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Vital Statistics

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This chapter contains statistics on births, deaths, marriages, civil partnerships and babies' names which are compiled by the Central Statistics Office on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection.  Data for births and deaths from 2011 to 2014 are final.  Data for 2015 and 2016 is provisional and subject to change.  All marriage data and babies' names are final.

1.1 Births by age of mother at maternity
              
 Total births Births outside marriage/civil partnership
Age201120122013201420152016 201120122013201420152016
15 and under362728254220 362727254120
16-191,6541,5891,3521,2011,1451,078 1,5041,4321,1871,0551,017946
20-247,3216,8906,3905,9555,7325,216 5,9045,5725,2734,9244,6974,241
25-2916,69315,30813,90313,12612,40311,378 7,8927,5937,2277,3437,0476,479
30-3426,76426,02825,38524,66223,85623,004 5,9566,3146,3476,4196,3976,395
35-3917,72617,81917,89218,19118,52718,808 2,9923,3133,3673,6243,7454,111
40-443,6583,7923,7783,8873,9784,098 7758638629229751,080
45 and over169215226248224295 286363777076
Age not stated1262 421
All ages74,03371,67468,95467,29565,90963,897 25,09125,17924,35324,38923,99023,348
Source: CSO

Interactive table: StatBank link

There were 63,897 births registered in 2016, 2,012 fewer births compared with 2015.  There were 23,348 births registered as being outside marriage, accounting for 36.5% of all births.   Over 65% of the 63,897 births registered in 2016 were to women aged between 30 and 39.

1.2 Deaths classified by cause and rates, per 100,000 population
 
Total deaths Death rate per 100,000 population
Cause of death201120122013201420152016 201120122013201420152016
Infectious and parasitic diseases235223245296366379 5.14.95.36.47.98.1
Malignant neoplasms8,6668,5718,7259,0228,7839,023 189.4186.9190.0195.7189.5193.1
Diseases of the circulatory system9,2369,4809,4738,8529,2499,206 201.9206.7206.2192.0199.5197.0
Diseases of the respiratory system3,4383,4973,5043,4923,7933,856 75.176.376.375.881.882.5
Diseases of the digestive system1,0481,1581,0691,0409561,027 22.925.323.322.620.622.0
External causes of injury and poisoning1,6931,5771,4911,5301,4391,344 37.034.432.533.231.028.8
of which:             
    Suicide554541487486451399 12.111.810.610.59.78.5
Other4,1404,6804,9975,0205,3665,555 90.5102.1108.8108.9115.8118.9
Total deaths28,45629,18629,50429,25229,95230,390 622.0636.6642.4634.6646.2650.2
Source: CSO

Interactive table: StatBank link

There were 30,390 deaths registered in 2016.  Of these, malignant neoplasms and diseases of the circulatory system accounted for just under 60% of all deaths.

1.3 Summary data for marriages 2012-2016
 
  Opposite sex marriages Same sex marriages All marriages
  20122013201420152016 20152016 20152016
State 20,71320,68022,04522,02521,570 911,056 22,11622,626  
Marriages per 1,000 population4.54.54.84.84.6 0.020.2 4.84.8
Average age of party 1134.734.935.035.335.7 42.843.6 35.336.1
Average age of party 2232.632.833.033.233.8 37.637.9 33.234.0
            
Percentage of marriages by age of party 11%%%%% %% %%
  Under 20 0.50.60.40.40.6 0.00.0 0.40.5 
  20-24 2.52.42.32.41.8 1.11.2 2.41.8 
  25-29 21.820.019.718.516.2 5.58.1 18.415.8 
  30-34 39.841.040.539.739.6 18.716.8 39.638.6 
  35-39 18.819.019.720.622.3 23.118.0 20.622.1 
  40 and over16.617.017.318.419.5 51.655.9 18.521.2 
             
