LATEST Central Statistic Office (CSO) figures have revealed how the nation’s birth rate has stalled while fewer people are dying.
The new data showed how there were 67,295 children born in Ireland during 2014, down 1,659 from 2013.
The CSO said this is the lowest number of births since 2006 when there were 65,425 births.
The birth rate was 14.6 per 1,000 of the population in 2014 compared to 15.0 in 2013 and 15.3 in 2004.
It also emerged that teen pregnancies are down over 50% compared to 10 years ago while births to mothers over 40 surged by over 70%.
The figures showed just 1,296 births were registered to women under the age of 20 in 2014.
The figure stood at 2,493 in 2004.
In fact, it emerged the average age of mothers is rising with the typical new Irish mothers now aged 30.5 years old compared to 28.5 years old 12 years ago.
Death rates
The “Vital Statistics Annual Report 2014″ by the CSO also revealed that circulatory and respiratory conditions are still some of the biggest killers on the island.
Heart problems accounted for 8,852 deaths while respiratory illness killed 3,492 in 2014.
The CSO said there were 29,252 deaths in Ireland in 2014, of which 14,897 were men and 14,355 were women.
The death rate for 2014 stood at 6.3 deaths per 1,000 total population, slightly lower than the 6.4 recorded in 2013.
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