Registrar-Generals-Department-Annual-report-1967-1968 — Page 63

173. Table XL gives the numbers of deaths registered by district in 1965, 1966 and 1967. It shows that of the 19,644 deaths in 1967, 5,863 (29.8%) were on Hong Kong Island, 12,229 (62.3%) in Kowloon and New Kowloon, and 1,552 (7.9%) in the New Territories. Table XLI gives the number of registered deaths by sex and age group during the five years 1963 to 1967.

174. In relation to the statistics in Table XLI it is advisable 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 according to the Chinese reckoning, under which, for instance, if a child is born the day before Chinese New Year, it is regarded as being two years old on the following day. These Chinese ages are converted by the District Registrars to ages according to the European reckoning, but obviously errors can easily be made in the process. There is, more- over, no doubt but that a great many people are extremely hazy about their own and their relatives' ages. A further complicating factor is the tendency of relatives to exaggerate the age of the deceased, it being not uncommon in public announcements to add one month to the age for every year of the deceased's true age. The District Registrars, however, use their best endeavours to ascertain the correct age, and the figures given for the various groups are thought to be pretty fair approximations.

Accident and Suicide Deaths

175. Table XLII shows the number of deaths in 1967 by accident and suicide classified by cause, sex and age group. This reveals that 1,250 people died by accident or suicide as follows, the 1966 figures being given in brackets, for comparison:

Accidents

Traffic accidents

280

(299)

Accidental poisoning

35

(23)

Accidental falls from heights

167

(166)

Other accidents

380

862

(455)

(943)

Suicides

By poisoning

...

96

(83)

By jumps from heights

137

(132)

By other known means

Cases awaiting coroner's report

154

387

(136)

(351)

1

1

+

(0)

(0)

1,250

(1,294)

55