Births, Deaths and Marriages in Quarter 3 2005

Average age of first-time mothers continues to rise

The average age of mothers having their first child was 28.6 years for births registered in Quarter 3 2005, an increase of 0.1 years on Quarter 3 2004. The average age for all mothers was 30.9 years, also 0.1 years higher than the corresponding Quarter 3 2004 figure.

These figures are contained in the Central Statistics Office's Vital Statistics Third Quarter 2005 report.

The average age at which women have their first child has risen by well over a year in the last decade and by over 3 years in the last three decades. In 1996 the average age of first-time mothers was 27.0 years, 1.6 years less than the most recent figure. In 1976 the average age of first-time mothers was only 25.0 years, 3.6 years less than the most recent figure.

There was a total of 6,548 first-time births in Quarter 3 2005. This included 823 first-time births to women over 35 and 588 first-time births to teenagers. See Table 3 of report.

The oldest first-time mothers were in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown and in Roscommon, both with an average age of 30.7 years at first birth. The youngest first-time mothers were in Limerick City, with an average age of 26.3 years. See Table 4 of report.

Over two in five (40.7%) births were to first time mothers. Just under one-third of births (31.5%) were outside marriage. See Table 3 of report.

There were 16,170 births registered in quarter 3 2005, an increase of 565 on the quarter 3 2004 figure. This corresponds to a birth rate of 15.7 per 1,000 population.

The report also shows that 6,380 deaths were registered in quarter 3 2005, 93 less than quarter 3 2004. This works out as a death rate of 6.2 per 1,000 population.

Almost 4 in every 5 deaths were from either diseases of the circulatory system (36%), cancer (30%), or diseases of the respiratory system (12%). There were 2,281 deaths due to circulatory diseases (which include heart disease and stroke), 1,901 deaths due to cancer, and 787 deaths due to respiratory diseases. See Table 8 of report.

The natural increase (births minus deaths) for Quarter 3 2005 was 9,790, 658 higher than in quarter 3 2004.

There were 8,220 marriages registered in Quarter 3 2005, 52 more than in Quarter 3 2004.

Vital Statistics Third Quarter 2005 is priced at €6.00 and is available on our website www.cso.ie (PDF 138KB) (PDF 139KB).

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 Joseph Keating (LoCall 1890 313 414 ext 5121).

Internet address: www.cso.ie (PDF 138KB) (PDF 139KB)

1 March 2006

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