from 33.2 years recorded in Q3 2022. The average age of all mothers 10 years ago was 32.1 years for the same quarter.
Just over two in five (40.5%) births were outside marriage/civil partnership in Q3 2023.
The natural increase (i.e. births minus deaths) fell by 1.7% in Q3 2023 compared with the same period in 2022.
Important Notice: Information on occurrence of births and deaths is only available for these life events which have been registered. Births are more likely to be registered in a timelier manner than deaths due to variations in reporting time requirements to the General Registers Office (GRO).
As such, birth and death occurrence statistics in this publication are provisional and subject to further revision as births and deaths continue to be registered. Statistics in more recent quarters are more likely to be subject to revision as more life events are registered.
An Information Note on the CSO’s website to clarify the availability of death notifications arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also explains the timing of the release of these statistics as death notifications in Ireland can be registered up to three months after the date of death. See 'Information Note on implications of COVID-19 on the processing of Death Certificates' for further details.
A new Information Note is also available outlining how the CSO assigns COVID-19 as the underlying cause of death.
From Q1 2023, the Vital Statistics quarterly publications provide an additional breakdown of registered births and deaths by occurrence by quarter. Prior to Q1 2023, all data was classified by quarter of registration. Please see Vital Statistics Q3 2023 Summary Results below.
Please note, all other statistics bar those presented in the Vital Statistics Quarter 3 2023 Summary Results Table are based off registration data and not occurrence data.
| 1A Vital Statistics by quarter of registration1 | Quarter 3 2023 | Quarter 3 2022 |
| Births | 13,848 | 14,091 |
| Deaths | 8,319 | 8,467 |
| Marriages | 7,373 | 8,161 |
| Natural increase | 5,529 | 5,624 |
| 1B Q3 2023 registered births and deaths by quarter of occurrence2 | Birth Occurrences | Death Occurrences |
| Quarter 3 2023 | 10,161 | 5,250 |
| Quarter 2 2023 | 3,569 | 1,821 |
| Quarter 1 2022 | 90 | 639 |
| Quarter 4 2022 | 20 | 398 |
| Quarter 3 2022 | 7 | 122 |
| 1C Births by quarter of registration and occurrence | Birth Registrations | Birth Occurrences (Provisional)3 |
| Quarter 3 2023 | 13,848 | 13,984 |
| Quarter 2 2023 | 13,447 | 13,288 |
| Quarter 1 2023 | 13,968 | 13,097 |
| Quarter 4 2022 | 12,869 | 13,648 |
| Quarter 3 2022 | 14,091 | 14,176 |
| Quarter 2 2022 | 14,449 | 13,028 |
| Quarter 1 2022 | 16,131 | 13,622 |
| Quarter 4 2021 | 16,250 | 15,640 |
| Quarter 3 2021 | 16,747 | 15,862 |
| 1D Deaths by quarter of registration and occurrence | Death Registrations | Death Occurrences (Provisional)4 |
| Quarter 3 2023 | 8,319 | 7,390 |
| Quarter 2 2023 | 8,749 | 7,953 |
| Quarter 1 2023 | 10,205 | 9,328 |
| Quarter 4 2022 | 8,149 | 9,660 |
| Quarter 3 2022 | 8,467 | 8,115 |
| Quarter 2 2022 | 9,326 | 8,662 |
| Quarter 1 2022 | 9,535 | 8,947 |
| Quarter 4 2021 | 8,626 | 9,321 |
| Quarter 3 2021 | 8,165 | 7,984 |
| 1 The number of Births and Deaths which were registered in the quarter. | ||
| 2 These figures show the quarter in which Births and Deaths registered in Q3 2023 occurred. This does not include births and deaths which are yet to be registered. | ||
| 3 Please note the occurrence figures relate to a point in time and are subject to change as further registrations are lodged with the GRO. They do not include births and deaths which are yet to be registered. | ||
| 4 Please note the occurrence figures relate to a point in time and are subject to change as further registrations are lodged with the GRO. They do not include births and deaths which are yet to be registered. | ||
There were 7,095 male births and 6,753 female births in quarter 3 2023. The 13,848 births represent an annual birth rate of 10.5 per thousand population. This is a decrease of 0.4 in the birth rate when compared to that in Q3 2022. See tables 2, 4 and 5.
The average age of first-time mothers was 31.5, the same as that recorded for the same period in the previous year. The average age of all mothers at maternity for births registered in quarter 3 2023 was 33.1 years, which is down 0.1 from quarter 3 2022. See tables 8, 9, 12, 13 and Map 1.
The highest number of births registered was in Dublin City with 1,564 (11% of total live births) followed by Cork County with 1,119 (8.1%) registered births. Leitrim had the lowest number with 70 (0.5%) registered births in quarter 3 2023. The highest number of births registered in quarter 3 2022 was Dublin City which accounted for 1,557 or 11% of births followed by Cork County with 1,276 (9.1%). Leitrim had the lowest number, 101 births (0.7%), registered in quarter 3 2022. See tables 10, 11 and Map 2.
