Important Notice: Information on occurrence of births and deaths is only available for those which have been registered and does not apply to births and deaths which are yet to be registered. 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.
Furthermore, births are more likely to be registered in a timelier manner than deaths due to variations in reporting time requirements.
As the occurred life event series are not directly comparable to registered life event series, it is possible for the number of occurred life events in a time period to exceed the number of registered life events in a time period, and vice versa.
The number of births decreased by 1,002 or 6.9% in Quarter 2 (Q2) 2023 and there were 577 fewer deaths (6.2%) 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 196 deaths due to COVID-19 in Q2 2023, accounting for 2.2% of deaths in the quarter of which 102 were male and 94 were female.
Cancer and circulatory disease were the biggest causes of death in Ireland in Q2 2023 accounting for 5,028 (or 57.5%) of deaths compared with 5,152 (or 55.2%) in Q2 2022.
The average age of all mothers in Q2 2023 was 33.3 years, up slightly from 33.2 years as recorded in Q2 2022. The average age 10 years ago was 32.2 years for the same period.
Just over two in five (40.9%) births were outside marriage/civil partnership in Q2 2023.
The natural increase (i.e. births minus deaths) fell by 8.3% in Q2 2023 compared with the same period in 2022.
There is 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 Quarter 2 2023 Summary Results below.
Please note, all other statistics bar those presented in the Vital Statistics Quarter 2 2023 Summary Results Table are based off registration data and not occurrence data.
| 1A Vital Statistics by quarter of registration1 | Quarter 2 2023 | Quarter 2 2022 |
| Births | 13,447 | 14,449 |
| Deaths | 8,749 | 9,326 |
| Marriages | 5,560 | 6,651 |
| Natural increase | 4,698 | 5,123 |
| 1B Q2 2023 registered births and deaths by quarter of occurrence2 | Birth Occurrences | Death Occurrences |
| Quarter 2 2023 | 9,607 | 5,373 |
| Quarter 1 2023 | 3,681 | 2,097 |
| Quarter 4 2022 | 125 | 635 |
| Quarter 3 2022 | 24 | 395 |
| Quarter 2 2022 | 8 | 165 |
| 1C Births by quarter of registration and occurrence | Birth Registrations | Birth Occurrences (Provisional)3 |
| Quarter 2 2023 | 13,447 | 13,249 |
| Quarter 1 2023 | 13,968 | 13,083 |
| Quarter 4 2022 | 12,869 | 13,644 |
| Quarter 3 2022 | 14,091 | 14,174 |
| Quarter 2 2022 | 14,449 | 13,027 |
| Quarter 1 2022 | 16,131 | 13,622 |
| Quarter 4 2021 | 16,250 | 15,635 |
| Quarter 3 2021 | 16,747 | 15,861 |
| Quarter 2 2021 | 11,551 | 14,552 |
| 1D Deaths by quarter of registration and occurrence | Death Registrations | Death Occurrences (Provisional)4 |
| Quarter 2 2023 | 8,749 | 7,447 |
| Quarter 1 2023 | 10,205 | 9,066 |
| Quarter 4 2022 | 8,149 | 9,498 |
| Quarter 3 2022 | 8,467 | 8,021 |
| Quarter 2 2022 | 9,326 | 8,609 |
| Quarter 1 2022 | 9,535 | 8,901 |
| Quarter 4 2021 | 8,626 | 9,272 |
| Quarter 3 2021 | 8,165 | 7,944 |
| Quarter 2 2021 | 6,700 | 7,678 |
| 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 Q2 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 6,842 male births and 6,605 female births in quarter 2 2023. The 13,447 births represent an annual birth rate of 10.2 per thousand population. This is a decrease of 1.1 in the birth rate when compared to that in Q2 2022. See tables 3, 4 and 5.
The average age of first-time mothers was 31.6, up 0.1 years from that recorded for the same period in the previous year. The average age of all mothers at maternity for births registered in quarter 2 2023 was 33.3 years, which is up 0.1 from quarter 2 2022. The average age of first time mothers outside marriage/civil partnership was 29.9, while the average age of all mothers outside marriage/civil partnership was 31.2 years.
