Increase in Births and Decrease in Deaths

13 September 2007

The number of deaths registered in Scotland during the second quarter of 2007 was the lowest ever recorded at that time of year and 4 per cent lower than the previous year.

The figures come from the Quarterly Return, 2nd Quarter 2007 published today. The report provides provisional numbers of births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships registered during the second quarter of 2007, published today by the Registrar General.

Other comparisons with the second quarter of 2006 showed that:

The number of births registered in Scotland during the second quarter of 2007 was 1.6 per cent higher than during the same period of 2006, continuing the modest increases observed over the last few years.
The number of marriages was down by 2.3 per cent from 8,340 to 8,145.
As expected, the 180 civil partnerships registered were fewer than the 316 registered during the second quarter of 2006, which was just a few months after civil partnerships were introduced.
Compared to the second quarter of 2006, the number of deaths from cancer fell by 2.8% while deaths from coronary heart disease and stroke fell by 10.0% and 7.8% respectively.

A full copy of the Quarterly Return, 2nd Quarter 2007, including local breakdowns, can be downloaded from this website.

Registrar General for Scotland Duncan Macniven said:

“13,396 deaths were registered during the second quarter of 2007, the lowest number ever recorded at that time of year.

“There were fewer civil partnerships registered this quarter – 180, compared with 316 in the second quarter of 2006. This decrease was expected, as last spring was just a few months after the introduction of the legislation in December 2005.

“14,269 births were registered during the quarter. That is the highest number at this time of year for a decade.”

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