Drop in Westmeath birthrates
The number of babies born in Ireland has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, with new Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures showing a national decline of more than 14,000 births since 2013. Westmeath’s figures reflect the trend, with births in the county dropping by almost one-fifth over the same ten-year period.
According to the Vital Statistics Annual Report 2023, there were 54,526 births nationally, representing a birth rate of 10.3 per 1,000 population — down from 68,954 births (14.9 per 1,000) in 2013 and a far cry from the 68,713 births (22.4 per 1,000) recorded fifty years ago in 1973Ireland’s average maternal age now stands at 33.2 years, up from 29.8 in 1993 and 29 in 1973.
Westmeath mothers were slightly younger than the national average in 2023, at 32.5 years.
Mullingar Regional Hospital recorded 1,797 hospital births, the eighth highest of any maternity unit in the State. Not all births in the hospital were to women resident in Westmeath, but the figures show that 1,091 of the babies born in the state in 2023 were to women living in Westmeathm
That figure was down slightly from the 1,093 births of 2022 and well below the 1,338 recorded in 2013. That represents a drop of 18.5% over the decade. The county’s births peaked at 1,360 in 2014 before gradually falling year-on-year.
Mullingar mothers accounted for 220 births last year, while 213 were from Athlone, and 658 from the rest of the county. By age group, the steepest decline came among younger mothers.
The number of births among under 20s was down from 39 births in 2013 to 18 in 2023; among those aged 20-24, the fall was from 160 to 121 and among those aged 25-29, births decreased from 297 to 202.
However, births to older mothers rose slightly. Women aged 35–39 had 324 babies (up from 298 in 2013), and 78 mothers aged 40–44 gave birth (up from 65). There were three mothers aged 45 and over, compared with just one a decade earlier.
In Westmeath, 57.3% of births (625) occurred within marriage or civil partnership in 2023, with 42.7% (466) outside of marriage. That marks a small decrease from 2013, when 64% (857 out of 1,338) of county births were within marriage.
Nationally, 59.4% of all births occurred within marriage or civil partnership last year — a sharp fall from 80.1% in 1993, and, according to the CSO, a considerable contrast to the mere 1.6% born outside marriage recorded back in 1959.
Ireland’s total period fertility rate — the average number of children a woman is expected to have — stood at 1.5 in 2023, down from 1.9 in 2013 and well below the replacement rate of 2.1 needed to sustain the population long-term.
First-time mothers accounted for 41.2% of all Irish births in 2023 (22,462), second-time mothers for 34.2% (18,623), and third-time mothers for 16.5% (8,973). Only 8.2% of mothers had already given birth to three or more children. Births to mothers of Irish nationality made up 73.9% of all births nationally.
Nationally, there were 35,649 deaths registered in 2023 — an increase of 20.8% since 2013. Male deaths rose by 24.5% and female deaths by 17%. The national death rate stood at 6.7 per 1,000 population, up from 6.4 in 2013.
Westmeath recorded 666 deaths in 2023, a rate of 7 per 1,000, slightly above the national figure.
Of these, 260 were among people aged 85 and over, compared with 209 a decade earlier.
There were 12 deaths by suicide in the county — 10 men and 2 women — a small increase on 2022, when there were 10. The annual total has fluctuated between 6 and 13 over the past decade.