The State is experiencing a baby boom, with the number of births registered over the summer period last year up by nearly 25 per cent on the figures for 1996.
Official statistics for the third quarter of last year, which were released yesterday, reveal that there were 16,170 births registered in the period last year.
The report, drawn up by the Central Statistics Office for Minister for Health Mary Harney, says the number of births registered in the third quarter represented an increase of 24 per cent compared with the figure for 1996 when 13,015 babies were registered.
"This represents an annual birth rate of 15.7 per 1,000 of the population, 0.3 per cent above quarter three of 2004. This rate is 1.3 per 1,000 population higher than in 1996," the report states.
It says that around 40 per cent of births registered in the third quarter last year were to first-time mothers.
The report also showed a decline in the number of births outside marriage registered in the third quarter compared with the same period in the previous year.
"There were 5,101 births registered as outside marriage in quarter three of 2005. This accounted for 31.5 per cent of all births, a decrease of 1.2 per cent on quarter three in 2004," it states.
The report says the highest percentage of births outside marriage - 53 per cent - occurred in Limerick city.
The lowest such percentage, at 17 per cent, was recorded in Roscommon.
The number of marriages recorded in the third quarter last year, at 8,220, was 20 per cent higher than in the same period in 1996.
The report also reveals that the number of deaths recorded in the third quarter last year was significantly down on the figures for the same period in 1996.
"There were 6,380 deaths registered in quarter three of 2005 - 3,215 males and 3,165 females - a decrease of 93 on the quarter three figure for 2004. The quarter three 2005 total is 11.8 per cent lower than in 1996 when 7,235 deaths were registered, it says.
The report says the death rate figure for the third quarter represented an annual figure of 6.2 per 100,000. It says that this is 1.8 per 100,000 population lower than in 1996. Over 2,200 of the deaths were due to diseases of the circulatory system such as heart disease. There were also nearly 2,000 deaths in the period from various forms of cancer.
Around 400 people during the third quarter last year died from pneumonia, 237 from chronic bronchitis, emphysema and asthma.
There were 149 deaths as a result from other respiratory diseases. The report suggests that the total population stood at 4,130,700 in April last year.
