There were 54,526 babies born in 2023, down 0.1% from 2022. This represented an annual birth rate of 10.3 per 1,000 of population compared to 14.9 per 1,000 population in 2013. Limerick City and Waterford City had the highest birth rate in 2023 of 12.1 per 1,000 population while Waterford County had the lowest at 8.6. See PxStat tables VSA38, VSA18 and Table 1.1.
Looking back 30 and 50 years ago, in 1993 and 1973 respectively, the average age was 29.8 years and 29.0 years. In 2023, the average age of mothers giving birth was 33.2 years, which is unchanged compared to 2022 when it was 33.2 years. See Figure 1.1, Map 1.1 and PxStat table VSA105.
For European comparison on maternal average age see: Eurostat.
There were 683 babies born to teenagers in 2023, while 0.7% were to mothers aged 45 years and over. First-time mothers accounted for 22,462 or 41.2% of all births occurring in 2023. See PxStat table VSA36, Figure 1.2 and Figure 1.3.
For European comparison of maternal age please see: Eurostat.
A total of 22,462 births (41.2%) were to first time mothers in 2023. Second time mothers had 18,623 births (34.2%) and third time mothers had 8,973 births (16.5%). Mothers that already had three or more live-born children accounted for the remaining 8.2% of births. See Figure 1.4 and PxStat table VSA36.
Nearly six out of every ten births (59.4%) or 32,400 in Ireland in 2023 were born within marriage/civil partnerships, with the remaining 22,126 (40.6%) being born outside marriage/civil partnership. Focusing 30 years previous, in 1993, the share of births within marriage/civil partnership stood at 80.1%. The lowest ever number of births outside marriage/civil partnership was recorded in 1959 (1.6%). Since then there has been a steady increase in the percentage of births outside marriage/civil partnership, notably since 1980. See PxStat Tables VSA04, VSA16 and VSA36.
In 2023, babies with a gestational age of 36-39 weeks represented the majority (60.6%) of births of known gestation. Babies with a gestational age of under 28 weeks represented the lowest percentage of births of known gestation at 0.4%. See PxStat tables VSA83 and VSA85.
In 2023, babies with a birthweight of between 3,000-3,499 grams accounted for the highest percentage of births of known birthweight at 34.4%. See PxStat tables VSA84 and VSA85.
While there were 292 domiciliary or home births in Ireland in 2023, which accounted for just 0.5% of total births. Regions such as Waterford (2.1%), Wicklow (1.4%), and Cork County, (1.0%) amongst others, recorded shares of domiciliary births which were greater than the national average. See Table 1.2 and PxStat table VSA103 and VSA17.
Births to mothers of Irish nationality accounted for nearly three-quarters (73.9%) of births in 2023. See Tables 1.3, 1.4 and PxStat tables VSA91 and VSA92.
The number of maternities in 2023 which resulted in live births was 54,526 including 925 twin maternities and 20 triplet maternities. There were no sets of quadruplets. This is equivalent to a “twinning rate” of 17.3 (i.e. the number of sets of live twins per 1,000 maternities which resulted in live births). See Table 1.5 and PxStat table VSA90.
The total period fertility rate (TPFR) is derived from the age specific fertility rates in the current year. It represents the projected number of children a woman would have if she experienced current age specific fertility rates while progressing from age 15-49 years. A value of 2.1 is generally considered to be the level at which the population would replace itself in the long run, ignoring migration.
In 2023 the TPFR for Ireland was 1.5 which is below replacement level. In 2013 the TPFR stood at 1.9, and 50 years previous it was 3.7 in 1973. See Table 1.6 and PxStat table VSA104.
For European comparison see: Eurostat.
Homemakers was the common occupation for mothers who gave birth in 2023, accounting for 16.4% of births. This was followed by health professionals (11.9%) and teaching and education professionals (9.9%). See PxStat table VSB14.
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