AUSTRALIA’S POPULATION

Northern Advocate, 15 September 1932, Page 8

AUSTRALIA’S POPULATION

GRADUAL INCREASE. RECORD LOW BIRTHRATE. A BRIDEGROOM OF 102. SYDNEY, September 7. According to a statement prepared by the Commonwealth Statistician (Professor L. F. Giblin) the ages of brides last year ranged from 13 to SS years, and those of bridegrooms from 16 to 102 years. In the year a man of 102 married a woman of 62. The most frequent age of bridegrooms avrs 24, and of brides 21. years. Consideration of the relative ages of brides and bridegrooms showed that the most frequent combination was a bride of 21 and a bridegroom of the same age. » Marriages to the number of 38,882 were registered in 1931, Of the number 3875, or 9.97 per cent., were celebrated by civil officers, as compared with 4.43 per cent, in 1921. For the past 10 years each succeeding year has shown an increase in the proportion of civil marriages. The marriage rate of 5.98 per 1000 of population was the lowest recorded since 1918, and has only been lower twice during the present century.

There were 28 deaths of centenarians —ls males and 1.1 females —the recorded ages ranging from 100 to 111 years. Deaths of children under 1 year of age numbered 4994, so that out of every .1000 children born in 1931 42 died before they reached' their first birthday. This rate is the lorvest ever recorded in Australia, being 5 per 1000 lower than the record of 1930, and is, with the exception of New Zealand, the lowest in the world. The rate in New Zealand is only 32. Lowest Birthrate On Record. During 1931, 118,509 births were registered, compared with 128,399 in 1930, The birth rate for 1931, 18.23 per 1000 of poulation, was. the lowest ever recorded. During the year 50,560 deaths were registered, corresponding to a rate of 8.70 per 1000 of the population. This rate was the second lowest ever recorded in Australia (the lowest being 8.59 recorded in 1930). Professor Giblin said that the average annual increase in population since the census of 1921 was 101,408, representing a rate of growth of 1.72 per cent., one of the highest in the world.