This publication is categorised as a CSO Frontier Series Output. Particular care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as it may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete, for example new administrative data sources. For further information on the data sources, linking procedures and limitations of this report, see the Background Notes section.
Of the 60,575 births which occurred in 2021, North Inner City, Dublin City was the LEA with the highest number of births at 755.
The birth rate per 1,000 of population was highest in both Ongar in Fingal, and in Tallaght South, South Dublin, at 15.3.
Galway City Central, Galway City had the lowest birth rate in 2021, at 8.3 per 1,000 of population.
The fertility rate was highest in Carrick-On-Shannon, Co. Leitrim with 61.2 (births per 1,000 women 15-49 years of age), and lowest in South-East Inner City, Dublin City with 29.8 in 2021.
There were 34,844 deaths which occurred in 2021 across Ireland. Of these, Clontarf, Dublin City, had the highest proportion of deaths at 1.5% or 528 deaths.
Belmullet, Co. Mayo was the Local Electoral Area (LEA) with the highest crude death rate per 1,000 at 13.2 while Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, Fingal recorded the lowest at 2.1.
In terms of cause of death, Castleisland, Co. Kerry had the highest crude death rate of diseases of the circulatory system at 368.0 per 100,000, while Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, Fingal had the lowest at 48.7 for this cause of death.
Just over 4.5% of deaths which occurred nationally in 2021 were due to external causes such as accidents, suicides, assaults, and other external factors. In LEAs such as Galway City East, Galway City (11.3%), South-East Inner City, Dublin City (10.8%), North Inner City, Dublin City (10.5%), Clane, Co. Kildare (10.3%), and Ongar in Fingal (10.1%), this cause of death accounted for one in ten deaths.
All the data contained within this publication, is available in the Data Chapter.
Map 1 is an interactive map which allows users to examine various statistics across Ireland's 166 local electoral areas. Statistics include, the number of births and deaths occurring, crude death and birth rates and both the natural increase (births less deaths) and natural increase rate (birth rate less the death rate).
Regarding the maps presented, lighter colours correspond with the LEAs containing lower values, while darker colours indicate higher.
Users can hover their mouse over the map to see the name of the LEA and the associated value within it. Users can also zoom in on the map to see some of the LEAs that are smaller in geographical areas.
The majority of births and deaths occurred in and around Dublin.
Clontarf, Dublin City, was the LEA with the largest number of deaths in 2021, with 528, while North Inner City, Dublin had the largest number of births at 755.
Cork City North-West, Cork City was the LEA outside of the Dublin Local Authorities with the largest number of deaths with 407. For births, Naas, Co. Kildare was the LEA outside of Dublin with the largest number of births at 679.
In contrast, Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim, had the lowest number of births with 104, while Leixlip, Co. Kildare had the lowest number of deaths with 65.
Looking at the births and deaths in tandem allows the calculation of the natural increase (births less deaths). For 2021 only three LEAs recorded a negative natural increase indicating more deaths occurred in the LEA than births. These areas included Belmullet, Co. Mayo (56 more deaths than births), Glenties, Co. Donegal (37 more deaths than births), and Bantry-West Cork, Cork County (31 more deaths than births). LEAs such as Ongar in Fingal (550), Naas, Co. Kildare (493), and Swords, Fingal (488) had the largest positive natural increases for 2021.
Taking account of the population within each LEA allows the examination of the birth, death, natural increase rates per 1,000 of population. While these rates do not account for differences in age structures within each LEA, it does account for populations.
As Figure 1 indicates, Ireland's Birth Rate for 2021 stood at 11.5 births per 1,000 of population. Ongar in Fingal (15.3), Tallaght South, South Dublin (15.3) and Maynooth, Co. Kildare (14.6) had the highest birth rates by LEA. Galway City Central, Galway City (8.3), Glenties, Co. Donegal (8.6), and Belmullet, Co. Mayo (8.8) recorded the lowest birth rates.
While the crude death rate nationally was 6.6 deaths per 1,000 of population, Belmullet, Co. Mayo (13.2), Bantry-West, Cork County (10.6), and Glenties, Co. Donegal (10.2) were the LEAs with the highest rate. In contrast, urban LEAs such as Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, Fingal (2.1), Glencullen-Sandyford, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (3.0), and Ongar in Fingal (3.1) recorded some of the lowest crude death rates.
