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Press Statement

Preasráiteas

30 May 2018

Vital Statistics Yearly Summary 2017

The number of registered births at 62,053 continues to fall, down 8,567 (12.1%) since 2007
  • Over 1 in 3 babies were born outside of marriage (37.6%) in 2017
  • The average age of first time mothers continues to rise, up 0.1 years to 31.0 years from 2016
  • Cancers and heart disease accounted for just over 60% of deaths
  • Over four-fifths of the deaths registered in 2017 were persons aged 65 years or over
  • Go to release: Vital Statistics Yearly Summary 2017

    The CSO today (30 May, 2018) released the Vital Statistics, Fourth Quarter and Yearly Summary 2017 reports. Commenting on the Yearly Summary report Carol Anne Hennessy, Statistician, said: “There were 62,053 births registered in 2017, some 1,844 (or 2.9%) fewer than 2016 and a fall of 12.1% since 2007. This represented an annual birth rate of 12.9 per 1,000 of population compared to 16.1 per 1,000 population in 2007.
    The average age of first time mothers in 2017 was 31.0 years, up 0.1 years from 2016. The average age of mothers at maternity for all births registered in 2017 was 32.8 years, compared to 32.7 in 2016 and 31.1 years in 2007.
    Over a third, 23,340 (37.6%), of babies were born outside of marriage/civil partnerships and of these 58.9% were to cohabitating parents. A total of 1,041 teenagers had babies in 2017 and of these 19 were aged under 16 years. There were 4,242 births to mothers aged 40 and over in 2017 and of these, 309 were aged 45 and over.
    Births to mothers of Irish nationality accounted for over three-quarters (77.3%) of births in 2017. A further 2.2% of births were to mothers of UK nationality, with 1.9% born to mothers from EU15 countries (excluding Ireland and the UK).
    There were 30,484 deaths registered in 2017, of which 15,497 were male and 14,987 were female. This equates to a death rate of 6.4 per 1,000 population. The 2017 figure is 8.7% higher than in 2007 when 28,050 deaths were registered.
    There were 25,026 deaths of persons aged 65 and over registered in 2017, this accounts for over four-fifths of all deaths registered in 2017.
    The death of a live-born infant under the age of 1 is categorised as an infant death. There were 174 infant deaths registered in 2017 giving an infant mortality rate of 2.8 deaths per 1,000 live births. Ten years earlier in 2007, there were 221 infant deaths registered which equated to an infant mortality rate of 3.1 per 1,000 live births. Neonatal deaths are deaths of infants at ages under 4 weeks. There were 138 neonatal deaths registered in 2017, a neonatal mortality rate of 2.2 deaths per 1,000 live births.
    Almost 3 in 4 deaths were from malignant neoplasm (9,175 or 30.1%), diseases of the circulatory system (8,927 or 29.3%) or diseases of the respiratory system (4,079 or 13.4%). Deaths due to accidents, suicide and other external causes accounted for a further 1,315 or 4.3% of all deaths in 2017.
    The natural increase (births minus deaths) in 2017 was 31,569, which was 5.8% lower than the natural increase of 33,507 in 2016.
    There were 22,021 marriages registered in 2017, of which 759 were same-sex marriages. The marriage rate in 2017 was 4.6 per 1,000 of population, 0.2 less than the rate in 2016”.

    For further information contact:

    Carol Anne Hennessy (+353) 21 453 5307 or Marie Crowley (+353) 21 453 5016

    or email vitalstats@cso.ie

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