Death rates and birth rates per head of population both declined in the first three months of the year, new figures show.
Publishing the Vital Statistics First Quarter 2010 report today, the Central Statistics Office said there were 18,535 births registered, a drop of 1.3 per cent in the number of births registered in the corresponding quarter of 2009.
This represented an annual birth rate of 16.6 per 1,000 population compared to 17 per 1,000 in the same period last year.
Fingal recorded the highest birth rate of 22.2 per 1,000 population, while Galway city recorded the lowest birth rate of 12.7.
Some 6,309 or 34 per cent of births were registered outside marriage.
Of these, 3,399 births were to unmarried parents with the same address, 18.3 per cent of all births, the CSO said.
The highest percentage of births outside marriage occurred in Limerick city at 62 per cent, while the lowest percentage occurred in Cork county and Galway county at 24 per cent.
Some 7,563 deaths were registered in the first quarter this year, a drop of 10.2 per cent in the number registered in the first quarter of 2009. This is a death rate f 6.8 per 1,000 population, down from the rate of 7.6 per cent last year.
In 2001, the death rate in the first quarter was 8.9 per 1,000.
There were almost five male deaths for every one female death in the 15-24 age category. In total, there were 44 male deaths and nine female deaths in the first quarter.
In the 25-34 year age category, there were just over double the number of male deaths compared with female deaths registered - 74 men and 35 women.
The CSO said disparities in gender are seen to a lesser extent throughout other age categories.
The natural increase in the population (births minus deaths) for the first quarter was 10,972 – a rate of 9.8 per 1,000 population. This was 0.4 above the same period in 2009 and 3.1 above the first quarter of 2001.
A total of 3,381 marriages were registered in the first quarter this year – 69 fewer than in the corresponding quarter last year. This represents an increase of 1,213 on the number registered in the first quarter of 2001.