IRELAND IS GOING through something of a baby boom: new figures from the Central Statistics Office show the number of children born is at the highest level since 1891.

The CSO’s Vital Statistics Report found Irish women continue to have the highest fertility rate of all 27 EU member states with the average number of children per woman at 2.10.

The figures show there were 75,554 children born in Ireland during 2009 , the highest number in 118 years.  It was the fourth year in a row that there was an increase in the number of births in Ireland, with an increase of 40 per cent compared to just ten years previously in 2009.

The report, which looked at births, deaths and marriages, also found that there has been a sharp increase in the number of suicides.

552 people took their own lives in 2009, an increase of 46 (9 per cent) on the previous year. Men made up 80 per cent of the reported suicides.

On marriage, the study found that the average age of both brides and grooms is now at a record high.

Some of the main findings of the report:

BIRTHS:

• One third of all births (25,252)  in 2009 took place outside of marriage.
• Just over 23 per cent of births in 2009 were to mothers of non-Irish nationality
• The average number of children per woman is 2.10.
• Ireland continues to have the highest fertility rate of the 27 EU member states

MARRIAGES:

• The average age for men to get married is now 34 – a record high.
• The average age for women to get married is now 31.8 – also a record high.
• There were 21,627 marriages in Ireland in 2009.
• Civil marriages made up 29 per cent of all marriages in 2009.
• Roman Catholic marriage ceremonies made up 68 per cent of all wedding ceremonies
• August is the most popular month to get married with 13 per cent of all ceremonies taking place then. 70 per cent of weddings took place on either a Saturday or a Sunday.

DEATHS:

• 28,380 people died in Ireland in 2009. 52 per cent of them were men, 48 per cent were women.
• The figure translates to 6.4 deaths per 1,000 population, the same rate as in 2008. The death rate has been gradually decreasing since the start of the century.
• There were 552 suicides in 2009, an increase of 9 per cent on the previous year. Women made up 20 per cent of the suicides while men made up 80 per cent.
• Diseases of the circulatory system accounted for one third of all deaths, closely followed by cancer which accounted for 30 per cent.
• The next leading causes of death were, in order: external injury and poisoning, digestive system diseases, nervous syst
• The leading cause of death for adults aged 15 to 44 was external injury and poisoning. Cancer was the biggest caused of death for people aged 45 to 74 while diseases of the circulatory system was the leading cause of death for people aged 75 and older.

Read the full report from the Central Statistics Office >