THE NUMBER OF births recorded in Ireland in 2022 is lower again than in previous years, down over a fifth in a decade.

New figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that while births are fewer, the rate of deaths has risen.

There were 35,477 deaths registered in 2022, of which 18,346 were male and 17,131 were female.

This equates to a death rate of 7.0 deaths per 1,000 population. The 2022 figure is 19% higher than in 2012 when 28,848 deaths were registered.

The place with the highest number of births registered was Dublin City with 6,967 (12% of total live births in the country), followed by Cork County with 8.5%. Leitrim had the lowest number with 391 (0.7%) registered births in 2022.

There were 19 babies born to girls aged under 16 in 2022 while 384 women aged 45 and over gave birth.

The average age of first-time mothers is down 0.1 years to 31.5 years from 2021.

More than two-fifths of babies (43%) or 24,754, were born outside of marriage/civil partnerships.

Of the 23,173 marriages registered last year, 618 were same-sex marriages.

Some 83% of the deaths registered in 2022 were persons aged 65 years or over, according to the CSO.

Cancers, diseases of the circulatory system or diseases of the respiratory system, accounted for two in three deaths in 2022.

COVID-19 accounted for 1,848 deaths, or 5.2% registered deaths in 2022.