In quarter 3 2023, there were 8,233 (59%) births registered as within marriage/civil partnership.
There were 5,615 births registered as outside marriage/civil partnership, accounting for 41% of all births in quarter 3 2023. The highest percentage of births outside marriage/civil partnership was in Carlow at 52% and the lowest was in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown with 25%. In the same quarter in 2022, there were 6,022 births registered as outside marriage/civil partnership accounting for 43% of all births. See tables 10, 11 and Map 3.
From January 2018 onwards, where births take place within the State and the mother is residing outside the State, the area of residence of the mother is recorded as outside the State. Prior to quarter 1, 2018, cases where the mother was residing outside the State, the mother's area of residence was assigned to the location where the birth took place within the State.
There were 11 babies born to mothers who were resident outside the Republic of Ireland in quarter 3 2023. This accounts for 0.1% of total live births registered in the quarter. See tables 6 and 7.
A total of 5,726 births (41%) were to first time mothers in quarter 3 2023 while 4,696 (34%) were to second time mothers. These accounted for a total of 75% of births of stated parity in quarter 3 2023. See table 14 and figure 2.
Of the 13,848 births in quarter 3 2023, there were 10,176 babies (73%) born to mothers of Irish nationality compared to 10,666 (76%) in quarter 3 2022. See table 15.
There were 8,319 deaths registered in quarter 3 2023, of these 4,321 were male and 3,998 were female. The quarter 3 2023 total is 1.7% less than the corresponding quarter of 2022 when 8,467 deaths were registered. See table 16.
Diseases of the circulatory system accounted for 2,365 deaths (28% of the total in Q3 2023), or an annual rate of 1.8 per 1,000 population. Of these, 1,069 were due to ischaemic heart disease and 367 to cerebrovascular disease. See tables 17, 18, 19, 20 and figure 3.
There were 2,613 deaths from malignant neoplasms (31% of total deaths in Q3 2023). This is equivalent to an annual rate of 2.0 per 1,000 population. See tables 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22.
Deaths from chronic lower respiratory disease numbered 468, while pneumonia accounted for 166 deaths and 276 deaths resulted from all other respiratory diseases. As a whole, respiratory diseases accounted for 11% of total deaths in Q3 2023. See tables 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22.
There were 286 deaths due to accidents, suicides and other external causes. Accidents accounted for 74% (212) of these deaths while suicides accounted for 20% (58). This figure of 58 reflects a decrease of 31% from the same quarter of 2022. Of these suicide deaths, 74% (43) were male. As a whole, accidents, suicides and other external causes accounted for 3.4% of total deaths in Q3 2023. See tables 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22.
All unnatural deaths, which includes deaths from intentional self-harm, must be referred to the Coroner's Office. Deaths assigned an Underlying Cause of Death of External causes of injury and poisoning (including deaths from road traffic accidents and deaths from intentional self-harm), are likely to be underrepresented as such deaths are reported to the Coroner’s Office for further investigation. This can then result in such deaths being registered late (more than three months after the date of occurrence) and therefore having not yet been reported to the CSO.
In Q3 2023, there were 2,141 deaths due to other causes not part of the four categories mentioned above, or 25% of the total. This includes deaths due to Covid-19 which accounted for 1.5% of total deaths. See tables 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 26 and map 4.
There were 31 infant deaths registered in quarter 3 2023 giving an infant mortality rate of 2.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, a decrease of 1.8 on the rate recorded in quarter 3 of 2022. Neonatal deaths are deaths of infants at ages under 4 weeks. There were 22 neonatal deaths registered in quarter 3 2023, giving a neonatal mortality rate of 1.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, which is a decrease of 1.5 on the rate recorded in quarter 3 2022. See tables 1, 2, 23 and figure 4.
In Quarter 3 2023, there were 437 deaths due to dementia of which 286 (or 65%) were female. There were 109 deaths due to Alzheimer's of which 73 (or 67%) were female. See tables 24 and 25.
There were 121 deaths due to COVID-19 recorded in quarter 3 2023, 53 of which were male and 68 which were female. Of these, 95 (79%) were aged 75 and over.
In all 121 of these COVID-19 deaths, the virus was identified and there were no COVID-19 deaths in the quarter where the virus was not identified. See tables 26 and WHO ICD-10 classification of COVID-19 and WHO emergency use ICD codes for COVID-19 disease outbreak.
