ONGAR IN FINGNAL and Tallaght South in South Dublin were the Local Electoral Areas to have the highest birth rates in 2021.

The Central Statistics Office today published its birth and death findings for 2021.

Some 60,575 births occurred in 2021, with Dublin’s North Inner City having the highest number of births across the country’s 166 LEAs, at 755.

Nationally, the birth rate stood at 11.5 per 1,000 population in 2021 and was highest in both Ongar and Tallaght South at 15.3.

Galway City Central meanwhile had the lowest birth rate, at 8.3 per 1,000 population, followed closely by Glenties in Co Donegal (8.6) and Belmullet in Co Mayo (8.8).

The birth rate looks at the entire population in an area, while fertility rates only focus on females.

Nationally, the fertility rate stood at 47.5 births per 1,000 females and was highest in Carrick-On-Shannon in Co Leitrim at 61.2.

This is followed by Enniscorthy, Co Wexford (60.8), and Ballybay-Clones, Co. Monaghan (60.6).

On the other end of the scale, urban LEAs such as Dublin’s South-East Inner City (29.8), Galway City Central (30.5), and Dublin’s North Inner City (31.1) had the lowest general fertility rate.

In addition to analysing the number of births, the CSO data also looked at the number of deaths.

In 2021, there were 34,844 deaths in Ireland, with Clontarf in Dublin City recording the highest proportion of deaths at 1.5%, or 528 deaths.

Belmullet in Co Mayo, Glenties in Co Donegal, and Bantry-West Cork were the only LEAs to record more deaths than births in 2021.

All three areas also recorded the highest crude death rates, which is the number of deaths divided by the population in an area.

Belmullet had 56 more deaths than births, Glenties recorded 37 more deaths than births, while this figure in Bantry-West Cork was 31.

On the other end of the spectrum, Ongar had 550 more births than deaths, followed by Nass in Co Kildare on 493, and Swords, Fingal on 488.