Number Of Births In Ireland Up Almost 10%

This compares with 17,473 in the first quarter of 2007, an increase of 9.6% or 18.4 additional births every day during the quarter.

This represents the largest number of births registered in any quarter since the second quarter of 1980.

These figures are contained in the Central Statistics Office's Vital Statistics First Quarter report.

The average age of mothers for births registered in the quarter was 31.1 years, the same as the corresponding figure in quarter 1 2007, and 1.1 years more than in quarter 1 1999. The average age of mothers having their first child in quarter 1 2008 was 28.8 years.

There were 7,531 deaths registered in quarter 1 2008. This represents an annual death rate of 6.9 per 1,000 population. This quarter 1 rate has been falling steadily since 1999 when the death rate was 10.7.

There have been significant decreases in the death rates arising from diseases of the circulatory and respiratory systems in the period quarter 1 1999 to quarter 1 2008. In quarter 1 1999 there were 6,118 deaths from these causes compared with 3,734 in quarter 1 2008. The death rate for cancer has not changed significantly over this period.

There were 63 infant deaths registered in quarter 1 2008 giving an infant mortality rate of 3.3 deaths per 1,000 live births. Neonatal deaths are deaths of infants at ages under 4 weeks. There were 42 neonatal deaths registered in quarter 1 2008, a neonatal mortality rate of 2.2 deaths per 1,000 live births.

The natural increase in the population (births minus deaths) for quarter 1 2008 was 11,615. Quarter 3 2007 and quarter 1 2008 have shown 2 of the largest quarterly natural increases since records began.

There were 3,241 marriages registered in quarter 1 2008.