Vital Statistics Annual Report 2023

Deaths 2023

There were 35,649 deaths in Ireland in 2023, which is equivalent to a rate of 6.7 deaths per 1,000 total population, down 0.2 from 2022. Ten years previous, the rate in 2013 stood at 6.4 per 1,000 of population. While the crude death rate for Ireland per 1,000 population in 2023 was 6.7, it was highest in Cork City at 10.8 per 1,000 population. See PxStat tables VSA09, VSA100, and Figure 2.1. 

Rates for 2023 were calculated using usual population estimate figures. See Technical Notes.

In 2023 the most frequent age at death for males was 83 years (3.5%), while for females it was 88 years (3.9%). Moreover, a total of 312 people died at the age of 100 years or over. See PxStat table VSA111 and Figure 2.2.

Standardised death rates

Given the differences in age structures across areas of Ireland, standardised death rates allow a comparison across local authorities. These age-standardised death rates account for differences in the age structures in each local authority. Firstly mortality rate of specific age groups is applied to those local authorities, and then adjustments are made to match the age structure of a standard population. In this case the standard population used is the total population of the State. For instance, Fingal had a crude death rate of 4.2 deaths per 1,000 of population, but its age-standardised death rate was 5.8 for 2023. See PxStat table VSA100 and Map 2.1.

For a European comparison of standardised death rates, see Eurostat.

Deaths classified by place of occurrence

In terms of where people died in 2023, there were 14,880 deaths (41.7%) that occurred in general and orthopaedic hospitals, 8,725 (24.5%) were domiciliary deaths, and 6,089 (17.1%) deaths occurred in nursing homes. 

For those aged under 35 years, the most common place of death was the home (238 out of 783 deaths), while general and orthopaedic hospitals were the most common location of deaths among those aged over 35 years (14,663 out of 34,866 deaths). See Table 2.1.

Causes of Death

A total of 35,649 deaths occurred in Ireland in 2023(18,629 males and 17,020 females). At a very high level, just over two-thirds of deaths were due to Neoplasms (10,480), circulatory deaths (9,784) or respiratory deaths (4,124). See Table 2.2.

Of the 10,221 malignant neoplasm deaths in 2023, 2,032 (19.9%) were due to cancers of the bronchus and lung. While for the 4,124 respiratory deaths in 2023, 4 out of every 10 (40.2%) of these were due to Other chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (1,659 deaths). Figure 2.3 provides the most common single cause of death from each of the five largest cause of death groupings in 2023.

In total, 25 distinct causes of death accounted for 20,493 deaths - nearly 60% of total deaths in 2023. Chronic Ischaemic heart disease (7.5%), Cancers of the bronchus and lung (5.7%), Unspecified dementia (5.0%), Other chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (4.7%), and Acute myocardial infarction (4.2%) were the five most common causes of death in 2023. See PxStat table VSA29 and Figure 2.4.

Between 2013 and 2023 , there has been a 79.3% increase in the number of dementia-related deaths. In 2023, dementia causes of death (code range F00-F03) collectively accounted for 5.9% of all deaths. See Figure 2.5.

Of the 10,221 cancer (malignant neoplasm) deaths in 2023, more than half (52.3%) occurred in those aged 75 years and over, while only 1% occurred in those under 35 years. See PxStat table VSA29 and Table 2.3.

Deaths due to accidents, suicide and other external causes accounted for a further 1,809 or 5.1% of all deaths in 2023. Of these, 1,217 were male and 592 were females. There were 453 deaths from suicide in 2023, of which 368 were males and 85 were females. See PxStat tables VSA29, VSD30 and VSD32.

A death due to intentional self-harm is classified as an unnatural death and therefore, must be referred to the local Coroner for investigation. This investigation can take a protracted length of time to complete for various reasons – getting medical reports, health and safety reports, engineer’s reports or the involvement of the Director of Public Prosecutions – and this delays the registration of such deaths. Therefore, care should be taken when comparing external causes of death over time, given that deaths which occurred in 2023 can be still registered after publication of this annual report.

Prior to the 2022 Vital Statistics Annual Report, the CSO included a count and analysis of late registered deaths as an Appendix to the main publication. The CSO has now developed additional PxStat tables called Revised Deaths Occurring for those who are interested in late registered deaths. Both VSA35 and VSA112 provide the most up to date figures on all deaths, including external causes of death. Statistics on suicide deaths late-registered in 2023 for years of occurrence 2021 and earlier can be found in VSD34. See Background Notes for further information.