504
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 22

The birth-rate for all of the four central boroughs last year shows an increase when compared with 1915. The rates for five years, 1912 to 1916, are,—

Births per 1,000 of Population.

1912.  1913.      1914.      1915.      1916.

      Auckland (without suburbs) .. 30·63 .. 23·23 .. 23·94 .. 21·95 .. 23·26
      Wellington " .. 28·20 .. 24·88 .. 25·25 .. 24·04 .. 24·08
      Christchurch " .. 29·52 .. 23·56 .. 20·56 .. 21·54 .. 23·13
      Dunedin " .. 29·10 .. 21·61 .. 20·87 .. 19·68 .. 23·11

DEATHS AND DEATH-RATES.

The total number of deaths registered for the four centres in 1916 was 3,275—viz., 2,734 in the cities, and 541 in the suburbs. By including the suburbs the death-rate for last year is lowered at all of the four centres. The rates for the year are,—

Death-rates per 1,000 of Mean Population.

Auckland City .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11·10 9·58
" and seven suburban boroughs .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9·58
Wellington City .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9·73 9·45
" and four suburban boroughs .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 9·45
Christchurch City .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11·14 10·77
" and five suburban boroughs .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 10·77
Dunedin City .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 12·37 11·73
" and five suburban boroughs .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11·73

The death-rates for the cities, including suburban boroughs, for five years are as below :—

Deaths, 1912. Deaths, 1913. Deaths, 1914. Deaths, 1915. Deaths, 1916.
Per 1,000 of Per 1,000 of Per 1,000 of Per 1,000 of Per 1,000 of
Population. Population. Population. Population. Population.
Auckland (including suburbs) .. 9·73 .. 10·61 .. 9·42 .. 9·05 .. 9·58
Wellington " .. 9·13 .. 9·08 .. 10·47 .. 9·71 .. 9·45
Christchurch " .. 10·34 .. 10·15 .. 9·58 .. 9·01 .. 10·77
Dunedin " .. 10·43 .. 11·03 .. 10·22 .. 11·03 .. 11·73

If the number of deaths of infants under one year be excluded, the mortality among the rest of the population is found to have been for 1913, 1914, 1915, and 1916 in the following ratio to the 1,000 living :—

1913.  1914.      1915.      1916.

      Auckland (including suburbs) .. .. .. 8·74 .. 8·19 .. 7·39 .. 8·39
      Wellington " .. .. .. 7·79 .. 8·59 .. 8·19 .. 8·06
      Christchurch " .. .. .. 8·82 .. 8·25 .. 7·80 .. 9·28
      Dunedin " .. .. .. 9·59 .. 9·25 .. 9·53 .. 10·70

The degree of infantile mortality is perhaps best shown in the proportion of deaths of children under one year of age to every 100 births. For 1913, 1914, 1915, and 1916 the proportions at the chief centres were,—

1913.  1914.      1915.      1916.

      Auckland (including suburbs) .. .. .. 8·08 .. 5·76 .. 7·17 .. 5·92
      Wellington " .. .. .. 6·02 .. 8·26 .. 6·28 .. 6·51
      Christchurch " .. .. .. 6·35 .. 6·82 .. 5·42 .. 7·27
      Dunedin " .. .. .. 7·34 .. 5·43 .. 7·23 .. 5·47

Again, the percentage of deaths of children under five years to the total number of deaths is—Auckland, 20·44; Wellington, 23·75; Christchurch, 19·58; Dunedin, 14·87.

Excluding suburbs, and dealing with the deaths at all ages in the four cities or central boroughs only, the rates for 1916 are found to be higher than in the previous year in all cases except that of Wellington. The figures for five years are given :—

Deaths, 1912. Deaths, 1913. Deaths, 1914. Deaths, 1915. Deaths, 1916.
Per 1,000 of Per 1,000 of Per 1,000 of Per 1,000 of Per 1,000 of
Population. Population. Population. Population. Population.
Auckland (excluding suburbs) .. 11·65 .. 11·49 .. 10·43 .. 9·99 .. 11·10
Wellington " .. 9·43 .. 9·30 .. 10·73 .. 10·02 .. 9·73
Christchurch " .. 10·63 .. 10·40 .. 10·02 .. 9·58 .. 11·14
Dunedin " .. 11·57 .. 11·98 .. 11·00 .. 11·58 .. 12·37

Omitting the deaths of infants under one year, and calculating the rate on the population of one year of age and upwards, only Wellington shows a rate lower than that for 1915. The mean rates for five years are also given :—

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

1915.  1916.      Mean of Five Years.

      Auckland (excluding suburbs) .. .. .. 8·38 .. 9·60 .. 9·30
      Wellington " .. .. .. 8·73 .. 8·26 .. 8·34
      Christchurch " .. .. .. 8·53 .. 9·87 .. 9·03
      Dunedin " .. .. .. 10·23 .. 11·29 .. 10·57

Subjoined is a table showing the rates of infant mortality in the four cities for each of the past four years, together with the mean rates for the last five years :—

Deaths of Children under One Year to every 100 Births.

1913.  1914.      1915.      1916.      Mean of Five Years.

      Auckland (excluding suburbs) .. 9·88 .. 6·30 .. 8·08 .. 7·41 .. 7·64
      Wellington " .. 5·90 .. 8·87 .. 6·24 .. 6·91 .. 6·80
      Christchurch " .. 6·56 .. 7·59 .. 5·62 .. 6·48 .. 6·51
      Dunedin " .. 7·72 .. 5·81 .. 7·88 .. 5·80 .. 6·20

MALCOLM FRASER,
Government Statistician.

Census and Statistics Office,
Wellington, 3rd February, 1917.