Baby boom Ireland! We have the highest birth rate in the EU

Women in Ireland are having more babies than any other EU country.

Yes, there were a 63,900 children born last year - giving us a birth-rate of 13.5 for every 1,000 people. In contrast, the likes of the UK hit a rate of 11.8 while France was just behind that on 11.7. The country with the lowest birth rate was Italy, with just 7.8 children born per 1,000 people. Portugal (8.4), Greece (8.6), and Spain (8.7) also have low rates. Overall the EU's population has increased from 510.2m to 511.8m in the last year. However, this increase was fuelled by immigration. The EU natural rate of population change actually declined during the same period: 5.11m live births and 5.13m deaths. In 2015, there were 65,909 births registered in Ireland.