Annual Report on Vital Statistics 2017
This report has been prepared by the Central Statistics Office for the Minister of Employment Affairs and Social Protection in accordance with the provisions of Section 2 of the Vital Statistics and Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1952 and the Government Order (SI No. 831 of 2007).
The main statistics contained in this report have already been published, classified by year of registration, in the CSO's Quarterly and Yearly Summary Vital Statistics reports. This annual report provides additional information on the births and deaths that occurred in 2017. The year of occurrence data have been compiled from registration data for 2017 and 2018.
This report also includes information on registered stillbirths, (Chapter 4). This replaced the series on late foetal deaths compiled up to 1994. Registration of stillbirths became available following the introduction of the Stillbirths Registration Act 1994. This act was subsequently superseded by the Civil Registration Act 2004 (part 3 refers). The National Perinatal Reporting system (NPRS) also produces statistics on stillbirths, which can be compared to the numbers in this report. (http://www.hpo.ie/, HIPE and NPRS Reports, Perinatal Statistics Reports).
Live Births :There were 61,824 children born in Ireland during 2017, down 2,017 or 3.3% from 2016. This is the lowest number of births since 2005 when there were 61,372 births.
The birth rate was 12.9 per 1,000 of the population in 2017 compared to 13.5 in 2016 and 16.3 in 2007.
The total period fertility rate (TPFR), or the average number of children per woman was 1.77 in 2017, that is 0.04 per thousand lower than in 2016, and below replacement level. 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.
Ireland had the third highest fertility rate of the 28 EU member states in 2017 at 1.77 children per woman. See Births 2017, figure 2.4.
In 2017, the highest number of births – 21,653 (35.0%) were to mothers in the 30-34 years age group, representing over a third of all births.
In 1993 there was an important shift in the age structure of fertility. Prior to 1993, the age-specific fertility rate was highest among women aged 25-29. (The age-specific fertility rate is the number of births per woman within a specific age group). In 1993 the highest fertility rate shifted from that age group to women aged 30 to 34.
Mothers of non-Irish nationality accounted for 22.6% of births in 2017, slightly lower than the 22.9% in 2016.
In 2017, Thursday 31st August saw the highest number of babies born in one single day (236). This was followed by Thursday 28th September with 232 births. The fewest number of babies born was on St. Stephen's Day (26th December) along with July 23rd where both had only 93 births.
Deaths: There were 30,418 deaths in Ireland in 2017, of which 15,489 were male and 14,929 female. This is equivalent to a rate of 6.3 deaths per 1,000 total population, 0.2 per thousand lower than the 6.5 recorded in 2016. The crude death rate per 1,000 population has shown a gradual downward trend since the beginning of the century with the most striking long-term falls occurring in the death rates at the younger ages.
Neoplasms, diseases of the circulatory system and diseases of the respiratory system were responsible for 73.3% of deaths.
Ranked in order, the other eight leading causes of death were mental and behavioural disorders; diseases of the nervous system; external causes of injury and poisoning; diseases of the digestive system; endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases; diseases of the genitourinary system; infectious and parasitic diseases; diseases of musculoskeletal system and connective tissue.
The leading causes of death varied widely by age group in 2017. Among young adults aged 15 to 24, external causes of injury and poisoning ranked first.
Among individuals aged 45 to 74, neoplasms was the leading cause, while for those aged 75 and older, it was diseases of the circulatory system. See Deaths, Chapter 3.
Infant Mortality: During 2017 the number of deaths of infants under one year of age was 188 compared with 194 in 2016. The corresponding rate was 3.0 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2017 remained the same rate as recorded in 2016.
Stillbirths: The number of stillbirths occurring during 2017 was 162 compared with 173 in 2016. The respective corresponding rates for 2017 and 2016 were 2.6 and 2.7 per 1,000 live and stillborn children. See Infant Mortality, Stillbirths and Maternal Mortality 2017.
Data in this report refers to Stillbirths registered under the Stillbirths Registration Act, 1994 and amended by sections 28 and 29 of the Civil Registration Act 2004.
Population: The estimated usual residence population in April 2017 was 4,792,490: 2,372,106 males and 2,420,384 females.
Usual residence population concept: For the purpose of this Report the population concept of usual residence has been used, i.e. all persons usually resident and present in the state on census night plus absent persons who are usually resident in Ireland but temporarily away from home and outside the State on census night. All persons are classified according to their region of usual residence.
Issue of Authority for Registration: Births and deaths (where no inquest has been held) which have not been registered within one year of their occurrence can be registered only on the authority of the Superintendent Registrars. The tables in the main body of this report exclude such births and deaths. The Appendix to the report contains an analysis of late death registrations in 2017 and of some deaths where an inquest has been held. The number of such deaths registered in 2017 was 819.
More up to date information on Vital Statistics is available in the Quarterly Report on Births, Deaths and Marriages published about five months after the end of the relevant quarter. In the Quarterly Report, births and deaths are classified according to quarter of registration.
Births are classified according to the area of residence of the mother and deaths according to the area of residence of the deceased. Births and deaths for each year since 1943 exclude late registrations; while deaths for each of the years 1940 to 1967 exclude non-residents. From 1968 however, the number of deaths includes non-residents.
For more detailed information and breakdowns in relation to births and deaths please go to: Births 2017 and Deaths 2017.
| For long labels below use to display on multiple lines | Births | Deaths | Natural Increase | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 71389 | 28117 | 43272 | |||
| 2008 | 75173 | 28274 | 46899 | |||
| 2009 | 75554 | 28380 | 47174 | |||
| 2010 | 75174 | 27961 | 47213 | |||
| 2011 | 74033 | 28456 | 45577 | |||
| 2012 | 71674 | 29186 | 42488 | |||
| 2013 | 68954 | 29504 | 39450 | |||
| 2014 | 67295 | 29252 | 38043 | |||
| 2015 | 65536 | 30127 | 35409 | |||
| 2016 | 63841 | 30667 | 33174 | |||
| 2017 | 61824 | 30418 | 31406 |
Natural Increase: The natural increase in the population (births minus deaths) for 2017 was 31,406. This represents a rate of 6.6 per 1,000 population, 0.4 less than in 2016. See table 1.4 and figure 1.1.
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