Birth rate increases by 30% in a decade

The country’s birth rate has grown by 30% in the decade between 2001 and 2010 and more women are giving birth by caesarean, research shows.

Ireland retains its crown as having the highest birth rate in the EU, with more than 75,000 babies born in 2009 — 16.8 births per 1,000 population. In 2001, the Irish birth rate stood at 58,261 — 15.1 per 1,000 population.

The ESRI’s perinatal statistics report reveals while Irish women may be having more babies, they are continuing to have them later. The average age of women giving birth was 31.5 years in 2010 compared to 30.3 years nine years ago.