In the same quarter in 2022, the average age of mothers having their first baby outside marriage/civil partnership was 29.8 years while it was 31.1 years for all mothers for births registered outside of marriage/civil partnership. See tables 6, 7, 8, 9 and Map 1.
The highest number of births registered was in Dublin City with 1,596 (12% of total live births) followed by Cork County with 1,119 (8.3%) registered births. Leitrim had the lowest number with 74 (0.6%) registered births in quarter 2 2023. The highest number of births registered in quarter 2 2022 was Dublin City which accounted for 1,820 or 13% of births followed by Cork County with 1,120 (7.8%). Leitrim had the lowest number, 101 births (0.7%), registered in quarter 2 2022. See tables 10, 11 and Map 2.
In quarter 2 2023, there were 7,953 (59%) births registered as within marriage/civil partnership.
There were 5,494 births registered as outside marriage/civil partnership, accounting for 41% of all births in quarter 2 2023. The highest percentage of births outside marriage/civil partnership was in Carlow at 62% and the lowest was in Galway City with 24%. In the same quarter in 2022, there were 6,393 births registered as outside marriage/civil partnership accounting for 44% of all births. See tables 12, 13 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 18 babies born to mothers who were resident outside the Republic of Ireland in quarter 2 2023. This accounts for 0.1% of total live births registered in the quarter. See tables 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.
A total of 5,277 births (39%) were to first time mothers in quarter 2 2023 while 4,706 (35%) were to second time mothers. These accounted for a total of 74% of births of stated parity in quarter 2 2023. See table 14 and figure 2.
Of the 13,447 births in quarter 2 2023, there were 9,952 babies (74%) born to mothers of Irish nationality compared to 10,901 (75%) in quarter 2 2022. See table 15.
There were 8,749 deaths registered in quarter 2 2023, of these 4,503 were male and 4,246 were female. The quarter 2 2023 total is 6% less than the corresponding quarter of 2022 when 9,326 deaths were registered. See table 16.
Diseases of the circulatory system accounted for 2,438 deaths, or an annual rate of 1.8 per 1,000 population. Of these, 1,025 were due to ischaemic heart disease and 427 to cerebrovascular disease. See tables 17, 18, 19, 20 and figure 3.
There were 2,590 deaths from malignant neoplasms. 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 470, pneumonia accounted for 208 deaths and 310 deaths resulted from all other respiratory diseases. See tables 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22.
| For long labels below use to display on multiple lines | Principal causes of death Q2 2023 (%) |
|---|---|
| Circulatory | 27.9 |
| External | 3.3 |
| COVID-19 | 2.2 |
| Respiratory | 11.4 |
| Malignant Cancer | 29.6 |
| Remainder | 25.6 |
There were 287 deaths due to accidents, suicides and other external causes. Accidents accounted for 71% (205) of these deaths while suicides accounted for 22% (63). This figure of 63 reflects a decrease of 49% from the same quarter of 2022. Of these suicide deaths, 78% (49) were male. 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 have not yet been reported to the CSO.
There were 44 infant deaths registered in quarter 2 2023 giving an infant mortality rate of 3.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, an decrease of 0.2 on the rate recorded in quarter 2 of 2022. Neonatal deaths are deaths of infants at ages under 4 weeks. There were 38 neonatal deaths registered in quarter 2 2023, giving a neonatal mortality rate of 2.8 deaths per 1,000 live births, which is an increase of 0.5 on the rate recorded in quarter 2 2022. See tables 1, 2, 23 and figure 4.
| Under 1 yr rates | infant | neonatal |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2020 | 2.7 | 1.8 |
| Q3 2020 | 2.5 | 1.7 |
| Q4 2020 | 2.9 | 2.2 |
| Q1 2021 | 2.7 | 2.2 |
| Q2 2021 | 2.5 | 2 |
| Q3 2021 | 3.1 | 2.4 |
| Q4 2021 | 3.8 | 2.8 |
| Q1 2022 | 2.7 | 2.1 |
| Q2 2022 | 3.5 | 2.3 |
| Q3 2022 | 4 | 3.1 |
| Q4 2022 | 3.2 | 2.3 |
| Q1 2023 | 3.1 | 2.2 |
| Q2 2023 | 3.3 | 2.8 |
In Quarter 2 2023, there were 526 deaths due to dementia of which 337 (or 64%) were female. There were 118 deaths due to Alzheimer's of which 81 (or 69%) were female. See tables 24 and 25.
