neglected to register the birth, and partly in respect of cases where the birth was believed to have been registered, but owing to the loss during the war of the register in question and also of the birth certificate issued at the time, no record of the birth was extant. This was the highest yearly total registered for the urban areas during the period for which statistics are available.
166. During the year post-registration birth certificates were issued for 46 foundling children in various orphanages, baby homes, and charit- able institutions, whose births had not been registered on admission.
Deaths registered
167. During 1963, 19,748 deaths were registered comprising 19,505 Chinese (10,813 male, 8,678 female, and 14 unknown sex) and 243 non- Chinese (160 male and 83 female). Table XXXIV gives the numbers of deaths registered by sex and race, and the crude death and infant mortality rates for the years 1954 to 1963, and includes for the first time the relevant percentages. These show that as compared with 1962 notwithstanding the increase in the population deaths were down by 576 to 19,748, 55.56% being of males, 44.3% being of females, and 0.08 of unknown sex. The crude death rate accordingly dropped from 5.9 to 5.5. The infant mortality rate dropped by a further 4 full points from 36.9 to 32.9 per thousand of live births, thus continuing the uninter- rupted downward trend in this rate since 1950.
168. Table XXXV gives the numbers of registered deaths by age. groups during the five years 1959 to 1963. This shows that taking males. and females together the number of deaths in each age group up to 35-39 declined, and that small increases prevailed in most of the older age groups. This Table also discloses striking difference in the numbers of male and female deaths in the various age groups, but owing to lack of information as to the age and sex groups of the immigrants into the Colony since the 1961 Census no accurate comparisons may be made. It is however noteworthy that between the ages of 20 and 64 the number of male deaths was very much higher than that of female, sometimes even twice as much, and that from the 70-74 group onwards the numbers of female deaths progressively exceeded those of male deaths, which is as one would expect considering women on the whole live longer than men.
169. In relation to the statistics in Table XXXV it is perhaps advis- able to repeat the warning given in previous Reports. The vast majority of the ages of the deceased are given to the District Registrars by relatives
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