Nearly 60 per cent of all births in the first quarter of this year were to women over 30, reflecting an increasing trend for starting families later in life, new figures reveal.
Some 15,958 births were registered in the State in the first quarter of this year, with more than 41 per cent of all babies born to first-time mothers.
Of that number, a total of 5,444 babies were born to women aged between 30 and 34, while 3,331 children were born to women between 35 and 39. A total of 668 babies were born to women over 40.
Figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed there were 8,204 boys and 7,754 girls born in the first quarter. This is 23 per cent more births than in 1997, just nine years ago.
The CSO said the figure represents an annual birth rate of 15.5 per cent per 1,000 of the population, 0.3 per cent higher than in the same quarter in 2005.
A total of 6,449 births were to first time mothers. More than a third (34.3 per cent) of all births were outside marriage.
Today's data also included details on deaths and marriages. A total of 7,320 deaths were registered in the first quarter - 3,643 males and 3,677 females. The total is 20.7 per cent lower than in 1997, when 9,235 deaths were registered.
Diseases of the circulatory system, including heart disease, accounted for 2,665 or 36.4 per cent of total deaths in the three-month period, while there were 2,063 deaths from cancer, accounting for a further 28 per cent.