There were 196 deaths due to COVID-19 recorded in quarter 2 2023, 102 of which were male and 94 which were female. Of these, 161 (82%) were aged 75 and over.
In all 196 of these COVID-19 deaths the virus was identified while there were no deaths where the virus was not identified. See tables 26, 27 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 82.2 years while the median age was 83.2 years for all deaths due to COVID-19 in quarter 2 2023.
The leading cause of death in quarter 2 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 (36 deaths). Among individuals aged 35-74, neoplasms was the leading cause (1,213), while for those aged 75 and older, it was diseases of the circulatory system (1,802 deaths). See table 20.
There were 7,270 deaths of persons aged 65 and over registered in quarter 2 2023. This represents an annual death rate of 36.1 per 1,000 population aged 65 and over and represents an decrease of 4.3 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 59 days while the median (mid-point in data) was 23 days for quarter 2 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 | 6.66666666666667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 88.3333333333333 |
| 15-34 | 20.1754385964912 | 14.0350877192982 | 2.63157894736842 | 0 | 31.5789473684211 | 31.5789473684211 |
| 35-74 | 42.443729903537 | 22.1507681314755 | 8.89603429796356 | 1.25044658806717 | 5.14469453376206 | 20.1143265451947 |
| 75 and over | 23.8054016620499 | 31.1980609418283 | 12.8981994459834 | 2.78739612188366 | 1.8005540166205 | 27.5103878116343 |
The natural increase in the population (births minus deaths) for quarter 2 2023 was 4,698. This represents a rate of 3.6 per 1,000 population, 0.4 per 1,000 less than the quarter 2 2022 rate of 4.0 per 1,000. See tables 1, 2 and figure 1.
The number of marriages registered during the quarter was 5,560 of which 175 were same-sex marriages. This is equivalent to an annual marriage rate of 4.2 per 1,000 population, a decrease of 0.9 from quarter 2 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.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (30 November 2023) released the Vital Statistics Quarter 2 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.
Bearing this in mind, of the 13,447 births which were registered in Quarter 2 2023, 9,607 or 71.4% occurred in that quarter. Of the 8,749 deaths registered, for the same period, 5,373 or 61.4% occurred in Q2 2023. In total, 98.8% of births registered in Q2 2023, occurred either in Q2 2023 or Q1 2023, while for deaths, 85.4% registered in Q2 2023, occurred in either Q2 2023 or Q1 2023.
Deaths
Using the registration figures available to us, the number of deaths in Quarter 2 2023 decreased by 577 or 6.2% compared with the same period last year. There were 196 deaths due to COVID-19 in this period accounting for just over 2% (2.2%) of all deaths in the period.
Deaths due to malignant neoplasms (cancer) and circulatory disease were the biggest causes of death in Q2 2023 and accounted for more than half (57.5%) of all deaths.
Births
Looking at births, we can see the number of births has decreased by 1,002 (or 6.9%) when compared with the same quarter in the previous year, down from 14,449 in Q2 2022 to 13,447 in Q2 2023.
Births to mothers aged less than 20 fell from 222 in Q2 2022 to 176 in Q2 2023. The average age of mothers was 33.3 years in Q2 2023, up slightly from 33.2 reported in the same quarter in 2022, while 10 years ago, the average age was 32.2 years for the same period.
More than two in five (40.9%) births were outside of marriage/civil partnership, compared with the same quarter a year earlier when 44.2% of births were to mothers outside of marriage. Ten years ago, in Q2 2013, this proportion was more than one in three (34.0%) births.
The natural increase (births minus deaths) in Q2 2023 was 4,698 down 8.3% on the same period in 2022 when it was 5,123."