There has been a significant drop in the number of births over the past seven years in the Republic of Ireland, according to the latest figures released by the Central Statistics Office
The statistics, released today, reveal that our population – currently standing at 4.7 million – has undergone its slowest increase in 20 years; with birth rates down to 67,000 (2015) from 77,000, five years earlier.
As for the average family size in the Republic, the number of children per family stands at 1.38, which is unchanged since October 2008.
Tying in with the decrease in birth rates is our ageing population, with the latest figures revealing the average age to be 37.4 – up from 2011’s average of 36.1.
Furthermore, it has emerged that the number of males aged 65 and over has increased by 22 percent since the last census; meanwhile, the number of females aged 65 and under has increased by 16.7 percent.
Today’s release is the first of many follow-up reports from last year’s census, as Senior Statistician Deirdre Cullen confirmed.
“Today’s publication is the first of a series of 13 reports on Census 2016 that are due to be published this year. As well as the two summary reports, the CSO will publish 11 thematic profile releases, each of which will explore separate topics such as housing, the homeless, religion, disability, and carers in greater detail,” said Ms Cullen.
“Together, these will provide a comprehensive demographic and socio-economic profile of Ireland in April 2016.”
For more information, and a breakdown of the CSO’s initial census statistics, simply check out this link.
