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Ireland has seen a 10pc drop in the number of births in 2022 compared to the year before, new figures show.
A Central Statistics Office (CSO) vital statistics annual report said there were 54,483 babies born in Ireland in 2022, which is 6,092 fewer babies than in 2021.
It said the annual birth rate stood at 10.5 children per 1,000 of the population in 2022, compared with 15.6 per 1,000 in 2012.
Meanwhile, the total period fertility rate for 2022 stood at 1.5, which is below the replacement level of 2.1. A value of 2.1 is considered the level at which the population would replace itself, ignoring the aspect of migration.
The CSO Statistician Seán O’Connor said: “In 2012, the total period fertility rate stood at 2.0, and 50 years previously, in 1972, it was 3.9.”
The report also shows a 3.8pc increase in the average age of mothers – rising from 32 years in 2012 to 33.2 years in 2022. It represents a slight decrease from 2021 when the average age was 33.3 years.
The births to women aged 40 or over have increased by 21.5pc between 2012 and 2022 while the number of births to women under 20 has decreased by 51.7pc during the same period.
Additionally, Roscommon recorded the highest proportion of first-time mothers in 2022 – 55.7pc of all births in the county.
The report said there were 35,804 deaths in Ireland in 2022. Neoplasms were the cause of the largest number of deaths at 10,361, up by 17.8pc between 2012 and 2022.
It was followed by deaths caused by diseases of the circulatory system, up by 4.8pc, and deaths due to diseases of the respiratory system – increased by 10.8pc. There was also a 109pc increase in the number of dementia-related deaths across these ten years.
