VITAL STATISTICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 237, 6 October 1928, Page 19

VITAL STATISTICS.

:: FIGURES FOR LAST YEAR. |jf. AIX-ROTTND DECREASE . : RECORDED. . . \ PRESERVATION OF INFANT* LIFE. -> The number of births registered in New Zealand during 1927 was the lowest . recorded since 1919, and was a decrease of 592 on the previous year, it being jhe first time since 1923 that a decrease - has taken place. The number of births registered was 27,881, comprising 14,291 males and 13,590 females: A substan- ■ tial drop in the rate' per 1000 of mean ■ population was also recorded, the figures for 1920 and. 1927 being 21.05 and 20-29 . respectively. Such a .low birth'rate is unprecedented' in the/history of lie ■ Dominion. ' This information is contained in the annual.report: on vital statistics, which is' now available. Included in'the number of births registered were 98 which had remained unregistered ; from previous years, ! the earliest dating back to 1557. With the exception of one year there has always been . a preponderance . of males in the number of children born "in New Zealand. This disparity between the sexes, however, varies greatly from year to year. Counting only cases where both children were born alive; there were 331 cases of twin births in • 1927. In addition there was one case of triplets, all the children being females. Illegitimate Births. ■•■ Of the children whose, births were registered last year, 1387, comprising fiSH males and 699 females, were illegitimate. * Thus, of every 1000 children registered; 50 were born out of wedlock, a proportion which is slightly less than that for ' 1920, namely, 52.' The average for tlic ten preceding years was 46. "With a constantly declining birthrate it is reasonable to assume that tl'.e proportion of illegitimate \o total birih» will tend to increase," states the report. "Nevertheless it is unsatisfactory and ' somewhat disquieting to record that tiiie proportion in 1920 reached the unprecedently high.figure of 5.17 per cent, while in 1917 if remained as high as 4.97 per cent. The previous highest rate was 4.77 per cent, in 1924. It is seen from" a study of the quarterly figures of illegitimate births that the large increase in the last two years took place in the latter half of 1920, and the. first quarter of 1927. The only disturbance of 'population, of any consequence which might have some influence on this unenviable record f or ' these : two years was the Dunedin Exhibition, held in the latter end of 1925 and the i-.cgiiining of 1020." Births Among Maoris. -. Last year 1495 Maori births were reg'istered, of which 700 were males and 729 females, giving-a rate of 23.22 per 1000 of the Maori population. This'fate is 14 per eent higher than the general birth"ra'te. ' '■'.-."■■_■■ .' • /.' ■. • ■' u . .

" "The number of marriages Registered in.New- Zealand last year, was . 1.0,478, representing a decrease of 202" as'compared with the previous year.,. The mar-riage-rate of 7.62 per 1000. of < mean population is considerably , lower : than that i.OT 1926 (7.90) and 0.21-per 100,0 less than the preceding five-yearly aver-a'"eV-The marriage-rate in'recent years is a: long way below the, average .rate attained-in pre-war years,-and. the -tendency is for the rate to. decline still further. .Mhisdeelining movement:is.not only-noticeable iu New Zealand,'but is evident 'in most other civilised ' countries 1 ."-- • ' - ■ . • ' ' ■: ... '. i . . Deaths In Dominion. . : ; ■ The death statistics for 1927, principally "on account of the entire absence of any. noticeable epidemic, show a decrease of 206 on the previous year, the figures beiii" 11,613 and 11,819 respectively. The death-rate for 1927 of 8.45 per 1000. of mean population continued the succession of extremely low. rates that lias been in evidence since 1920. The rate for 1926 was 8.74, the 1927 figure thus recording a decrease of 0.29 per 1000 ,of population. For every 100 deaths :of females registered • there were 128' of males. The death-rate of males was 22 per cent higher than that of females. "The attainment and maintenance of an exceedingly low general death-rate," continues the report, "must be attributed to a certain extent to the success that has accompanied the concentrated efforts that have been made,"particularly in recent years, in the direction of the preservation of infant life in New Zealand. Last year there were only 1080 deaths of infants under one year of age, which is an improvement on the figure for the previous year of 52, or 4* per-cent. The rate.per 1000 live births fell from 39.76 in 1926 t0~38.74 in 1927, thus, reaching a phenomenally ' low ievel —one, indeed, which has never hitherto been approached either in. this; country or in any other country, in the world."