Back to Top
75 years of the CSO
Statistics Database
cso.ie as Gaeilge

 Skip navigation

Show Menu  

Vital Statistics Annual Report 2016

Births 2016

Open in Excel:

Live Births 2016

There were 63,841 live births in 2016 comprising of 32,709 males and 31,132 females.  The corresponding total for 2015 was 65,536. The birth rate in 2016 was 13.5 per 1,000 population, 0.5 lower than the corresponding birth rate in 2015, which was 14.0 per 1,000 of the population.  See tables 2.1a, 2.3, 2.4 and 2.21.

Average age of mothers

The average age of mothers at maternity in Ireland in 2016 was 32.7 years.  Thirty years earlier, in 1986, the average age was 29.4 years.  In 1966, 50 years earlier, the average age at maternity was 30.6 years.  At 32.7 years, this is the highest average age of mothers at maternity, since the age of mother at birth was first recorded in 1955.  Ireland had the highest average age at maternity within the EU 28 countries in 2016, followed by Spain, where the average age of mothers at birth was 32.0 years.  Bulgaria had the lowest average age of mothers at birth at 27.6 years.  See tables 2.22, 2.27 and figure 2.1.

For long labels below use
to display on multiple lines		Average Age of mothers
196630.6
197628.8
198629.4
199630
200631
201632.7

Age at maternity

The percentage of births to teenagers was 1.7% (1,101) of all births in 2016, slightly lower than in 2015 when it was 1.8 percentage.  This was the lowest percentage of births to mothers under 20 since 1960, when it was 1.6% of all births.  From 1961 onwards the percentage of births to mothers in this age group continued to increase until it reached a peak in 1999 with 6.2% (or 3,314) of all births to mothers aged under 20 years.  This percentage has decreased each year since.  Within the EU 28, The Netherlands and Slovenia had the lowest percentage of teenage births in 2016 each accounting for 0.9% of total births in this age group.  Romania had the highest percentage of births to mothers aged under 20 years with 9.9% while Ireland ranked 10th with 1.7% of births to mothers aged under 20 years.  See tables 2.8 and 2.28.

At the other end of the scale, the number of births to mothers aged 40 and over are increasing.  In 2016 there were 6.9% (or 4,379) of births to mothers aged 40 and over.  This was the highest percentage of births recorded to this age group since 1968 when 6.9% of all births was also attributed to this age group.  In 1981, mothers under 30 years of age accounted for 59.1% of births.  However, the proportion of births to this age group has declined steadily and accounted for 27.7% of all births in 2016.  See table 2.26 and figure 2.2.

For long labels below use
to display on multiple lines		Age-Group 2016 (%)
under 201.7
20-248.2
25-2917.8
30-3436
35-3929.4
40 and over6.9

Births within and outside marriage/civil partnership 

In 2016, 40,455 (or 63.4%) births occurred within marriage/civil partnership and 23,386 (or 36.6%) births occurred outside marriage/civil partnership.  The percentage of births outside marriage/civil partnership is 0.1 percentage point lower than in 2015.  There were 12 births within civil partnerships in 2016.  The highest percentage of births outside marriage/civil partnership occurred in Limerick City accounting for 52.9% of births while the area with the lowest percentage was in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown with 23.7%. See table 2.21.

The lowest number of births outside marriage/civil partnership was recorded in 1959 (1.6%).  Since then there has been a steady increase in the percentage of births outside marriage/civil partnership, notably since 1980.

Multiple births    

The number of maternities in 2016 which resulted in live births was 62,617 including 1,189 sets of twins, 24 sets of triplets and 2 set of quadruplets.  This is equivalent to a “twinning rate” of 19.0 (i.e. the number of sets of live twins per 1,000 maternities which resulted in live births).  Over the past 24 years, the twinning rate has increased significantly – from 11.7 in 1991 to an all-time high of 19.0 in 2016.  See table 2.20.

