482
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 18

It will be observed that Wellington has the highest birth-rate, Auckland, Christchurch, and Dunedin following in the order named. The difference between the Wellington rate (28·59) and the Dunedin rate (22·59) per 1,000 is very marked. The birth-rate for the whole colony is found to be 27·28 : Auckland and Wellington are thus well above, while Christchurch and Dunedin are considerably under the average. Taking the four cities without suburbs, the births in 1894 exceeded those in 1893 by 121, the increase at Auckland being 3, at Wellington 19, at Christchurch 56, and at Dunedin 43. The numbers for the last five years are:—

Auckland (without suburbs) .. 849 .. 861 .. 791 .. 870 .. 873
Wellington " .. 772 .. 1,005 .. 922 .. 971 .. 990
Christchurch " .. 360 .. 354 .. 351 .. 344 .. 400
Dunedin " .. 535 .. 537 .. 536 .. 484 .. 527

The birth-rates per 1,000 are in all cases higher in 1894 than in the previous year—considerably so at Christchurch and Dunedin; but, except in Christchurch, as will be seen from the following figures, they still are lower than the rates obtaining in 1891:—

Auckland (without suburbs) .. 30·09 .. 25·93 .. 27·79 .. 27·80
Wellington " .. 32·40 .. 27·94 .. 28·23 .. 28·25
Christchurch " .. 21·82 .. 21·19 .. 20·10 .. 22·81
Dunedin " .. 24·00 .. 23·27 .. 20·54 .. 22·14

The birth-rates in the capital cities (including suburbs) of other Australasian Colonies are much higher than the rate obtaining in Wellington, as will be seen from the following:—

Sydney (1893) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 33·49
Melbourne " .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 33·55
Adelaide " .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 32·94
Perth " .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 43·54
Hobart " .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 35·12
Wellington (1894) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 28·59

For Brisbane the figures of 1893 are not available, but the birth-rate for 1891 was 42·68 per 1,000 persons.

DEATHS AND DEATH-RATES.

The total number of deaths registered in 1894 as occurring in the four chief towns, with their suburban boroughs, was 1,964—viz., 1,354 in the cities and 610 in the suburbs.

By including the suburbs the death-rate for the year is lowered at each of the four centres, the difference being considerable in Auckland (1·30) and in Dunedin (1·20). The rates for the year are,—

Auckland City .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 15·41
" and five suburban boroughs .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 14·11
Wellington City .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11·82
" and three suburban boroughs .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11·43
Christchurch City .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 10·55
" and four suburban boroughs .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 10·19
Dunedin City .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11·38
" and eight suburban boroughs .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 10·18

The death-rate is thus shown to be highest in Auckland and lowest in Dunedin; Wellington and Christchurch taking second and third places respectively. The death-rate for the colony is only 10·19 per 1,000 of mean population; and it is worthy of note that in Dunedin the rate is even lower (10·18) than this, while at Christchurch it is exactly the same.

The death-rates for Auckland and Wellington are considerably higher than those for Dunedin and Christchurch, but it has been previously shown that in the two North Island cities the birth-rates are also higher, and, as the mortality among infants is always greater than among adults, a high birth-rate will generally increase the death-rate. If the number of deaths of infants under one year be excluded, the mortality among the rest of the population would be in the following ratio to the 1,000 living:—

Auckland (including suburbs) .. .. .. .. .. .. 10·50
Wellington " .. .. .. .. .. .. 8·98
Christchurch " .. .. .. .. .. .. 7·85
Dunedin " .. .. .. .. .. .. 8·80

Excluding the suburbs, the deaths registered in 1894 (1,354) at the four chief centres were 20 below the number for 1893 (1,374), and 103 in excess of the number for 1892 (1,251). The decrease on the figures for 1893 is sufficiently accounted for by the cessation of the measles epidemic. The deaths and death-rates for three years are given:—

Deaths, 1892. Deaths, 1893. Deaths, 1894.
No. Per 1,000 No. Per 1,000 No. Per 1,000
of Population. of Population. of Population.
Auckland .. 382 12·52 .. 404 12·90 .. 484 15·41
Wellington .. 405 12·27 .. 462 13·43 .. 414 11·82
Christchurch .. 197 11·89 .. 219 12·80 .. 185 10·55
Dunedin .. 267 11·59 .. 289 12·26 .. 271 11·38

The rate at Auckland is shown by the above figures to have been higher in 1894 than it was in 1893 and 1892, but the rates at Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin to have been lower in the last year than for either of the two previous years.

Excluding the infantile mortality, the death-rate of Auckland still stands as the highest in 1894, but Dunedin takes second, Wellington third, and Christchurch the last place.

Deaths per 1,000 of Population, excluding Infants (under One Year of Age).
1892. 1893. 1894.
Auckland (excluding suburbs) .. .. 9·05 .. 9·66 .. 11·53
Wellington " .. .. 9·32 .. 10·26 .. 9·40
Christchurch " .. .. 8·51 .. 9·24 .. 8·69
Dunedin " .. .. 9·51 .. 10·18 .. 9·66

The degree of infantile mortality may be exhibited in the proportion of deaths of children under one year of age to every 100 births. The results for five years are given, showing that the mean rate is highest at Christchurch and lowest at Dunedin, and less at Wellington than at Auckland. For the year 1894 the rate is highest at Auckland; Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin following in the order named.

Deaths of Children under One Year to every 100 Births.
1890. 1891. 1892. 1893. 1894. Mean of Five Years.
Auckland (excluding suburbs) 9·89 .. 13·36 .. 14·28 .. 12·64 .. 15·12 .. 13·06
Wellington " 9·77 .. 12·14 .. 11·50 .. 12·26 .. 9·49 .. 11·03
Christchurch " 11·94 .. 12·71 .. 16·81 .. 18·60 .. 9·00 .. 13·81
Dunedin " 8·22 .. 9·87 .. 9·51 .. 11·16 .. 8·73 .. 9·50

Registrar-General’s Office, Wellington, 6th March, 1895.

E. J. von DADELSZEN,
Registrar-General.