New figures released by the Central Statistics Office have shown that more than 200 babies were born to women aged 45 and over last year.
The figures were unveiled in the organisation’s sixteenth issue of the Statistical Yearbook of Ireland, which publishes vital statistics relating to births, deaths and marriages.
In 2015, exactly 224 babies were born to mothers aged 45 or older, while that figure jumped to almost 4,000 (3,978) in the 40 – 44 age category.
The Yearbook statistics also revealed an upward trend in the number of couples getting married in 2015.
According to the latest figures, there were 22,116 marriages registered in the Republic of Ireland last year – the highest number since 2008, interestingly.
With the Marriage Equality Bill only officially written into law in November, same-sex marriages only accounted for 91 out of the total number of unions.
As for the average age of couples getting married, it seems ’30-something’ is still the most popular age for taking the plunge. Indeed, the average age of brides in 2015 stood at 33, while it was 35 for the grooms.
This certainly serves up some interesting food for thought.
