Feb. 6.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 223

Taking the births in the four central boroughs without their suburbs, and comparing the numbers for 1895 and 1894, an increase is observed at Auckland (15) and at Wellington (10); while, on the other hand, there is a fall of 41 at Christchurch and of 52 at Dunedin. The figures for the last five years are,—

Births.

Auckland (without suburbs) .. 861 .. 791 .. 870 .. 873 .. 888
Wellington " .. 1,005 .. 922 .. 971 .. 990 .. 1,000
Christchurch " .. 354 .. 351 .. 344 .. 400 .. 359
Dunedin " .. 537 .. 536 .. 484 .. 527 .. 475

It is noticeable that the number of births registered last year at Dunedin was smaller than the number registered there during any one of the four preceding years.

The birth-rates recorded for the four central boroughs last year show a slight rise at Auckland—28·04, as against 27·80 for the year previous,—and a still slighter rise at Wellington—28·30, as against 28·25; but a decided fall both at Christchurch (from 22·81 in 1894 to 20·36 in 1895) and at Dunedin (from 22·14 to 19·87). The rates for the years 1891–95 are as follow:—

Births per 1,000 of Population.

Auckland (without suburbs) .. 30·09 .. 25·93 .. 27·79 .. 27·80 .. 28·04
Wellington " .. 32·40 .. 27·94 .. 28·23 .. 28·25 .. 28·30
Christchurch " .. 21·82 .. 21·19 .. 20·10 .. 22·81 .. 20·36
Dunedin " .. 24·00 .. 23·27 .. 20·54 .. 22·14 .. 19·87

DEATHS AND DEATH-RATES.

The total number of deaths registered for the four centres in 1895 was 1,962—viz., 1,368 in the cities, and 594 in the suburbs. In 1894 the number was 1,964—1,354 in the cities, and 610 in the suburbs. Thus there was last year a small increase in the city deaths, while in the number of suburban deaths there was really very little change, for the difference of 16 is in great measure accounted for by the erroneous return from Birkenhead above mentioned.

By including the suburbs the death-rate for last year is lowered at each of the four centres, the difference being considerable in Auckland (1·57) and in Dunedin (1·06). The rates for the year are,—

Death-rate per 1,000 of Population.

Auckland City .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 14·87
" and five suburban boroughs .. .. .. .. 13·30
Wellington City .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 13·07
" and three suburban boroughs .. .. .. .. 12·50
Christchurch City .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 10·83
" and four suburban boroughs .. .. .. .. 10·54
Dunedin City .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 10·21
" and eight suburban boroughs .. .. .. .. 9·15

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 was 9·91 per 1,000 of mean population. The four centres might each be expected to show a higher average than this, and in fact the excess is considerable both at Auckland and at Wellington, and is found, though in smaller measure, at Christchurch; but at Dunedin, owing to the slight mortality in the suburbs, the average falls decidedly short of the general rate for the colony.

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) .. .. .. .. .. .. 9·77
Wellington " .. .. .. .. .. .. 9·13
Christchurch " .. .. .. .. .. .. 7·98
Dunedin " .. .. .. .. .. .. 8·03

As in 1894, Dunedin now takes the third, and Christchurch the last place.

The degree of infantile mortality may be exhibited in the proportion of deaths of children under 1 year of age to every 100 births. For 1895 the proportions at the chief centres are,—

Auckland (including suburbs) .. .. .. .. .. .. 14·14
Wellington " .. .. .. .. .. .. 12·43
Christchurch " .. .. .. .. .. .. 11·69
Dunedin " .. .. .. .. .. .. 6·05

Thus the proportion at Dunedin is considerably less than half that found at Auckland. Again, the percentage of deaths of children under 5 to the total number of deaths is, in Auckland, 34·62; in Wellington, 38·11; in Christchurch, 31·70; in Dunedin only 19·60. The total of deaths under 5 is 615, or 31·35 per cent. of all deaths, as against 575 and 29·28 for 1894. The deaths of persons of 65 and upwards numbered 345 last year; in 1894 they were 377.

Excluding suburbs, and dealing only with the deaths in the four cities or central boroughs, the figures for 1895 are found to exceed those for any previous year, excepting only 1893, the year of the measles epidemic. The deaths and death-rates for three years are given:—

Deaths, 1893. Deaths, 1894. Deaths, 1895.
No. Per 1,000 No. Per 1,000 No. Per 1,000
of Population. of Population. of Population.
Auckland (excluding suburbs) 404 12·90 .. 484 15·41 .. 471 14·87
Wellington " 462 13·43 .. 414 11·82 .. 462 13·07
Christchurch " 219 12·80 .. 185 10·55 .. 191 10·83
Dunedin " 289 12·26 .. 271 11·38 .. 244 10·21

Thus the rate at Auckland shows a decrease as compared with the previous year, but an increase as compared with 1893. The rates at Wellington and Christchurch are higher than in 1894, but lower than in 1893; while the Dunedin rate is seen to have fallen in 1894, and to have still further declined last year.

Omitting the deaths of infants under one year, and calculating the rate on the population of one year of age and upwards, Dunedin takes precedence of Christchurch.

Deaths per 1,000 of Population, excluding Infants (under One Year of Age).

Auckland (excluding suburbs) .. .. 1893. .. 1894. .. 1895
9·66 11·53 11·02
Wellington " .. .. 10·26 9·40 9·84
Christchurch " .. .. 9·24 8·69 8·70
Dunedin " .. .. 10·18 9·66 9·67

Subjoined is a table showing the rates of infant mortality in the four cities for each of the past five years, together with the mean rates for the period. In respect of both last year’s rate and the mean rate, Auckland stands first and Dunedin fourth. For 1895 Wellington has a higher rate than Christchurch, but the mean rate at Christchurch is the greater of the two.

Deaths of Children under One Year to every 100 Births.

Auckland (excluding suburbs) 13·36 .. 14·28 .. 12·64 .. 15·12 .. 14·86 .. 14·05
Wellington " 12·14 .. 11·50 .. 12·26 .. 9·49 .. 12·40 .. 11·56
Christchurch " 12·71 .. 16·81 .. 18·60 .. 9·00 .. 11·14 .. 13·65
Dunedin " 9·87 .. 9·51 .. 11·16 .. 8·73 .. 9·47 .. 9·75