Births by NUTS III Regional authority areas

In 2016, the highest number of births,19,101 (or 29.9%) was in the Dublin regional authority area.  In contrast, the smallest number of births (3,999) was in the Midland region (Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath) accounting for 6.3% of all births.  See table 2.21 and background notes.

Births by Maternity hospital

The highest number of births in 2016 was recorded in the National Maternity hospital, Holles Street with 14.0% (8,955) of all births. This was followed by the Rotunda hospital (8,524) and The Coombe Womens & Infants University hospital (8,384) accounting for 13.4% and 13.1% of all births respectively.  Outside of Dublin, Cork University Maternity hospital had the highest number of births, 7,582 or 11.9% of all births in 2016.  See table 2.17.

Domiciliary births

There were 323 domiciliary births in 2016, 22 less than the 345 recorded in 2015.  Such births have dropped from one in three births in the early 1950’s to just 5.1 per thousand live births in 2016.  Domiciliary births include home births and other births that take place in a location other than a hospital.  See table 2.17.

Nationality of parents

In 2016, 77.0% of mothers were of Irish nationality, 2.3% of UK nationality and 1.8% were of EU-15 (excluding Ireland and the UK) nationality.  There were 11.7% of mothers of EU-28 (excluding EU-15) nationality and 7.1% of other nationality.  The nationality of the mother was not stated for 0.1% of births.  See tables 2.24a and 2.24b.

Birthweight

In 2016, babies with a birthweight of between 3,500 and 3,999 grams accounted for the highest percentage of births of known birthweight at 34.4%.  The majority of babies (60.0%) in this group and of known gestation, had a gestational age of 40 weeks and over.  See tables 2.13, 2.14 and 2.15.

Gestation

In 2016, babies with a gestational age of 40 weeks and over represented the majority (47.7%) of births of known gestation.  Babies with a gestational age of under 28 weeks represented the lowest percentage of births of known gestation at 0.4%.  See tables 2.12, 2.14 and 2.16.

Occupation of Mother

In 2016, one in five mothers (20.0% of all mothers) stated their occupation as homemaker.  The number varied widely according to the age group of the mother, with 55.4% of mothers under 20 years and 43.6% of mothers in the 20-24 year age group, respectively recording their occupation as homemaker.  In contrast, only 14.2% of mothers in the 30-39 year age group stated their occupation to be that of homemaker while 15.2% of mothers over 40 years were in this category.  See table 2.25.

Birth order

A total of 23,929 births (37.5%) were to first time mothers in 2016.  Second time mothers had 22,579 births (35.4%) and third time mothers had 11,577 births (18.1%).  Mothers that already had three or more live-born children accounted for the remaining 9.0% of births.  See table 2.8.

For long labels below use
to display on multiple lines		Birth Order 2016 (%)
1st37.5
2nd35.4
3rd18.1
4th6
5th and over3

Total Period Fertility Rate

The total period fertility rate (TPFR) is derived from the age-specific fertility rates.  It gives the theoretical average number of children who would be born alive to a woman during her lifetime if she were to pass through her childbearing years conforming to the age-specific fertility rates of a given year.  A value of 2.1 is generally taken to be the level at which a generation would replace itself in the long run, ignoring migration.

The TPFR has fallen by over 26% in the past 30 years, from 2.44 in 1986 to 1.81 in 2016.  In Ireland, it dropped below the replacement level in 1989 and again in 1991 and has remained there since.  If Ireland's TPFR had been 2.1 for 2016 then the natural increase in population would have been 38,489 (the actual natural increase was 33,174).  See table 2.1.

France had the highest fertility rate in the EU 28 in 2016 with 1.92; Sweden is next with a fertility rate of 1.85 followed by Ireland with a rate of 1.81.  Italy and Spain had the lowest fertility rate at 1.34 (estimated).  See Figure 2.4.

