Live Births 2013
The number of live births which occurred in 2013 was 68,954, comprising of 35,340 males and 33,614 females. The corresponding total for 2012 was 71,674. The birth rate in 2013 was 15.0 per 1,000 population, 0.6 lower than the corresponding birth rate in 2012, which was 15.6 per 1,000 of the population. See tables 2.1a and 2.21
Average age of mothers
The average age of mothers at maternity in Ireland in 2013 was 32.2 years. Thirty years earlier, in 1983, the average age was 29.1 years. While, in 1963, 50 years earlier, the average age at maternity was 31.1 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 and Table 2.22.
| For long labels below use to display on multiple lines | Average Age of mothers 2013 (%) |
|---|---|
| 1963 | 31.1 |
| 1973 | 29 |
| 1983 | 29.1 |
| 1993 | 29.8 |
| 2003 | 30.6 |
| 2013 | 32.2 |
Age at maternity
The percentage of births to teenagers continued to decrease with 2.0% (1,380) of all births in 2013 were born to mothers in this age-group.
This is the lowest percentage of births to mothers under 20 since 1961. 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% (3,314) of all births to mothers under 20. This percentage has continually decreased each year since. At the other end of the scale mothers over 40 are on the increase. In 2013 there were (4,004) 5.8% of births to mothers over the age of forty. This was the highest percentage of births to this age group since 1970 when it was 5.9% of 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 31.4% in 2013. See Fig 2.2 and table 2.26.
| For long labels below use to display on multiple lines | Age-Group 2013 (%) |
|---|---|
| under 20 | 2 |
| 20-24 | 9.3 |
| 25-29 | 20.2 |
| 30-34 | 36.8 |
| 35-39 | 25.9 |
| 40 and over | 5.8 |
Births within and outside marriage/civil partnership
In 2013, 44,601 (64.7%) births occurred within marriage/civil partnership and 24,353 (35.3%) births outside marriage/civil partnership. The percentage of births outside marriage/civil partnership is 0.2 percentage points higher than in 2012. The number of births within civil partnership in 2013 was 17. The highest percentage of births outside marriage/civil partnership occurred in Limerick City at 54.3%, while the area with the lowest percentage was in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown at 23.5%. See table 2.21.
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.
Multiple births
The number of maternities in 2013 which resulted in multiple live births was 1,300 consisting of 1,268 sets of twins, 31 sets of triplets and 1 set of quadruplets. This is equivalent to a “twinning rate” of 18.7 (i.e. the number of sets of live twins per 1,000 maternities which resulted in live births). This represents an increase of 1.4 on the 2012 rate of 17.3. Over the past 20 years, the twinning rate has increased very significantly – from 11.8 in 1993, reaching an all time high of 18.7 in 2013. See table 2.20.
Births by NUTS III Regional authority areas
In 2013, 20,463 births (29.7%) took place in the Dublin regional authority area. In contrast, the smallest number of births took place in the Midland region (Laois, Longford, Offaly and Westmeath) with 6.2% of all births. See table 2.21 and background notes.
Births by Maternity hospital
The highest number of births in 2013 were recorded in the National maternity hospital, Holles Street with 12.9% of births and the least amount of births took place in South Tipperary General Hospital with 1.7% of births recorded there. See table 2.17.
Domiciliary births
There were 236 babies born at home in 2013, 3 more than the 2012 figure when there were 233 domiciliary maternities. Such births have dropped from one in three births in the early 1950’s to over three per thousand live births in 2013. See table 2.17.
Nationality of parents
In 2013, 76.9% of mothers’ were of Irish nationality, 2.3% of UK nationality, 1.6% of EU-15 (excluding Ireland and the UK) nationality, 11.5% of EU-28 (excluding EU-15) nationality and 7.0% of other nationality. The nationality of the mother was not stated for 0.7% of births. See tables 2.24a and 2.24b.
Birthweight
In 2013, babies with a birthweight of between 3,500 and 3,999 grams accounted for the highest percentage of births of known birthweight at 34.3%. The majority of babies (62.8%) 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 2013, babies with a gestational age of 40 weeks and over represented the majority (50.5%) 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 2.12, 2.14 and 2.16.
