Teenage pregnancy levels at lowest since 1966

Teenage pregnancy in Ireland has dropped to levels not seen since the 1960s, figures reveal.

There were 2,043 births to women under the age of 20 in the Republic during 2010, the CSO said in its Vital Statistics Annual 2010 report, released yesterday.

The figure represents less than 3% of all babies born that year, the lowest recorded percentage since 1966.

Births to teenage mothers reached a peak in 1999 — at 6.2% of all newborns — and has continued to fall every year since.

The report also revealed that the number of birthsduring 2010 dipped slightly for the first time in five years. But despite the drop — down to 75,174 babies from 75,554 the previous year — the figure remains the second highest number of births in the State since 1896, coming after years of steady increases.

Ireland continues to have the highest fertility rate of all 27 EU countries, with an average birth rate of 2.06 children per woman.

Nearly a quarter (23%) of all babies born during 2010 were to mothers of non-Irish nationality. A third (33.8%) of all births were to unmarried mothers.

There were 27,961 deaths in Ireland in 2010. The death rate has been falling gradually since the start of the century.

While the figures show significant decreases in the number of deaths as a result of circulatory disease, it remains the biggest killer in the country, accounting for 34.3% of all deaths.

There was a 10% drop in suicides in 2010, down to 495, with men accounting for 82% and women 18%.