It is important to note that there will be a number of deaths where COVID-19 will not be assigned as the Underlying Cause of Death (UCOD) and therefore, the COVID-19 deaths in this analysis, will vary from those put into the public domain by the Department of Health. This is because the figures published in the Vital Statistics quarterly releases are based on the narrative of cause of death that is reported, in electronic format, on the death certificate once the death is registered with the General Registration Office (GRO) and subsequently forwarded to the CSO for processing. All deaths that are registered are assigned an Underlying Cause of Death in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). This UCOD is assigned using the WHO selection rules and is dependent on the hierarchy of diseases or conditions and their placement on the medical death certificate. There are also instances where COVID-19 is mentioned in the narrative of the death certificate but where the UCOD is not COVID-19.
The mean average age of death was 81.8 years while the median age was 84.5 years for all deaths due to COVID-19 in quarter 3 2023.
The leading cause of death in quarter 3 2023 varied widely by age-group. For those aged from 15 to 34 years, external causes of death including accidents, suicide and other ranked first (34 deaths). Among individuals aged 35-74, neoplasms was the leading cause (1,218), while for those aged 75 and older, it was diseases of the circulatory system (1,720 deaths). See table 20.
There were 6,906 deaths of persons aged 65 and over registered in quarter 3 2023. This represents an annual death rate of 34.3 per 1,000 population aged 65 and over and represents an decrease of 1.3 when compared with the corresponding quarter of 2022. See tables 1, 2 and figure 5.
The average (mean) time-lag between the date of death and the registration of death was 58 days while the median (mid-point in data) was 20 days for quarter 3 2023.
| X-axis label | Cancer | Disease of the circulatory system | Disease of the respiratory system | COVID-19 | Accident, suicide, homicide and undetermined | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19.6078431372549 | 0 | 0 | 1.96078431372549 | 7.84313725490196 | 70.5882352941177 |
| 15-34 | 23.3333333333333 | 13.3333333333333 | 2.22222222222222 | 1.11111111111111 | 37.7777777777778 | 22.2222222222222 |
| 35-74 | 44.4039372949326 | 23.0769230769231 | 8.45789281808239 | 0.874954429456799 | 5.46846518410499 | 17.7178271965002 |
| 75 and over | 25.0965961361546 | 31.6467341306348 | 12.5114995400184 | 1.74793008279669 | 1.803127874885 | 27.1941122355106 |
The natural increase in the population (births minus deaths) for quarter 3 2023 was 5,529. This represents a rate of 4.2 per 1,000 population, 0.1 per 1,000 less than the quarter 3 2022 rate of 4.3 per 1,000. See tables 1, 2 and figure 1.
The number of marriages registered during the quarter was 7,373 of which 217 were same-sex marriages. This is equivalent to an annual marriage rate of 5.6 per 1,000 population, a decrease of 0.7 from quarter 3 2022. See tables 1 and 2.
Same-sex marriage legislation came into effect on the 16th November 2015.
The estimated population (usual residence) in April 2023 was 5,281,612.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (22 March 2024) released the Vital Statistics Quarter 3 (Q3) 2023 Release.
Commenting on the release, Seán O’Connor, Statistician in the Vital Statistics Division, said: "These Vital Statistics publications provide insights into the number of births and deaths registered with the General Register Offices (GRO) for a particular quarter. To provide more context to users, from Q1 2023, in addition to providing the numbers of births and deaths registered for the relevant quarter, the CSO will also include details of when these births and deaths occurred (See Editor's Note below).
Bearing this in mind, of the 13,848 births which were registered in July, August and September (Q3) 2023, 10,161 or 73.4% occurred in that quarter. Of the 8,319 deaths registered, for the same period, 5,250 or 63.1% occurred in Q3 2023. In total, 99.1% of births registered in Q3 2023, occurred either in Q3 2023 or Q2 2023, while for deaths, 85.0% registered in Q3 2023, occurred in either Q3 2023 or Q2 2023.
Deaths
Using the registration figures available to us, the number of deaths in Q3 2023 decreased by 148 or 1.7% to 8,319 compared with the same period last year. There were 121 deaths due to COVID-19 in this period accounting for 1.5% of all deaths in the period.
Deaths due to malignant neoplasms (cancer) and circulatory diseases were the biggest causes of death in Q3 2023 and these two categories together accounted for three out of five (59.8%) of all deaths.
Births
Looking at births, we can see the number of births has decreased by 243 (or 1.7%) when compared with the same quarter in the previous year, down from 14,091 in Q3 2022 to 13,848 in Q3 2023.
Births to mothers aged less than 20 fell from 209 in Q3 2022 to 176 in Q3 2023. The average age of mothers was 33.1 years in Q3 2023, down slightly from 33.2 years reported in the same quarter in 2022, while 10 years ago, the average age was 32.1 years for the same period.
More than two in five (40.5%) births were outside of marriage/civil partnership, compared with the same quarter a year earlier when 42.8% of births were to mothers outside of marriage. Ten years ago, in Q3 2013, this proportion was more than one in three (35.2%) births.
The natural increase (births minus deaths) in Q3 2023 was 5,529 down 1.7% on the same period in 2022 when it was 5,624."