Further Fall In Birth-rate

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31215, 12 November 1966, Page 1

Further Fall In Birth-rate

(New Zealand Press As»octation»

WELLINGTON, November 11. A further decline in the New Zealand birth-rate, but a rise in the marriage rate are shown in Department of Statistics records for 1965.

Last year’s birthrate was the lowest since 1943, when war service separated many married couples and delayed prospective marriages.

The 1965 birth-rate was 22.73 per 1000 of population, compared with the 1943 birthrate of 21.25. In spite of the lower rate there were many more births recorded annually than was the case 10 years ago. The 1965 total was 60,178, which was 4502 higher than in 1955. The drop in the birth-rate has also been common to Australia, Canada, and the United States in recent years, the department said. Of the 60,178 births registered during 1965 there were

31,105 males and 29.073 females—a proportion of 1070 to 1000. With the exception of one year, 1860, there have always been more males than females born in New Zealand.

More marriages, probably because of the higher number of births in the immediate post-war years, were recorded in 1965. Many of the recent brides were born in this period. The marriage rate was 8.20 per 1000 of popu. lation in 1965, or 21.702 marriages. compared with 20,720 in 1964. The infant mortality rate of 19.51 per 1000 live births last year was New Zealand's second lowest rate. Maori infant mortality had shown a substantial decrease In recent years, the rate of 30.04 for 1964 being reduced to 29.79 in 1965, the lowest recorded.