In the ten years up to 2018, the number of births in Ireland had fallen by 18.8pc, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office, with the age of first-time mothers rising.

The Vital Statistics Annual Report 2018 also shows the average age of mothers continues to rise with it being 32.9 years in 2018. Mothers under the age of 30 accounted for 27.1pc of births in 2018 compared with ten years previous when mothers under 30 accounted for 39.3pc of births.

Mothers giving birth over the age of 40 in 2018 had risen by 42pc since 2008.

The number of births from teenage mothers has dramatically decreased in the past ten years with a 60.2pc decrease from 2008 to 2018. There were 956 births to mothers under 20 years of age in 2018 which is down from 2,402 in 2008.

There were 61,022 live births in Ireland in 2018, and 31,140 deaths. The natural increase in population (births minus deaths) in 2018 was 29,882, which is a decrease of 4.9pc on the 2017 figure. overall population of the country. The natural increase in 2008 was 46,899, 36.3% more than the 2018 figure.