There were 54,483 babies born in Ireland in 2022, a drop of 10.1 percent (6,092 babies) on the number born in 2021 according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
https://twitter.com/CSOIreland/status/1851942520248254966Meanwhile, the number of deaths increased by 2.8 percent to 35,804 when compared to the year before.
The statistics from the CSO indicate that 2022 saw an annual birth rate of 10.5 per 1,000 of population, compared to 15.6 per 1,000 population a decade earlier.
The fertility rate for 2022 was 1.53, well-below the ‘replacement level’ of 2.1 children per woman – generally considered to be the level at which the population would replace itself in the long run, migration aside.
That rate has been in a state of continuous decline over the past 50 years, having stood at 1.98 in 2012, while the fertility rate was 3.88 in 1972.
Births to mothers of Irish nationality accounted for approximately three-quarters (75.6 percent) of births in 2022 – a slight decrease from 2021, when the share stood at 77.7 percent, but a figure similar to 10 years earlier when the share stood at 75.9 percent in 2012.
Meanwhile, despite a slight dip from 2021, the CSO noted that the average age of mothers at birth continues to rise.
In 2022, the average age of mothers giving birth was 33.2 years, compared with 2021 when it was 33.3 years. However, 30 and 50 years ago respectively, in 1992 the average age of mothers was 29.7 years and 29.1 years in 1972.