Ireland's national rate of increase per 1,000 of population stood at 4.9 in 2021. LEAs such as Ongar in Fingal (12.2), Tallaght South, South Dublin (11.1) and Firhouse-Bohernabreena, South Dublin (10.8) were regions with some of the highest rates of natural increase. LEAs such as Rathfarnham-Templeogue, South Dublin (0.4), Swinford, Co. Mayo (0.5), Donegal, Co. Donegal (0.7), and Kilrush, Co. Clare (0.9) had natural increases close to zero. Belmullet, Co. Mayo (-4.4), Glenties, Co. Donegal (-1.6), and Bantry-West Cork, Cork County (-1.3) were the only LEAs which had a negative rate of natural increase.
The next section provides a discussion on the various underlying causes of death, across Ireland's LEAs.
When it came to the 34,844 deaths which occurred in 2021, Neoplasms (9,871) and Diseases of the Circulatory system (9,301) accounted for over half (55%) of the deaths occurring in 2021. The seven groupings discussed below accounted for nearly nine out of ten (88.3%) of all deaths occurring in Ireland in 2021. Map 2 presents crude death rates per 100,000 of population by these underlying causes of death.
Below highlights the top three highest LEAs in terms of a selection of causes of death. Note that PxStat tables provide not only the crude death rates per 100,000 of population but also the number of deaths occurring which users should look at in tandem in order to understand the pattern of deaths across Ireland's LEAs.
These relate to neoplasm deaths which can be benign or malignant (cancerous). In 2021, the LEAs with the three highest rates per 100,000 of population included Ennistymon, Co. Clare (351.6), Belmullet, Co. Mayo (346.8), and Connemara North, Galway County (296.9).
These include causes of death which relate to ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, hypertensive diseases along with other circulatory system diseases. In 2021, this rate per 100,000 of population was highest in Castleisland, Co. Kerry (368), Belmullet, Co. Mayo (362.6), and Bantry-West Cork, Cork County (325.5).
These include causes of death such as influenza, pneumonia, and bronchitis, as well as other respiratory diseases. In 2021, this rate per 100,000 of population was highest in Belmullet, Co. Mayo (149.8), Ardee, Co. Louth (123.3), and Cappamore-Kilmallock, Co. Limerick (120.4).
These include deaths due to COVID-19 when the virus was identified and or not identified as part of laboratory testing. Belmullet, Co. Mayo (197.1), Dundalk-Carlingford, Co. Louth (135.8), and Cork City North-West, Cork City (129) had the highest incidence of COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 of population in 2021.
These include causes of death which can be due to dementia, amongst other mental and behavioural disorders. Glenties, Co. Donegal (99.7), Blackrock, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (91.4), and Thurles, Co. Tipperary (79.6) were the LEAs with the highest crude death rates for this cause of death in 2021.
These include deaths due to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, along with other deaths relating to nervous system and sensory organs. Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim (124.1), Kenmare, Co. Kerry (110.3), and Skibbereen-West Cork, Cork County (94.9) had the highest crude death rates for these diseases at LEA level.
These include deaths resulting from accidents, self-harm, assault, and other external factors which cause death. In 2021, Tramore-Waterford City West, Co. Waterford (61.1), Ardee, Co. Louth (59.8), Waterford City South, Co. Waterford (55.6), and South-East Inner City, Dublin City (55.6) had the highest rates for these manner of deaths per 100,000.
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Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (24 July 2024) released Births and Deaths at Local Electoral Areas (LEA) 2021.
Commenting on the Frontier publication, Seán O’Connor, Statistician in the Life Events and Demography Division, said:
"Today’s release, which is part of the CSO Frontier Series provides information and evidence on life events (births and deaths) at Local Electoral Area (LEA). It is the second publication in the series which examines life events at a local level. The first of these publications looked at Deaths and Cause of Death at Local Electoral Areas (LEA) 2021. Care must be taken when interpreting the statistics in this release as Frontier Series releases may use new methods which are under development and/or data sources which may be incomplete. The population utilised to calculate rates and present average age at LEAs for 2021 is taken from the Irish Population Estimates from Administrative Data Sources (IPEADS). IPEADS is an experimental and evolving platform for the development of population estimates. It must also be emphasised that as an experimental methodology, IPEADS estimates must be interpreted with caution and are not comparable with official CSO population estimates such as Census data.
