There has been a nearly 20% increase in woman giving birth over the age of 40 in the last 10 years, according to the CSO.
The latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) Vital Statistics report finds that 1,280 women aged over 40 gave birth in the first three months of 2024.
That’s a 17.6% increase from the first quarter of 2014, when 1,088 women over 40 gave birth.
In every other age group, the number of women giving birth in 2024 decreased significantly from 2014.
Some 979 women aged between 20 and 24 gave birth in the first quarter of 2024, a 39% decrease compared to the first quarter of 2014 (1,592).
There was a 37% decrease in woman aged between 25 and 29 giving birth within the same time period, according to the CSO.
There was also a 20% decrease in women aged between 30 and 39 giving birth from 2014 to 2024.
CSO Vital Statistics
The CSO Vital Statistics report records the births, deaths and marriages in Ireland every yearly quarter.
Overall, there was a 24% decrease in births in the last 10 years, while there was a 3.5% decrease in the last year.
The average age of a mother giving birth was 33.3 years in the first quarter of 2024, up just over year since 2014, when the average age was 32.2.
Just over 40 years ago, the average was just 27-years-old.
Just over two in five (40.7%) births in the first quarter of 2024 were registered outside marriage or a civil partnership, according to the CSO.
In the first quarter of 2014, 36% of births were registered outside of marriage or a civil partnership.
Fertility rates
The Total Period Fertility Rate (TPFR) for Ireland was 1.5, below the replacement level of 2.1.
According to the CSO, 2.1 is considered to be the level at which the population would replace itself in the long run, ignoring migration.
There were 9,564 registered deaths in Ireland, a 6.3% decrease compared to the same time last year.
More than half of these deaths were from either malignant neoplasms (28.2%) or circulatory diseases (27.2%).
Deaths due to COVID-19 decreased by 42.3% in the first three months of 2024, while deaths due to Influenza rose from 108 to 127 (17.6%).
