The Irish population has soared to its highest level since 1862, reaching 4.339 million, according to the latest report from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) reveals. Ireland has the highest fertility rate in the European Union with an average of 2.05 children per woman, with births soaring to their highest level in over 25 years. Some 71,389 babies were born in Ireland in 2007, almost 6,000 more than the previous year, and higher than at any time since 1981. August is the most popular month for births, with significantly more births in the second half of the year than in the first. France has the highest fertility rate at 1.98 after Ireland, followed by 1.92 in the UK. The statistics also revealed that one third of births are now outside marriage and almost 44 per cent of first time mothers were unmarried. Nearly one-in-five births were to immigrants, the figures reveal.