Looking at the data, of the 34,844 deaths which occurred in 2021, some areas within Dublin City had the highest number of deaths. Clontarf, Dublin City (528), Ballymun-Finglas, Dublin City (502), and Artane-Whitehall, Dublin City (499) were the LEAs with the highest number of deaths occurring in 2021. In contrast, Leixlip, Co Kildare (65), Ballinamore, Co Leitrim (76), and Granard, Co Longford (80) recorded the lowest.
Similary for births, many of the 60,575 births which occurred in 2021 occurred in and around Dublin. North Inner City, Dublin City (755), Howth-Malahide, Fingal (732), and Swords, Fingal (727) were the LEAs with the highest number of births. Ballinamore, Co. Leitrim (104), Belmullet, Co. Mayo (112), and Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim (117) had the lowest number of births.
Birth Rates at LEA
Nationally, the birth rate stood at 11.5 per 1,000 of population in 2021. Tallaght South, South Dublin (15.3), Ongar in Fingal (15.3), Maynooth, Co. Kildare (14.6), and Firhouse-Bohernabreena, South Dublin (14.5) were the LEAs with the highest birth rates.
Galway City Central, Galway City (8.3), Glenties, Co. Donegal (8.6), and Belmullet, Co. Mayo (8.8) were the LEAs with the lowest birth rates in 2021.
Fertility
The general fertility rate is defined as the number of births by women aged 15-49, relative to the population of women aged 15-49. This differs from the birth rate, which looks at the entire population in an area, while the fertility rate only focuses on women.
Nationally the fertility rate stood at 47.5 births per 1,000 women aged 15-49 in 2021. Carrick-On-Shannon, Co. Leitrim (61.2), Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford (60.8), and Ballybay-Clones, Co. Monaghan (60.6) were the LEAs with the highest general fertility rate in 2021.
Urban LEAs such as South-East Inner City, Dublin City (29.8), Galway City Central, Galway City (30.5), and North Inner City, Dublin City (31.1) had the lowest general fertility rate.
Crude Death Rates
The national crude death rate, which is the number of deaths divided by the population in an area, stood at 6.6 per 1,000 of population in 2021. Note that crude death rates do not take account of the differences in age structures across LEAs.
LEAs such as Belmullet, Co. Mayo (13.2), Bantry-West Cork, Cork County (10.6), and Glenties, Co. Donegal (10.2) recorded the highest level of crude death rate.
Blanchardstown-Mulhuddart, Fingal (2.1), Glencullen-Sandyford, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown (3.0) and Ongar in Fingal (3.1) had the lowest crude death rates per 1,000 of population in 2021.
The Natural Increase
Looking at births and deaths together allows the calculation of the natural increase (births minus deaths). It provides a snapshot on how a region's population is evolving. Note the natural increase does not take account of migration (inward or outward). Nationally, the natural increase for 2021 stood at 25,731 (births less deaths). The rate of natural increase stood at 4.9, and varied significantly across LEAs.
Ongar in Fingal (12.2), Tallaght South, South Dublin (11.1), and Firhouse-Bohernabreena, South Dublin (10.8) were the LEAs with the highest natural increase rates in 2021.
In LEAs such as Swinford, Co. Mayo (0.5), and Rathfarnham-Templeogue, South Dublin (0.4), the rate of natural increase was close to neutral.
Three LEAs recorded a negative natural increase rate, indicating more deaths occurred in the LEA than births. These were Belmullet, Co. Mayo (-4.4), Glenties, Co. Donegal (-1.6), and Bantry-West Cork, Cork County (-1.3). "
Cause of Death by LEA
Looking at cause of death across LEAs, our analysis indicates different patterns of deaths. For instance, while the crude death rate due to neoplasms stood at 187.0 per 100,000 of population nationally, Ennistymon, Co. Clare had the highest death rate for this cause at 351.6.
For external causes of death, which can include deaths due to suicide, accidents, and other external factors, nationally this rate stood at 30 per 100,000. However, at an LEA level, these crude rates were highest in Tramore-Waterford City West, Co. Waterford (61.1), Ardee, Co. Louth (59.8), Waterford City South, Co. Waterford (55.6), and South-East Inner City, Dublin City (55.6)."