Vital Statistics, Third Quarter 2003

Births increase again

There were 15,900 births registered in quarter 3 2003, an increase of 300 on the quarter 3 2002 figure, the highest they have been in the last decade with a birth rate of 16.0 per 1,000 population.

These figures are contained in the Central Statistics Office's Vital Statistics, Third Quarter 2003 report.

A total of 6,200 births (40%) were to first time mothers in quarter 3 2003. Second time mothers had 5,200 births (33%). On the other hand, only 27% of mothers already had two or more liveborn children, reflecting the trend towards smaller family sizes. See page 9 of the report.

Over 30% of births in quarter 3 2003 (or 5,000) were outside marriage. A total of 650 teenagers had babies in quarter 3 2003; 9 of these were aged under 16. Over 27% of births outside marriage were to women aged 30 years and over. See page 9 of report.

The highest percentage of births outside marriage occurred in Limerick City at 55%, while the county with the lowest percentage was Galway County at 18%. See page 12 of report.

The average age at maternity was 30.6 years in quarter 3 2003 while the average age at first birth was 28.3 years. See page 10 of report.

There were 8,000 marriages registered in quarter 3 2003. This is a rise of 100 from the quarter 3 2002 figure. This corresponds to a rate of 8.0 per 1,000 population, 0.1 below the annual marriage rate of quarter 3 2002.

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Causes of Death

The report also shows that 6,600 deaths were registered in quarter 3 2003, a decrease of 300 on quarter 3 2002. This corresponds to a rate of 6.7 persons per 1,000 population. See Table 8, page 14 of report. Breaking down the total deaths reveals that:

• There were 116 suicides or 12 per 100,000 population. This represents 30% of deaths in the 15-24 age group and 23% of all deaths in the 25-34 age group making it the largest cause of death in these age groups. Males represented 78% of suicides, while females represented 22%.
• There were 85 infant deaths and the infant mortality rate of 5.3 per 1,000 live births was 0.9 above that in quarter 3 2002. This is above the EU-15 average of 4.6. The neonatal rate was 4.3 per 1,000 live births, 1.1 above quarter 3 2002. 46% of infant deaths occurred on their first day. See Table 10, page 18.
• There were 1,250 deaths from ischaemic heart disease amounting to a fifth of all deaths. Of those, 700 were due to heart attacks.
• Deaths from cancer totalled 1,900, which is a quarter of all deaths. Over 70% of all cancer deaths occurred in the 65 and over age group.
• Cancer accounts for 36% of all premature deaths; while diseases of the circulatory system account for 23% of deaths of people aged 0 to 64.
• There were 900 deaths (14% of all deaths) due to respiratory diseases. Half of these were due to pneumonia, of which 83% were aged 75 and over.

Vital Statistics Third Quarter 2003 is priced at €6.00 and is available on our website.

Hard copies available from the:

Central Statistics Office, Information Section, Skehard Road, Cork,

Government Publications Sales Office, Sun Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2, or through any bookseller.

For more information contact Mary Heanue (LoCall 1890 313 414 ext 5423).

Internet address: http://www.cso.ie/documents/vstats.pdf

28 January 2004

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