Occupation of Mother
In 2013, less than a quarter (21.8%) of mothers stated their occupation to be that of homemaker. The number varied widely according to the age-group of the mother, with 55% of mothers under 20 years and 45.5% of mothers in the 20-24 year age-group, respectively recording their occupation as homemaker. In contrast, only 15.7% of mothers in the 30-39 year age-group stated their occupation to be that of homemaker and 18.4% of mothers in the over 40 were in this category. See table 2.25.
Birth order
A total of 26,082 births (37.9%) were to first time mothers in 2013. Second time mothers had 24,375 births (35.5%) and third time mothers had 12,079 births (17.6%). 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 2013 (%) |
|---|---|
| 1st | 37.5 |
| 2nd | 35.3 |
| 3rd | 18.1 |
| 4th | 6 |
| 5th and over | 3.1 |
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 29% in the past 30 years, from 2.76 in 1983 to 1.96 in 2013. In Ireland, it dropped below the replacement level in 1989 and again in 1991 and has remained there since. See table 2.1.
France had the highest fertility rate in the EU 28 in 2013 with 1.99; Ireland is next with a fertility rate of 1.96 followed by Sweden with a rate of 1.89. Portugal had the lowest fertility rate at 1.21. See Fig 2.4.
| Country | Fertility rate |
|---|---|
| France | 1.99 |
| Ireland | 1.96 |
| Sweden | 1.89 |
| United Kingdom | 1.83 |
| Belgium | 1.75 |
| Finland | 1.75 |
| Netherlands | 1.68 |
| Denmark | 1.67 |
| Lithuania | 1.59 |
| Luzembourg | 1.55 |
| Slovenia | 1.55 |
| Lavtia | 1.52 |
| Estonia | 1.52 |
| Bulgaria | 1.48 |
| Croatia | 1.46 |
| Czech Republic | 1.46 |
| Austria | 1.44 |
| Romania | 1.41 |
| Germany | 1.39 |
| Italy | 1.39 |
| Malta | 1.38 |
| Hungary | 1.35 |
| Slovakia | 1.34 |
| Cyprus | 1.3 |
| Greece | 1.29 |
| Poland | 1.29 |
| Spain | 1.27 |
| Portugal | 1.21 |
| Correction to Table 2.5. The male and females columns in this table were reversed. This was amended on the 10th August 2018. The oversight is regretted. |
Technical notes:
This report contains upward revisions to previously published figures for the number of births occurring in 2008. These revisions were first published in the Report on Vital Statistics 2009.
Live Births:
The terms used in relation to live births are defined as follows:
Parity: Parity is the number of previous live born children to a woman.
Birth Order: Birth order is the number of live born children a woman has in the order in which they are born.
Parity and Birth order: A first birth relates to parity 0 or birth order 1 i.e. birth order = parity + 1.
Crude birth rate (CBR): The number of live births divided by the total population at that age (or age-group), multiplied by 1,000.
Age specific fertility rate (ASFR): The number of live births at a certain age (or age-group) divided by the female population at that age (or age-group) multiplied by 1,000.
Total period fertility rate (TPFR): The sum of the ASFRs, divided by 1,000 i.e. the expected number of children a woman will have in her lifetime based on the fertility of that year.
Age specific reproduction rate (ASFR): The number of female live births at a certain age (or age-group) divided by the female population at that age (or age-group), multiplied by 1,000.
Gross reproduction rate (GRR): The sum of the ASRRs divided by 1,000 i.e. the expected number of daughters a woman will have in her lifetime based on the fertility of that year.
Net reproduction rate (NRR): The sum of the products of the ASRR's and the expected number of female years to be lived at that age, divided by 1,000 i.e. the GRR adjusted for female mortality.
The difference between the gross and the net reproduction rates is an indicator of female mortality.
Average age at maternity: The sum of the products of the ages at maternity of live births and their ages divided by the number of live births.
Average age at maternity of first birth: The sum of the products of the ages at maternity of first live births and their ages divided by the number of first live births.
Childbearing years are regarded as between 15 and 49.
Live birth to mothers less than 15 are included in the age 15 category and are divided by the age 15 population. Similarly, live births to mothers aged greater than 49 are included in the age 49 category and are divided by the age 49 population.
Average of mean ages: Live births where the age at maternity is not stated are excluded from the calculation.
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