Death rate in Ireland reaches record low

THE plummeting death rate in Ireland reached a historic low in 2004 with 28,665 deaths recorded, the lowest number of deaths ever.

The Central Statistics Office said the drop, down 409 on the previous year, was explained by a combination of increasing life spans and the high number of young people in the population.

The death rate fell to 7.1 deaths per 1,000 population, compared with 7.3 deaths per 1,000 population in 2003.

The Vital Statistics Annual Report revealed substantial improvements in death rates among older people in the last decade.

The death rate for people aged between 65 and 74 reduced from 31 deaths per 1,000 people in 1994, to 21 deaths per 1,000 people in 2004.

Similarly, the death rate for people aged 75 to 84 was down from 79 deaths per 1,000 people in 1994 to 62 deaths per 1,000 people in 2004.

Male mortality rates continue to be higher than female rates, the report confirms.

Almost four in every five deaths were from either diseases of the circulatory system (37%), cancer (28%), or diseases of the respiratory system (14%).

Some 10,666 people died of circulatory diseases, including heart disease and stroke, 7,828 from cancer and 4,079 deaths were due to respiratory diseases.

Deaths due to injury and poisoning amounted to 1,594, or over one in 20 (5.6%) of all deaths. Over 70% of these were males.

The fertility rate was down slightly, with teenagers and women in their 20s and early 30s having less children.

This was balanced by women in their late thirties and early forties having more children. The average age of mothers was almost unchanged at 30.8 years.

The birth rate was at its highest in almost two decades, with 61,972 babies born in 2004, up 443 on the year before.

Almost 32% of births were outside marriage, rising to 43% for women having their first child.