fell, the 1969 rate of 19.88 per 1,000 of population being 1.26 below the figure for 1968. As will be seen from the comparative rates given. in paragraph 162, the Hong Kong rate is well below the estimates of 38 for Asia and 34 for the World, and is for the first time lower than the rate of 20.9 in Ireland. 1,923 births were post-registered more than one year after birth, and 271 entries made in the Adopted Children Register.
14. 20,326 marriages were registered under the Marriage Ordinance, only 166 less than the record total of 20,492 set in 1968-69. In 2,593 cases out of the 20,326 the couples had previously been married to each other by customary ceremonies of one kind or another, so that the number of 'new' marriages was really 17,733, a decrease of 634 from last year's figure of 18,367. The year's total comprised 1,873 marriages at 124 licensed places of worship and 18,453 marriages at Marriage Registries. In addition to these registered marriages there will have been many thousands of non-Christian customary marriages celebrated according to the personal law and religion of the parties. No records of such customary marriages are available, but it is now estimated that they account for less than one-third of all marriages celebrated in the Colony. So far as registered marriages are concerned the trend for girls to marry younger was again reversed with a reduction of 630 to 4,139 in the number of girls marrying under 21. There was an increase of 283 to 1,659 in the number of marriages performed in New Territories Registries. This is more than seven times as many as in 1960-61 when the Registries were opened.
15. 18,730 deaths were registered, 589 less than in 1968. This, together with the increase in population, resulted in a 0.23 drop in the crude death rate to 4.69 per 1,000 of population, which is probably the lowest in the world, and compares with an estimated 10 in Europe, 17 in Asia, and 15 in the World (see paragraph 162). The infant mortality rate dropped by 1.21 to 21.82 per 1,000 live births, continuing a downward trend broken only twice since 1950, when the rate was 99.6.
Revenue and Expenditure
16. As compared with 1968-69 the grand total of the Department's contribution to the revenue of the Colony was up by $4,307,576 to $10,411,746, this being due mainly to an increase of $3,974,000 in Companies registration fees because of substantial increases in new companies registered and in the nominal capital of several large com-
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