Macroom and Kanturk see highest birth rates for Cork city and county, CSO figures show

The highest birth rates in Cork in 2022 were 11.4 per 1,000 people in Macroom and 11.1 in Kanturk, while the lowest were 8.1 in Bantry and 8.5 in the city’s North East and South Central wards, new CSO figures have shown.

The CSO birth and death data for 2022 has revealed that overall, there were 5,912 births in Cork, including 3,735 in the county and 2,177 in the city, as well as 4,124 deaths; 1,640 in the city and 2,484 in the county.

Bantry, West Cork, was one of just 15 areas nationally with more deaths than births, with a rate of -0.3 per 100,000.

There were 304 births and 230 deaths in Kanturk, 433 births and 297 deaths in Fermoy, 465 births and 302 deaths in Midleton, 397 and 185 in Carrigaline, 397 and 215 Cobh, 418 and 262 in Bandon-Kinsale, 196 and 205 in Bantry, West Cork, 327 and 303 in Skibbereen, West Cork, 461 and 266 in Macroom, and 337 and 219 in Mallow.

In the city, there were 436 births and 354 deaths in the North West ward, 394 births and 298 deaths in the North East, 464 and 313 in the South East, 346 and 294 in South Central, and 537 and 381 in the South West.

The average age of death was lowest in the city’s North East ward at 73.5, followed by 75.2 in the North West ward, while the highest average age of death was 79.2 in Mallow, followed by 78.7 in the city’s South Central ward.

Of the total Cork deaths, 1,127 were due to neoplasms (abnormal and excessive growth of tissue, such as cancer) and 1,174 due to diseases of the circulatory system.

Other common causes included diseases of the respiratory system (433), mental and behavioural disorders (285), and external causes (215).

Skibbereen, West Cork, had more than double the national rate of external causes of death, including suicide and accidents, at 63 per 100,000, the third highest rate in Ireland.