Registrar-Generals-Department-Annual-report-1964-1965 — Page 51

This total represented a decrease of 1,210 on the 1963-4 total, fewer applications having been received in the urban area and in the Yuen Long, Sai Kung and Tsuen Wan Districts. In 2,547 cases the applicants failed to keep their appointments for interviews or failed to produce the required evidence, with the result that the applications had to be either held pending or treated as withdrawn. By 31st March 1965 the total number of applications on the waiting list for all urban and rural districts had been reduced to 639 as compared with 1,645 outstanding on 31st March 1964. Of the 639 outstanding applications, 272 were in Kowloon and 240 in Yuen Long District.

154. Table XXXII gives the number of births post-registered after one year from birth during the period 1945-57 and the years 1957-58 to 1964–65, and Table XXXIII the 1964-65 numbers in each age group by sexes. The latter shows that of the 5,265 post-registrations 2,337 were in respect of males and 2,928 in respect of females, and also that 3,997 were in respect of persons under 20 years of age. The preponderance of females appears to indicate that more care was taken at the time of birth to register males than females. The age group with the highest number of post-registrations was the 5-9 group, reflecting the demand for birth certificates for school purposes.

155. The 1,239 births post-registered after one year at the urban district Registries were partly in respect of cases where the parents had neglected to register the birth, or had been unable to do so owing to there being no facilities during the war, 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 cer- tificate issued at the time, no record of the birth was extant.

156. During the year post-registration birth certificates were issued for six foundling children in various orphanages, baby homes, and charitable institutions, whose births had not been registered on admission.

Deaths registered

157. During 1964, 18,113 deaths were registered comprising 17,877 Chinese (10,034 male, 7,840 female, and 3 unknown sex) and 236 non- Chinese (163 male and 73 female). Table XXXIV gives the numbers of deaths registered by sex and race, and the crude death and infant mortality rates for the years 1955 to 1964, and includes the relevant percentages. These show that as compared with 1963 notwithstanding the increase in the population deaths were down by 1,635 to 18,113,

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