How many babies are born in Ireland each year?

An estimated 52.6 thousand babies are born in Ireland in 2026, according to the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium projection. That is about 144 a day and 0.04% of all births worldwide.

What is the birth rate in Ireland?

Ireland has an estimated 9.8 births per 1,000 people in 2026, and a total fertility rate of 1.60 children per woman.

Europe · Northern Europe

How many babies are born in Ireland?

52.6 thousand babies born in Ireland in 2026 — 0.04% of all births worldwide, and the 132nd largest of any country. UN projection

144births per day
6per hour
0per minute
9.8births per 1,000 people
1.60children per woman
5.36 millionpopulation

Plus or minus about 6%. These years have not happened yet or have not been counted yet. They are the medium variant of the UN's projection, not a record of births that took place.

Births in Ireland through history

Estimated annual births in Ireland, 0 CE to 2026, on a logarithmic scale. The shaded band on the left marks the years where births are modelled rather than recorded. The marker sits on 2026.

Every figure refers to the area inside Ireland's present-day borders. Before 1800 the state did not exist in its current form — see how borders are handled.
Year	Estimated births	Population	Per 1,000	Evidence
1950	66.9K	2.91M	23.0	UN estimate
2000	54.4K	3.8M	14.3	UN estimate
2024	52.8K	5.26M	10.0	UN projection
2026	52.6K	5.36M	9.8	UN projection

What the numbers show

Annual births in Ireland are at their highest in the whole run of estimates in 2009, at about 76K.

At 1.60 children per woman, fertility in Ireland is below the level of about 2.1 that would hold a population steady over the long run without migration.

See Ireland on the map

Where these numbers come from

2026 figures are the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium variant. Earlier years come from the UN's estimates (1950 onward), Gapminder's reconstructions (1800–1949) and a model applied to HYDE population estimates (before 1800). The full chain is set out in the methodology, and every source is listed on the sources page.