Births, Marriages And Deaths – First Quarter 2009

11 June 2009

14,830 deaths were registered in Scotland in the first quarter of 2009 - 242 fewer than in the same period of 2008. This is the lowest total, and represents the lowest death rate, between January and March for at least thirty years.

14,505 births were registered in the first three months of the year – 600 (four per cent) fewer than in the first quarter of 2008, but still almost 300 more than in the same period in 2007.

Registrar General for Scotland Duncan Macniven, speaking as he published provisional figures for births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships registered during the first quarter of 2009, said:

“Although today’s figures show a record low number of deaths, we shouldn’t make too much of a single quarter. Death rates fluctuate through the year and quarterly data can’t be taken as indicative of the year ahead. Similarly, the decrease in births this quarter doesn’t necessarily mean that the rise in the number of births since 2002 has ended. There have been occasional quarterly decreases during that period and the most recent four quarters taken together had more births than the equivalent period a year earlier.”

Other comparisons with the first quarter of 2008 showed that:

marriages were down by 250 from 3,441 to 3,191;
53 civil partnerships (21 male and 32 female) were registered in the quarter, 45 fewer than the 98 partnerships registered in the first quarter of 2008; and
deaths from stroke and coronary heart disease fell by 5.9 per cent and 6.3 per cent respectively. Deaths from cancer fell by 2.3 per cent.

Please click on the following link for the full publication including figures for NHS boards and local authority areas: Births, Marriages and Deaths - 1st Quarter 2009