"This scenario has been triggered by a falling birth rate. In 2010, 77,000 babies were born in Ireland. This, the report stated, is the highest recorded number of annual births. But that number has fallen consistently since, with just 54,000 births in 2024. A fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman is considered the replacement level necessary for a stable population, according to the United Nations (UN)."
"Previous Central Statistics Office (CSO) data also underscored that there were only 13,665 births registered in Q1 of 2025, a drop of 20.5pc when compared with the 17,183 births registered in Q1 2015, a decade earlier. There's been a "sharp and sustained fall in births", the report stated. "Because of this, Ireland will reach its peak population in approximately three decades. This will mean an ageing population and each year Ireland is getting older.""
Projected workforce decline within ten years will reduce tax revenues and strain public finances, while insufficient infrastructure investment will compound economic pressures. Annual births fell from 77,000 in 2010 to 54,000 in 2024, and Q1 2025 registrations totaled 13,665, a 20.5% drop from Q1 2015. Fertility remains below the 2.1 replacement rate. The population is expected to peak in roughly three decades, producing a rapidly ageing society. Policy responses include measures to support higher birth rates, boost labour force participation, and reconfigure health services toward early intervention and community-based care to mitigate fiscal and social impacts.
Read at Irish Independent
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