CountryFertility rate
France1.92
Sweden1.85
Ireland1.81
Denmark1.79
United Kingdom1.79
Latvia1.74
Lithuania1.69
Belgium1.68
Netherlands1.66
Romania1.64
Czech Republic1.63
Germany 1.6
Estonia1.6
Slovenia 1.58
Finland1.57
Bulgaria1.54
Austria1.53
Hungary1.53
Slovakia1.48
Croatia1.42
Luxembourg1.41
Poland1.39
Greece1.38
Cyprus1.37
Malta1.37
Portugal1.36
Spain1.34
Italy1.34

For definitions see technical notes:

Technical notes births

Open in Excel:
Table 2.1 Total period fertility rate (TPFR) and age specific fertility rates (ASFR), 1968-2016

Table 2.1a Number of births in Ireland* and birth rates per 1,000 population in Ireland and neighbouring countries, 1941 to 2016

Table 2.2 Age specific and total fertility rates by area of residence of mother in 2016

Table 2.3 Births by area of residence and age at maternity in 2016

Table 2.4 Births by area of residence, sex of infant and also showing the numbers in each quarter in 2016

Table 2.5 Births in 2016, classified by sex and age of mother at maternity, and showing the number of births outside marriage/civil partnership separately, also showing the number outside marriage residing at the same address

Table 2.6 Total births in 2016, classified by sex of infant, area of residence and age of mother at maternity

Table 2.7 Births outsdie marriage/civil partnership in 2016 classified by sex of infant, area of residence and age of mother at maternity

Table 2.8 Total births in 2016, classified by age of mother at maternity and number of previous liveborn children

Table 2.9 Births outside marriage/civil partnership in 2016, classified by age of mother at maternity and number of previous liveborn children

Table 2.10 Births within marriage/civil partnership in 2016, classified by age of mother at maternity and year of marriage/civil partnership

Table 2.11 First births within marriage/civil partnership in 2016, classified by age of mother at maternity and year of marriage/civil partnership

Table 2.12 Births in 2016 classified by period of gestation and age of mother at maternity

Table 2.13 Births in 2016, classified by age of mother at maternity and birthweight

Table 2.14 Births in 2016, classified by period of gestation and birthweight

Table 2.15 Births in 2016, classified by sex of infant and birthweight

Table 2.16 Births in 2016 classified by sex of infant and period of gestation

Table 2.17 Numbers of hospital and domiciliary births in 2016 showing place of occurrence and area of normal residence of mother

Table 2.18 Births in 2016 by day of occurrence and mothers' usual residence

Table 2.19 Births per 1,000 women in each age group, Ireland, England and Wales, 2016

Table 2.20 Number of multiple births and the number of twins per 1,000 maternities, 1988-2016

Table 2.21 Births and birth rate by area of residence of mother during 2016, showing births within and outside of marriage/civil partnership separately

Table 2.22 Average age at maternity by area of residence of mother during 2016 showing births inside and outside marriage/civil partnership separately

Table 2.23 Births inside and outside marriage/civil partnership and rates per 1,000 population, 1864-2016

Table 2.24a Total births in 2016, classified by nationality of mother, marital status and average age

Table 2.24b Total births in 2016, classified by nationality of parents

Table 2.24c Total births in 2016 classified by country of birth of mother, by number and percentage, showing numbers within and outside of marriage separately

Table 2.25 Births in 2016 by occupation and age-group of mother at maternity

Table 2.26 Percentage distribution of births according to age of mother at maternity in 2016 and comparisons with 2015, 1986 and 1966

Table 2.27 Births in 2016, classified by average age of mother at maternity and rank within the European Union

Table 2.28 Births in 2016, showing the percentage of births to mothers' under 20 years of age by country of residence within the European Union

Go to next chapter >>> Deaths

Contents

Why you can Trust the CSO

Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.

go to trust & transparency

Contact:

Central Statistics Office
Skehard Road, Cork T12 X00E, Ireland

Tel:
(+353) 21 453 5000
E-Mail:
information@cso.ie

Links:

Careers

You can count on a rewarding career with the CSO.

Learn about our variety of roles and the benefits of working with the CSO.

Follow: