News Release
Registrar General's Annual Report Published
27 July 1999
Last year saw the lowest number of births and deaths ever recorded in Scotland.
These are just two of the many statistics contained in the Registrar General's Annual Report for 1998 which is published today.
In Scotland in 1998 there were:
- 57,319 live births, 2121 fewer than in 1997.
- 59,164 deaths, 330 fewer than in 1997.
- 29,668 marriages, 57 more than in 1997.
The annual report is the first to be laid before the new Scottish Parliament, and the statistics it contains are expected to be of interest to MSPs and others as a background to the development of policies and as a commentary on the changing social scene in Scotland.
There were 57,319 live births in 1998, 2121 fewer than in 1997 and the lowest number ever recorded in Scotland. The crude birth rate was 11.2 per 1,000 population, continuing the downward trend evident since the 1960s. Forty-four per cent of live births were to mothers aged over 30 and nearly two fifths (39%) of live births were born outside marriage.
There were 810 pairs of twins, 19 sets of triplets and one set of quadruplets.
There were 351 stillbirths registered in 1998, 32 more than in 1997; the rate of stillbirths increased from 5.3 per 1,000 births in 1997 to 6.1 in 1998. The number of infant deaths in 1998 was 320, the second lowest number ever recorded. The infant mortality rate was 5.6 per 1,000 live births, slightly higher than the 1997 rate which was the lowest ever recorded.
Expectation Of Life
In 1998 the expectation of life at birth was 73 for males and 78 for females. For those aged 65, the expectation was 14 additional years for men and 17 for women.
The total number of deaths registered in Scotland in 1998 was 59,164, 330 fewer than in 1997 and the lowest number recorded since 1856. The report contains detailed analyses of cause of death, by age, sex and area.
Cancer and ischaemic heart disease were the two most common causes of death, each accounting for about a quarter of all deaths in 1998. Deaths from ischaemic heart disease have fallen by nearly a quarter in the last ten years, whereas the numbers of deaths from cancer have remained relatively stable.
In 1998 there were 29,668 marriages in Scotland, 57 more than in 1997 which was the lowest total recorded since 1895. The average age at first marriage continues to rise and was 29.8 years for men and 27.9 for women in 1998. Nearly 30% of people marrying in 1998 had been married previously and 43% of all marriages were civil ceremonies.
There were 12,384 divorces in Scotland in 1998. The proportion of people divorced in 1998 who had been divorced previously (14% for both men and women) was nearly twice the level in 1981 (eight and seven per cent for men and women, respectively). Over half of the marriages dissolved in 1998 lasted more than 12 years.
In 1998 there were 490 adoptions, 20 more than in 1997, but less than half the number recorded in the early 1980s.
Notes For News Editors
1. Registrar General for Scotland, Annual Report, 1998 (General Register Office for Scotland, 1998 £15.00.
ISBN 1-874451-54-0).
2. This is the 144th Annual Report of the Registrar General for Scotland.
3. Corresponding information for England and Wales is published by the Office for National Statistics (0171 533 5702). Some UK comparisons for 1997 are shown in Table 1.7.
4. The Annual Report also contains statistics on Scotland's population. A News Release (0981/099) for the latest, mid-1998, population estimates for Scotland was issued on 30 April 1999. The estimated population of Scotland on 30 June 1998 was 5,120,000, a small decrease of 2,500 compared with the previous year. The population is projected to remain relatively stable at around 5 million over the next twenty five years.
