These figures are contained in the Central Statistics Office's Vital Statistics Second Quarter 2008 report.
• There were 19,027 births registered in quarter 2 of 2008, an annual birth rate of 17.2 per 1,000 population. This is an increase of 5,442 births (40%) on the same period in 1999 (60 additional births per day). The increase in the last year alone was 11%.
• Of the 19,027 births, just less than 41% were to first time mothers. This quarter traditionally has the lowest percentage of first time births registered. The average age of first time mothers at maternity was 28.9 years, ranging from 26.4 years in Limerick City to 31.7 years in Dun Laoghaire Rathdown.
• There were 6,171 births (32% of all births) registered as outside of marriage in quarter 2 2008. Of these, 3,346 (18% of all births) were to unmarried parents with the same address.
• There were 7,570 deaths registered in quarter 2 2008, an annual death rate of 6.8 per 1,000 population. For those aged 65 and over, the annual death rate was 48.6 per 1,000 population, an improvement of almost 17% since 1999.
• Over one third of all deaths were attributed to circulatory diseases (35%), while 28% were attributed to malignant neoplasms and 13% to respiratory diseases.
• There were 90 infant deaths registered in quarter 2 2008 giving an infant mortality rate of 4.7 deaths per 1,000 live births.
• The natural increase in the population (births minus deaths) for quarter 2 2008 was 11,457. This was almost double the natural increase of 5,808 recorded in 1999.
• There were 5,370 marriages registered in Quarter 2 2008, an annual rate of 4.9 per 1,000 population.