Increase in Scottish Births and Deaths

The number of births registered in Scotland during the first quarter of 2007 was 4.8 per cent higher than during the same period of 2006, continuing the modest increases observed over the last few years, the Registrar General for Scotland said today.

The Registrar General was speaking as he published his Quarterly Return, 1^st Quarter 2007. The report provides provisional figures for births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships registered during the first quarter of 2007.

Other comparisons with the first quarter of 2006 showed that:

marriages were down by 4.6 per cent from 3,493 to 3,333.
as expected, the 112 civil partnerships registered were fewer than the 284 registered during the first quarter of 2006, just after civil partnerships were introduced.
deaths increased by 6.3 per cent from 14,876 to 15,818, the highest total since the first quarter of 2000.
the number of deaths from cancer fell by 0.6 per cent.
compared to the first quarter of 2006, deaths from coronary heart disease increased by 2.4 per cent and deaths from stroke increased by 1.9 per cent, although in both cases there were fewer deaths that in the same quarter in 2005.

Registrar General for Scotland Duncan Macniven said:

“14,214 births were registered during the first three months of 2007, the highest number for the first quarter since 1997.

112 civil partnerships were registered this quarter compared with 284 in the first quarter of 2006. This decrease was expected as January to March 2006 was the first full quarter during which partnerships could be registered following the introduction of the legislation in December 2005.

The increase in the number of deaths was disappointing, though it was partly a reflection of the unprecedentedly small number of deaths in the first quarter of 2006. The increase was relatively small and it is too early to suggest a change in the trend of a falling death rate.”

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