CSO figures show births fall by almost a fifth since 2010

The number of births in Ireland has fallen by almost a fifth in eight years, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The CSO's Vital Statistics Annual Report for 2017 also found that the average age of mothers who gave birth in 2017 has risen to its highest since it was first recorded in 1955. The average age in 2017 was 32.8 years.