Vital Statistics, Third Quater 2004

Births, Deaths and Marriages in Quarter 3 2004

Births & deaths fall, marriages rise

There were 15,600 births registered in quarter 3 2004, a decrease of 300 on the quarter 3 2003 figure, this corresponds to a birth rate of 15.4 per 1,000 population.

These figures are contained in the Central Statistics Office's Vital Statistics Third Quarter 2004 report.

Over 32% of births in quarter 3 2004 (or 5,100) were outside marriage. A total of 615 teenagers had babies in quarter 3 2004; 16 of these were aged under 16. Nearly 29% of births outside marriage were to women aged 30 years and over. See page 9 of report.

The highest percentage of births outside marriage occurred in Limerick City at 54%, while the county with the lowest percentage was Leitrim at 19%. See table 6 of report.

The average age at maternity was 31 years in quarter 3 2004 while the average age at first birth was 28.5 years. See table 4 of report.

Causes of Death

The report also shows that 6,500 deaths were registered in quarter 3 2004, 100 less than quarter 3 2003. This corresponds to a rate of 6.4 persons per 1,000 population. See Table 8, page 14 of report. Breaking down the total deaths reveals that:

• There were 67 suicides or 7 per 100,000 population. This represents 24% of deaths in the 15-34 age group making it the largest cause of death in this age group. Males represented 88% of suicides, while females represented 12%.
• There were 151 deaths from accidents or 15 per 100,000 population. This represents over one fifth of deaths in the 15-34 age group making it the second largest cause of death in this age group. Males represented 64% of accidents, while females represented 36%.
• There were 72 infant deaths and the infant mortality rate of 4.6 per 1,000 live births was 0.7 below that in quarter 3 2003. This is above the EU-15 average of 4.3 and equals the EU-25 average of 4.6. The neonatal death rate was 2.8 per 1,000 live births, 1.5 below quarter 3 2003. 29% of infant deaths occurred on their first day. See Table 10, page 18.
• There were 1,250 deaths from ischaemic heart disease amounting to a fifth of all deaths. Of those, 730 were due to heart attacks.
• Deaths from cancer totalled 1,900, which is 30% of all deaths. Over 72% of all cancer deaths occurred in the 65 and over age group.
• Cancer is the largest cause of death in the 45-64 age group, accounting for 47% of deaths in that age group; while diseases of the circulatory system account for 30% of deaths of people aged 45 to 64.
• There were 810 deaths (13% of all deaths) due to respiratory diseases. Almost half of these were due to pneumonia, of which 85% were aged 75 and over.

Marriages Rise

There were 8,200 marriages registered in Quarter 3 2004. This is an increase of 200 from the quarter 3 2003 figure. This figure corresponds to a rate of 8.1 per 1,000 population, 0.1 above the annual marriage rate of quarter 3 2003.

Vital Statistics Third Quarter 2004 is priced at € 6.00 and is available on our website www.cso.ie.

Hard copies available from the:

Central Statistics Office, Information Section, Skehard Road, Cork,
Government Publications Sales Office, Sun Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2,
or through any bookseller.
For more information contact Joseph Keating (LoCall 1890 313 414 ext 5121).
Internet address: http://www.cso.ie

 30 March 2005

- ENDS -