Latest quarterly statistics on births, deaths, stillbirths and marriages released for Q1 2026
Date published:
The Quarter 1 (January to March) 2026 Registrar General Quarterly Tables were published this morning at 9.30am.
Key points
- The statistics show a provisional total of 4,930 deaths registered in quarter one of 2026 (Table 1c).
- At a high level there were 1,259 (25.5%) deaths due to cancer, 1,050 (21.3%) deaths due to circulatory disease, and 647 (13.1%) deaths due to respiratory diseases (excluding Covid-19 deaths) (Table 1c).
- Looking in more detail, the leading cause of death for all persons in Northern Ireland in quarter one of 2026 was dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. This was also true for females, while ischaemic heart disease was the leading cause for males (Table 7).
- The expected deaths for quarter one of 2026 was estimated at 4,985. The relative number of excess deaths based on the expected deaths for quarter one of 2026 was estimated at -55 (Table 9a).
- The age-specific death rates show the clear relationship between mortality and age. Death rates range from 0.08 to 16.26 (deaths per 1,000 population of the relative age group) for age groups up to 65 to 74, however, the rates for age groups above are much higher, with 118.24 for 85 to 89 year olds and to 270.02 for those aged 90 and over (Table 6).
- A total of 896 marriages and 13 civil partnerships were registered in quarter one of 2026 (Table 1d).
- The number of births registered in quarter one of 2026 was 4,737. This continues the downward trend which has been observed for over a decade, despite a small increase in quarter one, 2026 (Table 1a).
Tables are available in Registrar General Quarterly Report.
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