Registrar General's Annual Report for 1999 Published

20th July 2000

There were over 5,000 more deaths than births in 1999, the largest natural decrease ever recorded. The numbers of stillbirths and infant deaths were the lowest ever recorded in Scotland.

In Scotland in 1999 there were:

55,147 live births, 2,172 fewer than in 1998.
60,281 deaths, 1,117 more than in 1998.
29,940 marriages, 272 more than in 1998.

These are just some of the many statistics contained in the Registrar General's Annual Report for 1999 which is published today.

Births

There were 55,147 live births in 1999, 2,172 fewer than in 1998 and the lowest number ever recorded in Scotland. The crude birth rate was 10.8 per 1,000 population, continuing the downward trend evident since the 1960s. Forty-five per cent of live births were to mothers aged over 30 and over two fifths (41 per cent) of live births were born outside marriage.

There were 738 pairs of twins and 12 sets of triplets.

Stillbirths And Infant Deaths

There were 286 stillbirths registered in 1999, which was the lowest number ever recorded; the stillbirth rate fell from 6.1 per 1,000 births in 1998 to 5.2 in 1999. The number of infant deaths (all deaths in the first year of life) in 1999 was 276, the lowest number ever recorded. The infant mortality rate was five per 1,000 live births, the lowest ever recorded

Expectation Of Life

In 1999 the expectation of life at birth was 73 for males and 78 for females. For those aged 65, the expectation was 14 additional years for men and 17 for women.

Deaths

The total number of deaths registered in Scotland in 1999 was 60,281, which was 1,117 more than in 1998. The report contains detailed analyses of cause of death, by age, sex and area. two most common causes of death in 1999 were cancer (25 per cent) and ischaemic heart disease (22 per cent). Over the last ten years, the number of deaths from ischaemic heart disease has fallen by over a quarter, while the number of deaths from cancer has remained relatively unchanged.

Marriages

In 1999 there were 29,940 marriages in Scotland, 272 more than in 1998. The average age at first marriage continues to rise and was 30.1 years for men and 28.2 for women in 1999, compared with 26.5 years and 24.8 years ten years ago. Nearly 30 per cent of people marrying in 1999 had been married previously and 42 per cent of all marriages were civil ceremonies.

Divorces

There were 11,864 divorces in Scotland in 1999, the lowest number since 1989. The proportion of people divorced in 1999 who had been divorced previously (15 per cent for both men and women) was nearly twice the level in 1981 (eight and seven per cent for men and women, respectively). Over half of the marriages dissolved in 1999 lasted more than 12 years.

Adoptions

In 1999 there were 489 adoptions, one fewer than in 1998, but less than half the number recorded in the early 1980s.

Notes For News Editors

Registrar General for Scotland, Annual Report, 1999
(General Register Office for Scotland, 2000 £15.00. ISBN 1-874451-57-5 ISSN 0080 - 786 9.).
This is the 145th Annual Report of the Registrar General for Scotland.
Corresponding information for England and Wales is published by the Office for National Statistics
(020 7533 5702). Some UK comparisons for 1998 are shown in Table 1.7.
The Annual Report also contains statistics on Scotland's population. A News Release (1346/2000) for the latest, mid-1999, population estimates for Scotland was issued on 12 May 2000. The estimated population of Scotland on 30 June 1999 was 5,119,200, a small decrease of 800 compared with the previous year. The population is projected to remain relatively stable at around five million over the next twenty five years.