There were 59,294 live births in 2019 comprising of 30,271 males and 29,023 females. The corresponding total for 2018 was 61,022. The birth rate in 2019 was 12.0 per 1,000 population, 0.6 lower than the corresponding birth rate in 2018, which was 12.6 per 1,000 of the population. See tables 2.1a, 2.4 and 2.19.
The average age of mothers at maternity in Ireland in 2019 was 33.1 years. Thirty years earlier, in 1989, the average age was 29.6 years. While in 1969, 50 years earlier, the average age at maternity was 29.9 years. At 33.1 years, this is the highest average age of mothers at maternity, since the age of mother at birth was first recorded in 1955. See Fig 2.1.
For European comparison on maternal average age see Eurostat.
| For long labels below use to display on multiple lines | Average Age of mothers |
|---|---|
| 1969 | 29.9 |
| 1979 | 28.8 |
| 1989 | 29.6 |
| 1999 | 30.1 |
| 2009 | 31.3 |
| 2019 | 33.1 |
The percentage of births to teenage mothers was 1.4% (858) of all births in 2019, slightly lower than in 2018 when it was 1.6% (956). This is equal to the lowest percentage of births to mothers under 20 since 1958 when it also accounted for 1.4% of all births. From 1959 onwards the percentage of births to mothers in this age group continued to increase until it reached a peak in 1999 when 6.2% (3,314) of all births were to mothers under 20. The percentage of mothers in this age-group has continued to decrease each year since.
At the other end of the scale, the number of births to mothers aged 40 and over are increasing. In 2019 there were 7.9% (or 4,669) of births to mothers aged 40 and over. This was the highest percentage of births recorded to this age group since 1969 when it was 6.6% of all births. In 1981, mothers under 30 years of age accounted for 59.1% of births. However, the proportion of births to this age group declined fairly steadily to reach 26.2% in 2019. See table 2.8, 2.24 and fig 2.2.
For European comparison of maternal age please see Eurostat.
| For long labels below use to display on multiple lines | Age-Group 2019 (%) |
|---|---|
| under 20 | 1.44702668060849 |
| 20-24 | 7.8996188484501 |
| 25-29 | 16.8904104968462 |
| 30-34 | 34.2041353256653 |
| 35-39 | 31.6844874692212 |
| 40 and over | 7.87432117920869 |
In 2019, 36,651 (or 61.8%) births occurred within marriage/civil partnership and 22,643 (38.2%) births occurred outside marriage/civil partnership. The percentage of births outside marriage/civil partnership was 0.3 percent higher than in 2018. There were no births within civil partnerships in 2019. The highest percentage of births outside marriage/civil partnership occurred in Limerick City accounting for 56.1% of births while the area with the lowest percentage was in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown at 23.5%. See table 2.19.
The lowest ever 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.
The number of maternities in 2019 which resulted in live births was 58,229 including 1,058 sets of twins, 21 sets of triplets and 2 sets of quadruplets. This is equivalent to a “twinning rate” of 18.2 (i.e. the number of sets of live twins per 1,000 maternities which resulted in live births). Over the past 28 years, the twinning rate has increased significantly – from 11.7 in 1991, to an all-time high of 19.0 in 2016. See table 2.18.
In 2019, the highest number of births 17,488 (or 29.5%) took place in the Dublin regional authority area. In contrast, the smallest number of births (3,759) was in the Midland region (Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath) with 6.3% of all births. See table 2.19 and background notes.
The highest number of births in 2019 was recorded in the Rotunda Hospital with 14.1% (8,340) of all births. This was followed by The National Maternity Hospital, Holles St (7,939) and The Coombe Womens & Infants University Hospital (7,897) accounting for 13.4% and 13.3% of all births respectively. Outside of Dublin, Cork University Maternity Hospital had the highest number of births with 7,161 births or 12.1% of all births in 2019. See table 2.15.
There were 260 domiciliary births in 2019, 19 more than the 241 recorded in 2018. Such births have dropped from one in three births in the early 1950’s to just 4.4 per thousand live births in 2019. Domiciliary births include home births and other births that take place in a location other than a hospital. See table 2.15.
In 2019, 77.0% of mothers were of Irish nationality, 2.1% of UK nationality and 2.0% of EU-15 (excluding Ireland and the UK) nationality. There were 10.3% of mothers from EU-28 (excluding EU-15) while there were 8.5% of mothers of other nationality. The nationality of the mother was not stated for 0.02% of births. See tables 2.22a and 2.22b.
In 2019, 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 (54.8%) in this group and of known gestation, had a gestational age of 40 weeks and over. See tables 2.11, 2.12 and 2.13.
In 2019, babies with a gestational age of 36-39 weeks represented the majority (53.6%) of births of known gestation. Babies with a gestational age of under 28 weeks represented the lowest percentage of births of known gestation at 0.3%. See tables 2.10, 2.12 and 2.14.
In 2019, just under one in five mothers (18.3%) stated their occupation as homemaker. The number varied widely according to the age group of the mother, with 55.8% of mothers under 20 years and 40.6% of mothers in the 20-24 year age group, respectively recording their occupation as homemaker. In contrast, only 12.9% of mothers in the 30-39 year age group stated their occupation to be that of homemaker while 12.3% of mothers over 40 years were in this category. See table 2.23.
A total of 23,001 births (38.8%) were to first time mothers in 2019. Second time mothers had 20,614 births (34.8%) and third time mothers had 10,371 births (17.5%). 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 2019 (%) |
|---|---|
| 1st | 38.7914460147738 |
| 2nd | 34.7657435828246 |
| 3rd | 17.490808513509 |
| 4th | 5.8892973993996 |
| 5th and over | 3.06270448949303 |
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 17.8% in the past 30 years, from 2.08 in 1989 to 1.71 in 2019. 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 2019 then the natural increase in population would have been 34,521 (the actual natural increase was 28,110). See table 2.1.
For European comparison see Eurostat.
For definitions see technical notes:
Go to next chapter >>> Deaths
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.