Ireland sees record number of babies born to mothers aged 45 and older

Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) published its Vital Statistics Annual Report 2023 on Monday, November 3.

Among the findings, the CSO reported that there was a record number of 408 babies born to women 45 years and over in 2023, an increase of 80.5% from 2013. 

The CSO further reported that births to women aged 40 and over in Ireland increased by 24.7% in ten years, up from 4,004 in 2013 to 4,993 in 2023.

Meanwhile, births to women aged under 20 decreased by 50.5% in ten years, down from 1,380 in 2013 to 683 in 2023.

Overall, the average age of mothers in Ireland increased by 3.1% in ten years, up from 32.2 years in 2013 to 33.2 years in 2023.

Record number of babies born to women aged 45 years and over in 2023https://t.co/q0Zcb28u3p#CSOIreland #Ireland #VitalStatistics #VitalStats #Births #Deaths #Marriages #IrishBabiesNames #BoysNames #GirlsNames #BabyNames pic.twitter.com/p88d4Nb0Tp

— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) November 3, 2025

Live births in Ireland in 2023

There were 54,526 babies born in Ireland in 2023, down 0.1% from 2022. This represented an annual birth rate of 10.3 per 1,000 of population compared to 14.9 per 1,000 population in 2013.

Limerick City and Waterford City had the highest birth rate in 2023 of 12.1 per 1,000 population, while Waterford County had the lowest at 8.6.

The CSO noted: "Taking account of the population, and looking at the birth rate, it is clear to see the changes in Ireland over the last 50 years.

"In 2023, the birth rate stood at 10.3 births per 1,000 of population, down 0.2 when compared with 2022, when the birth rate was 10.5.

"Ten years ago, in 2013, Ireland’s birth rate stood at 14.9 births per 1,000 of population, while looking back 50 years ago, it stood at 22.4 per 1,000 population in 1973."

Among the babies born in Ireland in 2023 were 925 twin maternities and 20 triplet maternities. There were no sets of quadruplets born in Ireland in 2023.

Age of Mothers in Ireland in 2023

"The age at which a mother gives birth in Ireland continues to increase," the CSO said in its release on Monday.

In 2023, the average age of mothers giving birth was 33.2 years, which is unchanged from 2022.

However, it's a marked change from 50 years ago in 1973, when the average age of a mother giving birth was 29.0 years. It is also an increase from 29.8 years in 1993 and 32.2 years in 2013.

The CSO noted that there were 4,993 births to mothers aged 40 and over in 2023, a 24.7% increase from the 4,004 births in 2013.

Meanwhile, in 2023, 683 births - or 1.3% of all births that year - were to teenagers. This marks a decrease from 50 years ago in 1973 when 3,048 births (4.4%) were to teenage mothers.

In 2023, 0.7% of all births in Ireland were to mothers aged 45 years and over. This is an increase from 1973, when 213 births (.3%) were to mothers 45 years and over.

Births to First-Time Mothers in Ireland in 2023

First-time mothers accounted for 22,462 or 41.2% of all births occurring in 2023.

Second-time mothers had 18,623 births (34.2%), and third-time mothers had 8,973 births (16.5%). Mothers who already had three or more live-born children accounted for the remaining 8.2% of births.

Within Ireland, Galway City was the local authority with the highest proportion of first-time mothers. Of the 731 births that occurred in Galway City in 2023, 371 of these, or 50.8%, were first-time mothers. This share was lowest in Leitrim, where 32.3% of the 331 births were to first-time mothers.

Births within Marriage/Civil Partnership in Ireland in 2023

Nearly six out of every ten births (59.4%) or 32,400 babies in 2023 were born within marriage/civil partnerships in Ireland, with the remaining 22,126 (40.6%) being born outside marriage/civil partnership.

The CSO said that over the last 30 years, this has "changed significantly" as in 1993, the share of births within marriage/civil partnership stood at 80.1%.

Births by Nationality and by Location in Ireland in 2023

Births to mothers of Irish nationality accounted for nearly three-quarters (73.9%) of births in 2023. This was down from 2022, when the share stood at 75.6%, and a further decrease from 2013, when the share stood at 76.9%.

There were 292 domiciliary or home births in Ireland in 2023, which accounted for 0.5% of total births. Regions such as Waterford (2.1%), Wicklow (1.4%), and Cork County, (1.0%), amongst others, recorded shares of domiciliary births which were greater than the national average.