Births, Deaths, Marriages in 2003

18th March 2004

The Registrar General today released two sets of provisional figures for vital events (births, deaths and marriages) registered during 2003.

The Preliminary Return provides provisional figures for the year 2003. The Quarterly Return provides provisional figures for Quarter 4 (October 1 to December 31, 2003).

Final figures for 2003 are planned to be published in July this year in the Registrar General's Annual Review of Demographic Trends.

Duncan Macniven, Registrar General for Scotland, said,

"The most interesting figure is the rise in the number of births. Over 2% more babies were born in 2003 than in 2002. That's the first time since 1997 that the long slow fall in the number of births has been reversed.

But it may be too early to draw conclusions, because births in the last quarter of the year were lower than in 2002."