There has been a 16 per cent drop in births registered in Clare in the past year.
The latest CSO data shows that 299 births were registered in the county between October and December of 2022.
A total of 299 births were registered in Clare in the final quarter of 2022.
Of these, 152 were male and 147 were female.
This represents a 16pc drop on the 2021 figures from the same period with 59 fewer babies born at the end of last year.
Of the 299 births in the final quarter of 2022, 100 were to mothers between the ages of 35 and 39
36 births were to women over the age of 40 and two were to women under the age of 20.
There were 241 deaths registered in Clare between October and December of 2022.
Of these, 67 are attributed to diseases of the circulatory system and 62 to malignant neoplasms.
Nine deaths occurred due to dementia and five as a result of Covid-19.
