SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 1979
BIRTHS AND DEATHS FOR 1978
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MORE BIRTHS AND FEWER DEATHS WERE REGISTERED LAST YEAR THAN IN 1977, ACCORDING TO FIGURES RELEASED TODAY (SUNDAY) BY THE REGISTRAR GENERAL, MR. P. JACOBS.
THE NUMBER OF BIRTHS REGISTERED IN 1978 WAS 79,173, WHICH WAS 366 MORE THAN THE 1977 FIGURE OF 78,807, AND THE NUMBER OF DEATHS REGISTERED DECREASED BY 616 TO 22,843.
THE GREATEST NUMBER OF BIRTHS REGISTERED IN ANY ONE YEAR WAS IN 1963, WHEN 115,263 WERE REGISTERED. THEREAFTER THE NUMBER DECLINED EVERY YEAR UNTIL THE DOWNWARD TREND WAS REVERSED IN 1972.
AFTER SLIGHT INCREASES IN THREE SUCCESSIVE YEARS, THE NUMBER FELL IN 1975 AND 1976 BUT ROSE AGAIN IN 1977 AND 1978.
OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF BIRTHS REGISTERED LAST YEAR, 77,063 WERE CHINESE (39,630 MALES AND 37,433 FEMALES) AND 2,110 NON-CHINESE (1,044 MALES AND 1,066 FEMALES).
A TOTAL OF 20,716 WERE REGISTERED ON HONG KONG ISLAND, 49,601 IN KOWLOON AND 8,856 IN THE NEW TERRITORIES. THESE REPRESENTED INCREASES OF 1.94 PER CENT AND 1.56 PER CENT RESPECTIVELY FOR HONG KONG AND THE NEW TERRITORIES AND A DECREASE OF 0.33 PER CENT FOR KOWLOON AS COMPARED WITH THE 1977 FIGURES.
IN ISSUING THESE FIGURES, MR. JACOBS EMPHASISED THAT THEY WERE IN RESPECT OF REGISTERED BIRTHS ONLY. +THERE ARE ALWAYS A NUMBER OF BIRTHS EVERY YEAR WHICH ARE NOT REGISTERED BY THE PARENTS AT THE TIME, WITH THE RESULT THAT WHILE THE FIGURES FOR THE REGISTERED BIRTHS SHOW TRENDS, THEY DO NOT GIVE A COMPLETELY ACCURATE PICTURE, HE SAID.
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF REGISTERED DEATHS COMPRISED 22,548 CHINESE (12,221 MALES AND 10,318 FEMALES) AND 295 NON-CHINESE (199 MALES AND 96 FEMALES).
THE NUMBER OF REGISTERED DEATHS OF INFANTS UNDER ONE YEAR OF AGE WAS 934 AS AGAINST 1,093 IN 1977, WHILE THAT OF INFANTS UNDER ONE WEEK OLD WAS 539 COMPARED WITH 565 THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
IN THE NEW TERRITORIES, REGISTERED MARRIAGES SHOWED A SLIGHT DECREASE DURING THE YEAR WITH A TOTAL OF 7.471 MARRIAGES CELEBRATED, DOWN BY 400 OR 5.08 PER CENT AS COMPARED WITH 7,871 IN 1977.
THERE ARE NOW FOUR FULL-TIME REGISTRIES AND FOUR PART-TIME MARRIAGE REGISTRIES OPERATING IN THE NEW TERRITORIES.
/THE TWO.