H.—3l

16

Proportion of Births Marriaees Legitimate to every Year. 6 ' Births. Marriage solemnized in the Preceding Year. 1904 ... ... ... ... 6,983 21 ~737 3-22 1905 ... ... ... ... 7,200 . 22,600 3-24 1906 ... ... ... ... 7,592 23,120 321 1907 ... ... ... ... 8,192 23,937 3-15 1908 ... ... ... ... 8,339 24,835 3-03 1909 ... ... ... ... 8,094 25,301 303 1910 ... ... ... ... 8,236 24,822 307 1911 ... ... ... ... 8,825 25,276 3-07 1912 ... ... ... ... 9,149 26,331 298 1913 ... ... ... ... ... 26,754 2 81 New Zealand had in 1880 the highest birth-rate in Australasia (40-78) ; in 1900 the case was reversed : but in 1913 the New Zealand rate was higher than only that of Victoria. The movement over ten years is calculated as under :—

Birth-rates per 1,000 of Population.

Sexes of Children born. The figures show that during each year there has been a preponderance of births of male children. It would appear, however, that this excess of male births is not sufficient to compensate for the heavier mortality which occurs among that sex. Of the total population of New Zealand in 1871 there were 70-52 females to every 100 males, but at the census of 1911 the proportion of the females to 100 males had risen to 89-59.

Plural Births. There were 314 cases of twin births (628 children) and 1 case of triplets registered in 1913. The number of children born was 27,935 ; the number of mothers was 27,619 : thus, on an average, one mother in every 87 gave birth to twins, against 82 in 1912, 86 in 1911, 89 in 1910, and 99 in 1909

Country. 1904. 1906. 1906. 1907. 1908. 1909. 1910. 1911. 1912 1913. Queensland Slew South Wiiles Victoria South Australia Western Australia Tasmania Hew Zealand .. ... 26-99 25-76 ... 26-85 26-85 ... 24-74 24-96 ... 2529 24-36 ... 3067 3074 ... 28-92 28-50 ... 26-94 27-22 I > 26-15 ! 2679 26-79 27-21 I 27-34 { 26-99 25-41 25-59 25-07 24-37 24-86 2565 30-66 30-18 3008 28-94 28-63 i 29-95 27-08 27-30 27-45 27-29 27-40 25-01 25-74 28-87 28-91 27-29 27-33 27-65 2967 30-24 27-83 28-75 29-86 28-86 24-51 24-84 26 39 25-82 26-38 26-89 2865 2908 27-99 28-21 : 28-83 \ 29-36 29-25 28-57 ! 3053 I 30-03 2617 25-97 26 48 ' 2614

Number ol Births of Proportion of Births of Malee to every 100 Females. Year. Males. Females. 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 9,310 9,472 9,493 9,511 9,600 9,615 9,724 10,107 10,471 10,653 11,217 11,762 12,109 12,397 12,835 13,369 13,502 13,442 13,532 13,996 14,433 8,877 9,056 9,053 9,101 9,137 9,340 9,111 9,439 10,020 10,002 10,612 11,004 11,573 11,855 12,259 12,571 13,022 12,542 12,822 13,512 13,502 104-9 104-6 104-9 104-5 105-1 102-9 106-7 107-1 104-5 106-5 105-7 106-9 104-6 104-6 104-7 106-3 103-7 107-2 105-5 103-6 106-0