Percentage of marriages by age of party 21%%%%% %% %%
  Under 20 1.11.11.11.10.8 0.00.2 1.10.8 
  20-24 4.74.34.44.02.8 2.25.8 4.03.0 
  25-29 31.329.428.727.225.3 19.816.6 27.124.9 
  30-34 38.739.739.540.440.8 26.424.0 40.440.0 
  35-39 13.614.714.815.117.0 17.616.3 15.117.0 
  40 and over10.510.811.512.213.3 34.137.2 12.314.4 
              
Form of ceremony   
  Roman Catholic13,49712,92113,07212,48612,140  12,48612,140 
  Church of Ireland433453445393372  393372 
  Presbyterian8472817369  7369 
  Methodist1925272627  2627 
  Jewish111  1 
  Spiritualist Union of Ireland819822965 73 8221,038 
  Other religious8831,112538804972 336 8071,008 
  Civil marriages5,7976,0966,1676,1565,588 87850 6,2436,438 
  Humanist Association8951,2641,437 197 1,2651,534 
       
Country of future residence outside Republic of Ireland2,0652,3162,6682,8452,930 6122 2,8513,052 
  Northern Ireland318319432421477 328 424505 
  England and Wales9259471,0581,1171,175 41 1,1171,216 
  Scotland 6480749799 2 97101 
  Europe (remainder)148152157150155 17 150172 
  U.S.A 176198192214227 111 215238 
  Elsewhere 434620755846797 223 848820 
  Not stated 113  13 
              
Percentage of marriages with country of residence           
outside Republic of Ireland%%%%% %% %%
 10.011.212.112.913.6 6.611.6 12.913.5
1Party 1 refers to the groom in the case of opposite sex marriages and refers to the older party in the case of same sex marriages.
2Party 2 refers to the bride in the case of opposite sex marriages and refers to the younger party in the case of same sex marriages.
Source: CSO

Interactive table: StatBank link

There were 22,626 marriages in 2016 including 1,056 same-sex marriages.  This is 510 more than 2015, when 22,116 marriages were registered.  The average age of brides and grooms continues to rise.   In 2016, the average age of party 1 (Groom) and party 2 (Bride) in opposite sex marriages was 35.7 years and 33.8 years respectively, the highest recorded to date.  The average age of party 1 (older party) in same sex marriages was 43.6 years and party 2 (younger party) was 37.9 years.

X-axis label%
Roman
Catholic
53.7
Civil
Marriages
28.5
Humanist
Association
6.8
Spiritualist
Union
4.6
Other
Religious
4.9
Church
of Ireland
1.6
1.4 Same Sex marriages celebrated in each county and city during 2016 classified by form of ceremony
 
 Form of ceremony 
Province, county or cityCivil marriagesThe Humanist Association The Spiritualist Union of IrelandOther religious denominationsTotal
Total8509773361,056
      
Leinster612685820758
Carlow729
Dublin City4402597481
South Dublin134
Fingal42612
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown461112
Kildare23116545
Kilkenny18220
Laois617
Longford
Louth2111124
Meath1389232
Offaly516
Westmeath416112
Wexford2834237
Wicklow39710157
      
Munster14022913184
Clare22116
Cork City542157
Cork County10113428
Kerry1342221
Limerick City3636
Limerick County1113
North Tipperary2125
South Tipperary7119
Waterford City88
Waterford County711211
      
Connacht5754369
Galway City628
Galway County2721333
Leitrim44
Mayo71210
Roscommon22
Sligo11112
      
Ulster (part of)412245
Cavan12113
Donegal28129
Monaghan123
      
Regaional Authorities     
Border7734185
Midland1527125
West4253353
Dublin44834198509
Mid-East7526258134
Mid-West4132450
South-East7578494
South-West771757106
Source:CSO
This map is © Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. License number 01/05/001.

There were 1.056 Same Sex marriages celebrated in 2016 of which 606 were male unions and 450 female unions.  The most popular form of ceremony for same sex marriages was a civil marriage ceremony, which accounted for 850 marriages (80.5%) followed by The Humanist Association of Ireland with 97 (9.2%) ceremonies. There were 73 (6.9%) Spiritualist Union of Ireland ceremonies while the remainder of couples (3.4%) chose other religious ceremonies.

