CSO: A third of all births occur outside marriage

More than one-third of all births in the first three months of this year occurred outside marriage, according to the latest figures from the CSO.

The statistics also show that the average of mothers having their first child has risen by almost two years in the past decade and four years in the past three decades.

The average age of mothers having their first child in the first quarter of the year was 28.9 years, while the average age of all mothers is 31 years.

The oldest first-time mothers were in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown (30.9 years) and the youngest in Limerick city (25.7 years).