11

H.—3l

Proportion of Births M . Legitimate to every Year. marriages. Births. Marriage solemnized in the Preceding Year. 1904 ... 6,983 21,737 3-22 1905 ... ... ... ... 7,200 22,600 3*24 1906 ... ... ... ... 7,592 23,120 321 1907 ... ... ... ... 8,192 23,937 3-15 1908 ... ... ... ... 8,339 24,835 3-03 1909 ... ... ... ... 8,094 25,301 303 1910 ... ... ... ... ... 24,822 3-07 If the average result be taken out for the ten years 1891-1900, it will be found to represent 4 - 08 births to a marriage. Dealing similarly with the figures for 1901-10, the result is an average of 3'lB, so that regarded annually or decennially there is a decided fall to be observed. New Zealand had in 1880 the highest birth-rate in Australasia (40-78); in 1900 the case was reversed; but in 1910 the New Zealand rate was higher than that of Victoria and South Australia. The movement over ten years is calculated as under : —

Birth-rates per 1,000 of Population.

Sexes of Children born. The figures show that during each year there has been a preponderance of births of male children. It would appear, however, that this excess of male births is not sufficient to compensate for the heavier mortality which occurs among that sex. Of the total population in 1871 there were 70.52 females to every 100 males, but in 1910 the proportion of the females to 100 males had risen to 89.21.

Twin Births. There were 288 cases of twin births (576 children) and 2 eases of triplets registered in 1910. The number of children born was 25,984; the number of mothers was 25,692 : thus, on an average, one mother in everv 98 gave birth to twins, against 99 in 1909, 90 in 1908, 102 in 1907. 114 in 1906.

Country. j 1901. 1902. I 1903. 1904. j i 1905. 1906. I 1907. 1908. 1909. 1910. Queensland New South Wales Victoria South Australia Western Australia Tasmania New Zealand ... 28-53 ... 27-78 ... 25*77 ... 25-39 ... 30-34 ... 28-60 ... 26-34 i 27-89 27-20 i 25-23 24-85 ,30-27 29-23 25-89 ! 24-62 27-13 i 25-41 26-81 ! 24-46 24-65 ! 23-43 24 70 ! 30-26 ,30 33 ; 28-62 29-60 ; 26-61 26-94 25-92 26-31 26-79 ' 27-12 24-83 ; 2514 23-82 23-54 30-29 3001 29-33 29-82 27-22 27-08 26-98 ; 26-99 27-22 26-86 25-16 ; 24*71 : 23-82 j 24-59 ; 29-40 : 2925 29*50 30-90 27-30 27-45 27-52 27-26 24-55 24-57 28-06 29-86 27-29 27*58 27-56 24-12 2508 2717 3026 2617

1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 IS99 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 Year. Number of Births of Males. Females. .. ' 9,641 9,261 9,514 8,943 9,293 8,985 .. : 9,377 8,896 9.101 8,775 9,310 8,877 9,472 9,056 9,493 9,053 9.511 9,101 9,600 9,137 9,615 9,340 9,721 9,111 10.107 * 9,439 10,471 10,020 .. | 10,653 10,002 11,217 10,612 11,762 11,004 .. ! 12,109 11,573 12,397 11,855 12,835 12,259 13,369 12,571 13,502 13,022 13,442 12,542 Proportion ot Births of Males to every 100 Females. 10-1-1 106-4 103-4 105-4 103-7 101-9 104-6 104-9 104-5 105-1 102-9 106-7 107-1 104-5 106-5 105-7 106-9 104-6 104-6 104-7 106-3 103-7 107*2 .