This report has been prepared by the Central Statistics Office for the Minister for Social Protection in accordance with the provisions of Section 2 of the Vital Statistics and Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1952 and Government Order SI 831 of 2007.
From Q1 2023, the Vital Statistics quarterly publications will 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 only.
Please note, all other statistics bar those presented in the Vital Statistics Quarter 2 2024 Summary Results Table are based off registration data and not occurrence data.
Deaths are classified to the World Health Organisation (WHO) International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision (ICD-10).
The Underlying Cause of Death (UCOD) has been defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as
(a) the disease or injury which initiated the train of morbid events leading directly to death,
or
(b) the circumstances of the accident or violence which produced the fatal injury.
The UCOD is selected for routine single-cause tabulation of mortality statistics.
All deaths registered in the quarter have been included in the statistics and some cases have been assigned a provisional cause of death pending the outcome of further enquiries.
Caution should be exercised if directly comparing these mortality statistics with those of previous quarters as this data is provisional and subject to change. Final data is published in our vital statistics annual reports and is based on the date the death occurred while the quarterly releases are based on the date the death was registered.
Inquest deaths are coded manually due to the nature of the reporting of these cases. The difficulty lies in automatically assigning a verdict from a broad range of verdicts open to a Coroner or jury which include accidental death, misadventure, suicide, open verdict, natural causes (if so found at inquest) and in certain circumstances, unlawful killing. A provisional cause of death may be assigned to a number of inquest cases pending the outcome of further enquiries.
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.
From 1st January 2018 the CSO is using IRIS software to assign the UCOD. IRIS is a European-developed automated coding software, endorsed by Eurostat and is maintained by the IRIS Institute and all WHO updates to the ICD-10 classification are accounted for in IRIS according to the WHO timelines.
See WHO guidance for public health surveillance of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in humans caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
Refers to the number of previous live births excluding any not stated.
From January 2018 onwards where births take place within the State and the area of residence of the mother is outside the State, the area of residence of the mother is recorded as outside the State. Prior to this, births where the mother was residing outside the State were assigned to the location where the birth took place within the State.
The Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) is administered by Eurostat and defines territorial units for the production of regional statistics across the European Union.
Vital Statistics are published in some cases by geographic breakdown to NUTS-3 region. Current NUTS boundaries for Ireland came into effect from 1st January 2018 and were first reflected in CSO Vital Statistics for that reference year.
Those boundary revisions were prompted by legislative changes made in the Local Government Act, 2014, including merging of certain county and city council areas (local authorities). Each NUTS-3 region is a grouping of local authorities, and each NUTS-2 region is in turn a grouping of NUTS-3 regions. The three NUTS-2 regions correspond with the area covered by the Regional Assemblies also established under the 2014 Act. The composition of NUTS regions in Ireland is set out below.
| Northern & Western NUTS-2 Region | Southern NUTS-2 Region | Eastern & Midland NUTS-2 Region | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Border | Cavan Donegal Leitrim Monaghan Sligo |
Mid-West | Clare Limerick Tipperary |
Dublin | Dublin City Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Fingal South Dublin |
| South-East | Carlow Kilkenny Waterford Wexford |
Mid-East | Kildare Louth Meath Wicklow |
||
| West | Galway Mayo Roscommon |
South-West | Cork Kerry |
Midland | Laois Longford Offaly Westmeath |
To view the NUTS boundaries on a map, see the Eurostat Statistical Atlas
See also Regulation (EC) No 1059/2003, the legal framework for the NUTS classification, and Regulation (EU) 2016/2066, covering revisions made to NUTS classification for Ireland.
The United Kingdom withdrew from the EU on the 31 January 2020. From the 1 February 2020 the EU is reduced to 27 Member States.
As the United Kingdom was part of the EU for one month in 2020 - it is included as part of the EU-28 for Quarter 1 2020.
| EU Group | Dates | Countries |
|---|---|---|
| EU-12 | 1 November 1993 - 31 December 1994 |
Belgium (BE), Denmark (DK), France (FR), Germany (DE), Greece (EL), Ireland (IE), Italy (IT), Luxembourg (LU), Netherlands (NL), Portugal (PT), Spain (ES) and United Kingdom (UK) |
| EU-15 | 1 January 1995 - 30 April 2004 |
EU-12 + Austria (AT), Finland (FI) and Sweden (SE) |
| EU-25 | 1 May 2004 - 31 December 2006 |
EU-15 + Cyprus (CY), Czechia (CZ), Estonia (EE), Hungary (HU), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Malta (MT), Poland (PL), Slovakia (SK) and Slovenia (SI) |
| EU-27_2007 | 1 January 2007 - 30 June 2013 |
EU-25 + Bulgaria (BG) and Romania (RO) |
| EU-28 | from 1 July 2013 | EU-27_2007 + Croatia (HR) |
| EU-27 | from 1 February 2020 | EU-28 — United Kingdom (UK) |
Civil Partnership legislation was introduced in Ireland on the 1st January 2011. From 16th November 2015, when same-sex marriages legislation came into effect, same-sex couples no longer had the option to apply for a Civil Partnership. However, couples that had given the required 3 months' notice of a Civil Partnership prior to 16th November 2015 were still entitled to have a Civil Partnership ceremony after that date.
The Marriage Act 2015 (No. 35/2015) effective from the 16th November 2015 (S.I. 504/2015) refers, allows parties of the same sex to marry.