1.5 Top 25 babies' names registered in 2016, in order of popularity, with corresponding rank between 2011 and 2016
               
Boys' names201120122013201420152016 Girls' names201120122013201420152016
James222221Emily111111
Jack111112Grace449482
Daniel433333Ava887533
Conor554443Lucy798973
Sean345555Amelia32125755
Noah231910876Sophie223245
Adam766667Emma332327
Oisin15141413128Mia126118108
Michael91081489Hannah17131413129
Luke12111371010Lily5517111110
Harry87991411Ella11746611
Charlie20121510912Saoirse191722231812
Cian131517181413Olivia283027201413
Liam171318152014Kate151815181714
Thomas181711171115Aoife13116101315
Darragh192018212116Sarah61010121416
Alex101812121317Anna182212161417
Patrick212116191618Chloe9151314917
Ryan677161819Caoimhe141619252019
Finn363830323020Ellie242823192420
Fionn302725261921Katie101418172221
Cillian222323202222Sophia292120152122
Dylan10920111723Holly231924212823
Aaron162224242624Fiadh18914682803524
John262527252825Lauren222321241925
Source: CSO

Interactive table: StatBank link

James and Emily were the most popular babies' names in 2016. It is 22 years (1994) since James was the most popular boys name. Emily, on the other hand is the top girls name for the 6th successive year.

The top five boys' names, James, Jack, Daniel, Conor and Sean have been in the top five since 2007 with minor changes to their order.
For boys, the names Muhammad, Louis, Lucas, Josh, Jason and Ollie have had the most growth in popularity. Muhammad jumped 36 places in the rankings since 2015, up from 119 to 83 in 2016 to make it the only new entrant into the top 100 names for boys.

Willow and Matilda, have shown the most growth in popularity in girls’ names between 2015 and 2016 and these together with Harper, Heidi and Zoey, Aria were the only new entrants into the top 100 names for girls in 2016.
Willow was ranked 72nd in 2016 up 49 places from 121 in 2015. Matilda also improved position, up 49 places in the ranking from 146 in 2015 to 97 in 2016.

1.6 Birthdays ranked by popularity
 
1980-2014JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
13612166030634314651312621345338
234326622153523405422825211331288
31932491401851681539322120220336224
41752691842591802122831924442264332
519627861240933085715424945287315
6205298128198120231204175226101238332
7201246692203723412216821323302344
821830710410018894844207142242271
9235320134227481406377124117313229
102972901012142719186210163130240261
11322247111148873946207126165175274
123032523227411215168109143304230156
1335232811326863190108157238310262285
14231252701036218686113117249269148
15276191132651681098356146321324117
16256305501629192671603831134133
1728323736220313485792951329027231
182821863169713470592861430924721
19296273106144168134952151728926616
2025517281186983076236932226525
2126019447224262435518212335329161
2227819210729181134752235167350334
2333723315543244121403172258346360
2428115927715817883413257312318363
25301821741271631139814510349300364
2628016577147211133511506358294365
27292124128968036891344356348359
2829317319535881167432715347351339
2925736619624183581042163342353206
30283 1992220712273326835735470
31299 179 200 152329 355 218
Source:CSO
 1-51 52-79 80-108 109-236 237-366

Interactive zone visualisation tool: How popular is your birthday

 

The number 1 rank is the most popular day of the year to be born and the number 366 rank is the least popular day of the year to be born.

The 1st of October is the most popular birthday, on average there were 191 babies born on that date.

The last 2 weeks in September make up the rest of the Top 10 most popular birthdays.

The least popular birthdate is February 29th, there were on average 45 babies born on that date followed by December 29th, 28th, 27th, March 17th, January 1st and December 23rd.

The data is based on the average number of births over the period 1980-2014.

To see how popular your birthday is click on the interactive visualisation tool.

 

 

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