Sixty two percent of births in Limerick city in the first quarter of this year were outside marriage, up from 53 percent in the same quarter last year, according to figures from the CSO.

The figures show that Limerick city has the highest rate of births to unmarried parents in the country. There were 207 births in Limerick city in the first quarter of this year. Of these, 128 were born to unmarried parents, with 50 of these children (39 per cent) born to cohabiting parents.

In the same period last year, 53 per cent of Limerick city births were outside marriage. This represents an increase of 17 percent. It remains to be seen whether this increase is a ‘blip’ or is part of a longer-term trend.

If it holds, it will mean Limerick city has easily the highest rate of births outside marriage in the country.

The second highest rate in the first quarter of this year was recorded in Cork city where the rate was 48.5 per cent.

In Dublin city, 45 per cent of children were born to unmarried parents, compared to 46 per cent in the same period last year. According to the CSO, 2,053 children were born in the first three months of the year, and of these 934 were outside marriage. Forty-four percent of these (415) were born to cohabiting parents.

Waterford city also showed a high level of out of wedlock births. Of the 193 births registered there in the first quarter, 82, or 42 per cent, were born to unmarried parents. This compares to a rate of 43 per cent in the first quarter of 2009.

Nationally, 34 per cent of all births in the first quarter of this year were to unmarried parents, a rate that remains stable as compared to the same time last year. The figures show that there were 18,535 children born in the January to March period this year, with 6,309 of these born out of wedlock.

Of these, 3,399, or 53 per cent were born to cohabiting parents, representing 18 per cent of all children.

The areas with the lowest rate of unmarried births were Cork county and Galway county, at 24 per cent each.

There was a slight tail off in the number of marriages in the first quarter of this year compared to the same time period last year. In the first quarter of 2009 there were 3,450 marriage, as compared to 3,381 marriages in the first quarter of this year.