EMPIRE REVIEW

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23227, 22 December 1938, Page 9

EMPIRE REVIEW

POPULATION AND TBADE FIGURES FOR TEN YEARS DECREASE IN MIGRATION £erom our own correspondent] LONDON. Nov. 28 It is revealed in a Blue Book that the population of the Empire is growing, and that 1937 was tho best trad- •• r ing year since 1928. » Only one or two areas—notably Sarawak and Gambia —show a substantial decrease sinco the 1931 census, although, the figure for Eire, given separately,; shows that there has been a slight decrease from 2,957,000 in 1931 to 2,944,000. Increases are shown practically everywhere else. Britain differs from many parts of tho Empire in that it has nearly 2,000,000 more women than men. In Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Newfoundland, the Gold Coast, and Hongkong, among other places, men predominate. In the Falkland Islands tho proportion is roughly two men for every woman. Jamaica the Healthiest Place Ithodesia has the highest marriagerate, with 24 per 1000, Zanzibar, with a rate of 13.1, is second, followed by Gibraltar, with 12.2. Britain's figure is 8.6. This is exceeded in Australia. 8.7,' New Zealand, 9.6, and Newfoundland, 8.7. The healthiest place in the British Empire is the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, with a death rato of 6 per 1000. St. Helena comes next, witty a rate of 7.3. Australia, Canada, Isew Zealand, Rhodesia and Bermuda are all healthier spots than Britain to judge by their death rates, which are less than that of 12.6 per 1000 for this - country. The rates for Fiji, Jersey, Eire, Gibraltar, Zanzibar, Cyprus, and tho Malay States are lower than Britain's. Hongkong, with a death-rate of 34.5 per 1000, easily heads the list. Inter-Imperial Trade Revival After several years of falling away '■* the total inter-Imperial trade took a * turn for the better last year. It rose to a value of £831,000,000, but even so was still less than the 1928 -figure of £857,000,000. Tho grand total of tho trade of the Empire was £2,643,000,000 * last year—the best for eight years— ~ r : but the 1928 figure was £3,307,000,000. Ten years ago, however, 74.1 1 per cent of the Empire trade was with foreign countries, but last year the percentage was 68.6—the difference being to tho advantage of the Empire. Canada, Australia and New Zealand all show a big drop in the number of immigrants in tho past 10 years, but most of the Dominions show slightly better figures for 1937 over those of 1936. » '* ;: Wages and Cost of Living The highest rates of wages were to t be obtained in 1937 in the United King- - dom, but the cost of living in this ' s country was the highest with the exception of Eire. With an index number s of 100 for 1929, Britain paid 104—.A?. the highest for 10 years. Canada varied from 64 for agricultural workers to 104; Australia from 83 to 89; New Zealand from 100 to 102. South Africa's it rate was 100. The cost of living index in Britain rb was 154, compared with Canada's 129, is Australia's 129, New Zealand's 147. .ca South Africa's 117, Bombay's 106, and Southern Rhodesia's 104. The savings banks of nearly every - part of the Empire showed that more people are putting money on- deposit. u , British Lead in Shipping ; The United Kingdom heads all parts of the Empire for shipping activity, \\ but the report shows that many small - - outposts clear more British shipping than some continents. Gibraltar cleared 27,464,000 tons of shipping in 1937. against Australia's ..n 12,612,000 tons. Aden was even busier T with 33.775,000 tons, Hongkong had 34.579.000 and Jamaica was active with A 9,293,000 tons. ... re A significant conclusion from the ?i# shipping figures is that there has been oa a steady increase in the past 10 years in the tonnage of foreign vessels -A cleared. . :