Births decreased by more than 1,500 in the first four months of the year, the Central Statistics Office has revealed.
There were 14,371 births in quarter 1 of 2020, which was 9% (1,522) less than the same period last year.
At the same time, deaths increased over the same period to 8,674.
The increase was marginal, with 56 more deaths, or a 0.6% rise.
And sadly, there were 42 infant deaths registered in the first four months of the year.
A statistician for the CSO said: “This corresponds to a birth rate of 11.7 per 1,000 population, a decrease of 1.4 per thousand population from quarter 1 2019.
“The deaths equate to a death rate of 7.0 per 1,000 population, a decrease of 0.1 points from quarter 1 2019.
“There were 42 infant deaths registered in quarter 1 2020 giving an infant mortality rate of 2.9 per 1,000 live births.
“The number of births less the number of deaths in quarter 1 2020 resulted in a natural increase of population of 5,697 persons.”
As well as this, the average age for first time mums also rose slightly to 31.4 years, up 0.1 years compared to last year.
The average age of all mums in that period was 33.1 years, which is also an increase of 0.1 years.
The most deaths were due to diseases of the circulatory system, which accounted for 2,489 deaths, or an annual rate of 2.0 per 1,000 population.
Of these, 1,162 were due to ischaemic heart disease and 454 to cerebrovascular disease.
Deaths from chronic lower respiratory disease numbered 588, pneumonia accounted for 304 deaths and 396 deaths resulted from all other respiratory diseases.
