Ireland’s fertility rate has fallen to 1.5 children per woman, while the number of births registered annually has dropped by almost 18% over the past decade, according to new figures published by the Central Statistics Office.
In its Vital Statistics Yearly Summary 2025, published on Tuesday, the CSO reported that births registered in Ireland fell from 65,909 in 2015 to 54,125 in 2025, a decline of 11,784 births over the ten-year period.
The report also found that Ireland’s total period fertility rate (TPFR) stood at 1.5 in 2025, down from 1.9 in 2015 and below the replacement level of 2.1, which is generally regarded as the level required for a population to replace itself in the long term without migration.
Commenting on the findings, Seán O’Connor, Statistician in the CSO’s Life Events and Demography Division, said the report provides “a snapshot of the life events (births, deaths and marriages) which were registered in the year 2025”.
The CSO noted that while 54,125 births were registered during 2025, not all occurred during that year.
According to the report, 92.9% of births registered in 2025 occurred during 2025 itself, while the remainder occurred in 2024.
The annual birth rate stood at 9.9 births per 1,000 people in 2025.
Ten years earlier, the birth rate was 14.1 births per 1,000 population.
The figures also show women are continuing to have children later in life.
The average age of a mother giving birth was 33.3 years in 2025, unchanged from the previous year.
In 2015, the average age was 32.5 years, while in 2005 it stood at 31.0 years.
The increase was even more pronounced among first-time mothers.
The average age of first-time mothers reached 31.8 years in 2025, compared with 30.7 years in 2015 and 28.7 years in 2005.
The number of deaths registered in Ireland during 2025 was 35,587, an increase of 414 compared with the 35,173 deaths recorded in 2024.
Of those deaths, 18,763 were male and 16,824 were female.
People aged 65 and over accounted for 29,645 deaths, representing 83.3% of all deaths registered during the year.
Those aged 85 years and over recorded the highest number of deaths, accounting for 12,938 registrations or 36.4% of the total.
By contrast, children aged between one and four years recorded the lowest number of deaths, with 20 registrations representing 0.1% of the total.
Cancer and diseases of the circulatory system remained the leading causes of death in Ireland.
According to the CSO, malignant neoplasms such as cancerous tumours accounted for 10,591 deaths, or 29.8% of all registered deaths during 2025.
Diseases of the circulatory system accounted for a further 9,558 deaths, representing 26.9% of the total.
Deaths attributed to accidents, suicide and other external causes accounted for 1,515 registrations, or 4.3% of all deaths.
Of those, 370 deaths were classified as intentional self-harm.
The CSO noted that deaths due to external causes are referred to the Coroner’s Office and often take longer to register, meaning annual registration figures may understate the number of such deaths that actually occurred during a given year.
Among people aged under 55, the three most common causes of death were malignant neoplasms, external causes of injury and poisoning, and diseases of the circulatory system.
Together, those causes accounted for 67.4% of deaths within that age group.
The report also recorded improvements in infant mortality figures.
There were 161 infant deaths registered during 2025, giving an infant mortality rate of 3.0 deaths per 1,000 live births.
This was down from 3.6 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2024.
The neonatal mortality rate also declined from 2.7 to 2.3 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Marriage registrations fell slightly during the year.
A total of 19,898 marriages were registered in 2025, down from 20,348 in 2024.
Of those marriages, 624 were same-sex marriages.
The marriage rate stood at 3.6 marriages per 1,000 population, compared with 4.8 per 1,000 population a decade earlier in 2015.
The CSO also reported 1,261 late-registered deaths during 2025, referring to deaths registered during the year but which occurred before 2024.
While that figure was down 18.5% compared with 2024, it represented an increase of 120.1% compared with the equivalent figure recorded in 2015.