N.Z. MARRIAGES.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 385, 17 March 1937, Page 3

N.Z. MARRIAGES.

Record Year for the Dominion In 1936 there were 13,740 marriages in New Zealand., exclusive of Maoris, and it) is stated in the Abstract of Statistics that this is the highest number ever recorded in the Dominion. The rate per thousand of population was 9.21, the highest with the exception of the post-war year, 1920. The successive increases in the number of marriages during the last four years, the review' slates, are indicative of improved economic conditions. The mounting total of marriages has not been without its effect On the birth rate. Whereas prior to 1936 the rate for 11 years in succession was pronounced the lowest on record, the rate of decline of more recent years has been checked, while the recorded birth rate for 1936, 16.64 per thousand of population, shows a slight increase over that for 1935, which was the highest since 1932. The 1936 death rate v.'as 8775 per thousand of population., the total deaths being 13,056. The rate is the highest since 1923, but is neverthe-

lessi lower than any year prior to 1921, and maintains the low level that has been in evidence in New Zealand for many years past. The infant mortality rate since 1932 has been moving very steadily upwards, though still maintaining annually the position of the lowest rate in the world. Tn 1936., however, the rate of 31.15 per one thousand births showed an appreciable drop, reducing the rate to the lowest figure ever recorded.