The Fourth Quarter and Yearly Summary publications from 2014 onwards are available in separate electronic publications on the CSO Website. The quarterly publications (from Quarter 1, 2014) and the Yearly Summary publications (from 2014 onwards) are no longer available in hard copy. For interactive tables, please go to CSO PxStat.
Rates for Quarter 1 2024, were calculated using the relevant estimated population data of April 2023. Rates for quarters 2, 3 and 4 are calculated using the estimated population data of April 2024. All rates for Births, Deaths and Marriages are derived from population estimates or census figures.
For the purpose of this release the population concept of usual residence has been used, i.e. all persons usually resident and present in the State on census night, plus absent persons who are usually resident in Ireland, but are temporarily away from home and outside the State on Census night. All persons are classified according to the region of their usual residence.
Note for any PxStat tables which require population estimates as an input, the current approach is the most recent available population figures at time of publishing are utilised. These PxStat figures are not subsequently revised to take account of population estimate revisions post-2016. On foot of population estimate revisions, tables presented in the main body of the text of these quarterly reports are revised to take account of the most up to date population figures.
The terms used in relation to live births are defined as follows:
A live birth: is defined as the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a product of conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, which, after such separation, breathes or shows any other evidence of life, such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord, or definite movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut or the placenta is attached.
Parity: Parity is the number of previous live born children to a woman.
Birth Order: Birth order is the number of live born children a woman has in the order in which they are born.
Parity and Birth order: A first birth relates to parity 0 or birth order 1 i.e. birth order = parity + 1.
Crude birth rate (CBR): The number of live births divided by the total population at that age (or age-group), multiplied by 1,000.
Age specific fertility rate (ASFR): The number of live births at a certain age (or age-group) divided by the female population at that age (or age-group) multiplied by 1,000.
Total period fertility rate (TPFR): The sum of the ASFRs, divided by 1,000 i.e. the expected number of children a woman will have in her lifetime based on the fertility of that year.
Age specific reproduction rate (ASRR): The number of female live births at a certain age (or age-group) divided by the female population at that age (or age-group), multiplied by 1,000.
Gross reproduction rate (GRR): The sum of the ASRRs divided by 1,000 i.e. the expected number of daughters a woman will have in her lifetime based on the fertility of that year.
Net reproduction rate (NRR): The sum of the products of the ASRR's and the expected number of female years to be lived at that age, divided by 1,000 i.e. the GRR adjusted for female mortality.
The difference between the gross and the net reproduction rates is an indicator of female mortality.
Average age at maternity: The sum of the products of the ages at maternity of live births and their ages divided by the number of live births.
Average age at maternity of first birth: The sum of the products of the ages at maternity of first live births and their ages divided by the number of first live births.
Childbearing years are regarded as between 15 and 49.
Live birth to mothers less than 15 are included in the age 15 category and are divided by the age 15 population. Similarly, live births to mothers aged greater than 49 are included in the age 49 category and are divided by the age 49 population.
Average of mean ages: Live births where the age at maternity is not stated are excluded from the calculation.
Crude death rate (CDR): The number of deaths divided by the total population at that age (or age-group), multiplied by 1,000.
Standardised death rate: The (age) standardised death rate is a weighted average of age-specific mortality rates. The weighting factor is the age distribution of a standard reference population. The standard reference population used is the European standard population as defined by Eurostat in 2012. The European Standard Population (ESP) is the unweighted average of the individual populations of EU-27_2007 member states (including UK, prior to accession of Croatia) plus EFTA countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland) in each 5-year age band - with the exception of under 5 and the highest age group of 95+ years. The ESP is calculated on the basis of the 2010-based population projections, averaged over the period 2011-30.
Stillbirth: From 1 January 1995, the definition of a stillborn child is a child who, at birth weighs at least 500 grammes, or has a gestational age of at least 24 weeks and shows no sign of life.
From 16 September 2024, the updated definition for a stillborn child is a child who, at birth weighs at least 400 grammes, or has a gestatinal age of at least 23 weeks and shows no signs of life.
Late foetal death: Foetal death at or over 28 weeks gestation. This definition was applied up to 1994 inclusive.
Early neonatal death: Death at age under 1 week of live born infant.
Perinatal deaths: Stillbirths or late foetal deaths plus early neonatal deaths.
Late neonatal death: Death between the ages of 1 week and 4 weeks of live born infant.
Neonatal death: Death at age under 4 weeks of live born infant.
Post neonatal death: Death between the ages of 4 weeks and under 1 year of live born infant.
Infant death: Death at age under 1 year of live born infant.
Maternal death: A maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and the site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.
Stillbirth rate: Stillbirths divided by total live births plus stillbirths, multiplied by 1,000.
Late foetal mortality rate: Late foetal deaths divided by the sum of total live births plus late foetal deaths, multiplied by 1,000.
Early neonatal mortality rate: Early neonatal deaths divided by total live births, multiplied by 1,000.
Perinatal mortality rate: Perinatal deaths divided by the sum of total live births plus stillbirths, multiplied by 1,000.
Late neonatal mortality rate: Late neonatal deaths divided by total live births, multiplied by 1,000.
Neonatal mortality rate: Neonatal deaths divided by total live births, multiplied by 1,000.
Post neonatal mortality rate: Post neonatal deaths divided by total live births, multiplied by 1,000.
Infant mortality rate: Infant deaths divided by total live births, multiplied by 1,000.
Maternal death rate: Maternal deaths divided by the sum of total live births plus stillbirths, multiplied by 100,000.
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