ENGLAND’S POPULATION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 6487, 6 April 1908, Page 3

ENGLAND’S POPULATION.

A YEARS' VITAL STATISTICS. INTERESTING FIGURES. The 69th annual report of the Regis-trar-General on births, manages, and ln 4M S t^r’ltSe S that the. mar* ages in England ami Wales during the year numbered 270,038, giving a rote of 15.0 persons married per 1,000 of the Imputation of all ages. Thjs ," a * J' 1.000 above the rate m 1900, but .2 per 1.000 below the average irale for'tho sswr s=V']h?i~aing thieo years being 522, 578, and «1.

THE MARRLIGE AGE. Tho number married included 50,9-12 minors; but the average age of those married was 28.15 in tur case of men (2D. 13 in London), and 20.37 m the. case of women. Of tho total number of marriages 170,033, or 631 per 1,000, were solemnised according to the rites ot tho Established Church; 48,777, oir 181 per 1,000, according to the rites of other religious denominations; and 50,68.., or 188 per 1,000, took piace in registry olTh’e total number of birtbs registered during the year was 935,081, being in tho proportion of 27-1 per 1,000 of the total population. This is the lowest rate recorded since civil registration was established. , , . ~ _ Tho birth rate has steadily fallen since 1876, w-hen it attained the “l'T ) r st point on record, viz., 36.3 per 1,000 below that for the previous year and l.b per 1,000 below the average tor the preceding ten years.

FEWER ILLEGITIMATE BIRTHS. Of the total number of children born 37,390 were illegitimate, this being at the rate of 40 per LOCO. Comparing the proportion of illegitimate birtbs in U* with that recorded in the quinquenniaL period 1876-80, the illegitimate .rate, based on the standard of total births, has decreased by about 16 per cent., whereas if the rate is based on the unmarried and widowed female population of conceptive ages the decrease during the same period has amounted to nearly 44 per cent., showing that t rate of 'illegitimacy is considerably understated by calculations based on the total number of birtbs. The total deaths registered numbered 531,281, giving a rate, of '15.4 per 1,000 of the population. Of these 125.8 were infants : under one year of age, proportion of 13.2 per 1000 births. This rate was 4 per 1000 above the rate for the previous year, but 15 per 1,000 below the mean proportion in the preceding ten years. WHERE WOMAN LEAD.

Among the deaths there were 65 of reputed centenarians, 16 of whom were males and 'l9 females. Only 1.53 per cent, of tho deaths were uncertified—this being tho lowest proportion of uncertified deaths ever recorded. The Registrar-General's figures rre based upon an estimated population of 34,547,016, the total population of the United Kingdom in tho middle of tho year being estimated at 43,661.093. Commenting in his final remarks upon tho declining birth rate the RegistrarGeneral says there is no present indication of an arrest in this decline, the provisional returns for the first three auarters of 1607 showing a decrease in each quarter as compared with those for the corresponding quarters of the previous year. A HEALTHY YEAR.

Speaking generally, tho year was a favourable one from the standpoint of tho national health.

On the one hand tho steady decrease recorded for several years in tho mortality from tuberculosis was practically sustained throughout the year. Several ether diseases, including most of the infectious diseases of childhood, have shown diminished fatality. On tho other hand, the sad pre-emi-nence of cancer—tho' one disease that hitherto has evinced no abatement of fatality—was fully maintained in the year under notice, the rate showing an increase of 32 per million on the rat© for 1905.

Diabetes raellitus and diarrhoea were also amongst tho diseases which proved more fatal than the average.—‘Morning Leader."