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| Source: CSO
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There were 75,065 births registered in 2008. This was the highest number of births recorded since 1896 when there were 75,332 births registered in the 26 counties.
These figures are contained in the Central Statistics Office's Vital Statistics, Fourth Quarter and Yearly Summary report 2008.
The total period fertility rate, TPFR is derived from the age specific fertility rates in the current year. It represents the projected number of children a woman would have if she experienced current age specific fertility rates while progressing from age 15-49 years. A value of 2.1 is generally considered to be the level at which the population would replace itself in the long run, ignoring migration.
In 2008 the TPFR for Ireland was 2.1, corresponding to the replacement level. This is the first time since 1990 that it has reached this level. In 2007, the TPFR was 2.0.
The fertility rate increased across all 5 year age groups between 20 and 49, with a slight drop in the rate for those under 20.
Similar to 2007, over two in five (42%) births in 2008 were to first time mothers and just over 33% of births in 2008 were outside marriage.
There were 28,192 deaths registered in 2008, a slight decrease in the rate from 6.5 per 1,000 population in 2007 to 6.4 per 1,000 population in 2008. The natural increase (births minus deaths) in 2008 was 46,873, an increase of 10% on the 2007 figure.
Over 3 in every 4 deaths were from either diseases of the circulatory system (35%), cancer (29%), or diseases of the respiratory system (12%). There were 8,203 deaths due to cancer, an increase of 4.6% on the same figure last year. There was a decrease in the number of deaths due to circulatory and respiratory disease in the year, 0.5% and 3% respectively.
The CSO said there were 424 suicides registered or 9.6 per 100,000 population. Males represented 78% of suicides, while females represented 22%.
There were 22,243 marriages registered in 2008, 301 less than in 2007. The number of divorces granted by the Circuit Court and the High Court was 3,630.
