POPULATION AND VITAL STATISTICS.

Patea Mail, 6 January 1881, Page 4

POPULATION AND VITAL STATISTICS.

The estimated population on the 31st December, 1879, was 463,729. being an increase during the year of 31,210 persons, or at the rate of 7 - 2 per cent. The increase during the year from excess of immigration over emigration is estimated at 18,723 (the numbers are not exact, as it was shown last year that many persons must leave the colony of whose departure no record is kepi), and the increase from excess of births over deaths amounted to 12,487, or 638 less than the similar increase in 1878, the decrease being attributable no t to a smaller number of births, but an increased number of deaths, in 1879. Immigration. — The total at rivals in New Zealand during the year amounted to 23,957 persons, of whom 15,186 were males and 8,771 females. Of the males, 12,841 were adults (or over 12 years of age) and 2,345 were children : of the females, 6,638 were adults, and 2,133 were children. The number of immigrants brought to the colony at the public expense amounted to 10,311 ; the unassisted immigrants numbered 13,646, of whom 329 were Chinese. Of the unassisted immigrants, 6,424 came from the United Kingdom ; 6,413 from the Australian Colonies and Tasmania, in which are included 214 Chinese; 672 from Fiji, Hawaii, and South Seas (arrivals by the San Francisco steamers are entered in the Customs as from Hawaii) ; and 137 from other ports, Emmigration. —The number of persons returned as having left the colony during 1879 amounted to 5,234, of whom 657 went direct to the UniteO Kingdom, 4,152 to the Australian Colonies, 425 to other places, the passengers via San Francisco having been entered as for Hawaii. There is thus, as regards the Australian Colonies, an apparent excess of arrivals over departures to the extent of 2,261 ; but while the number of arrivals given may be taken as tolerably accurate, the same reliance cannot be placed on the accuracy of the numbers leaving for those colonies, as a complete record of persons leaving New Zealand coasts is not kept. Aliens Naturalized . —Sixty-six natives of Foreign States were naturalized in 1879. Of these, 35 were natives of Germany and Austria ; 15 were from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark ; 6 were Chinese ; and 10 were from other countries. VITAL STATISTICS. Births. —The living births registered in 1879 amounted to 18,070, an increase on the births in 1878 of 300. The births in 1879 were at the rate of 40 32 per 1,000 of the mean population. The rate in 1878 was 4T96 per 1,000. Sex. —Of the children born alive, 9,295 were males and 8,775 were females, being at the rate of 105'9 males to every 100 females. The exceptionally low proportion of the male births (10T5 males to

100 loma’i s) which obtained in 1878 has been limited to such year, as in 1879 the proportions assumed their average normal condition. Illegitimate Births. —The number of illegitimate births registered amounted to 415, or 2 - 30 per cent, of the total births. The rate in 1878 was 2*41 per cent., and in 1877 2*oß per cent. Marriages. —The number of marriages solemnized in 1879 amounted to 3,352, a reduction of 25 on the number in 1878. The proportion of persons married to every 1,000 living was 14 96 in 1879, against 15 94 in 1878. The proportion was lower than in any previous year since 1872, when it amounted to 13*70. Forms of Marriage. —993 of the marriages, or 29’6 per cent, of the entire number, were solemnized by ministers of one or other of the two Presbj r terian Churches in New Zealand ; 739, or 22 per cent, by ministers of the Church of England ; 4QB, or 12*2 per cent., by ministers of the Roman Catholic Church ; 303, or 9 per cent., by ministers of the Wesleyan Methodist Society ,* 314 by ministers of other denominations ; and 595, or 17*8 per cent, by Registrars—an increase by 14 on the marriage by Registrars in 1878. Signature of Marriage Registers.— 111 men, or 3.3 per cent, of the number married, signed the register with marks the proportion having been 2*96 in 1878. Of the women married, 215, or 6*4 per cent., signed the register with marks. This last is a somewhat lower proportion than the similar proportion in 1878, which was 6 87 per cent. Ages of Persons Married. —Of the 3,351 women married, 1,049, or 31*30 per cent, were under 21 years of age (the similar proportion in each of the two previous years was 30 47) ; 1,299, or 38 76 per cent., were at the ages, 21—25 ; and 558, or 16.66 per cent., where at the ages 25 —30 : 5 women upwards of 60 were married. Of the men, 60, or 1’79 per cent, were under 21 years of age.