THE NUMBER OF births in Ireland have continued to decrease, while the number of deaths have continued to rise.

In 2018, a total of 61,901 births were registered in Ireland, down from 62,919 the year previous.

A total of 32,029 deaths were registered in Ireland last year, up from 31,385 in 2017.

That’s according to the 2018 annual report of the Civil Registration Service, published by Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty today.

In all, over 115,000 life events were registered in Ireland last year.

This includes 21,052 marriages.

Additionally, 81 adoptions and 223 stillbirths were registered during the year.

Here’s a breakdown of the number of registrations recorded between 2015 and 2018 in various categories:

Source: Department of Social Protection

The number of new entries in the Gender Recognition Register in 2018 was 75. Two of these related to people who were under 18 years of age.

Meanwhile, just over 405,000 certificates of various types were issued to members of the public during 2018. These are issued when a birth, death or marriage are registered, but also when and requested by a member of the public.

Certificates are also issued to members of the public engaged in research into family histories and building family trees as well as to support legal and other family processes.

“People place great significance in being able to register the life events that impact on their lives and families and for the State, and society more widely, to confer some level of official recognition on these through the registration services,” Doherty said.

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“The recording of our life events today means that in years ahead, this vital source of personal history is available for those who come after us.”