Births, Deaths and Other Vital Events - Third Quarter 2013

Provisional figures for births, deaths and other vital events registered during the third quarter of 2013 are published today by the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

The statistics show that 12,223 deaths were registered in the third quarter of the year – 538 (4.2 per cent) fewer than in the same period of 2012. This is the lowest third quarter total for at least 40 years.

The provisional figures also show that:

• 14,510 births were registered in Scotland between 1 July and 30 September 2013 – 177 (1.2 per cent) fewer than in the same period of 2012. This is the lowest third quarter total since 2006 but still 5.5 per cent higher than the third quarter of 2003, 10 years ago.
• The number of marriages was 10,310, 1,329 fewer than the figure for the third quarter of 2012 (a fall of 11.4 per cent) and the lowest quarter 3 total for at least 40 years.
• There were 194 civil partnerships (87 male and 107 female), 12 fewer than during the third quarter of 2012.
• Compared with the same period in 2012, the number of deaths from cancer fell by 2.8 per cent to 3,827, deaths from coronary heart disease fell by 11.6 per cent to 1,585, and there were 982 deaths from stroke (a rise of 0.3 per cent).

Tim Ellis, the Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland, said:

"Today's statistics show a fall in the number of deaths registered in Scotland, to the lowest number recorded in the third quarter for at least 40 years. However, taking the first three quarters of the year together, there were slightly more deaths than in the same period of 2012. The number of births also fell, continuing the trend of gradual decline since 2008. Levels of births and deaths are both relatively low in historical terms and since 2008 there have generally been more births than deaths.

"With an 11 per cent fall in the number of marriages the quarter three total is at its lowest level for at least 40 years."

A chart on the NRS website shows how the total numbers of birth, marriages and deaths registered in successive periods of four quarters have varied since 1974 (which is the first year for which there are records of individual vital events in NRS's statistical database) is available on the NRS website. The figure for a particular quarter is the number of events which were registered in the twelve month (four quarter) period which ended in that quarter. For example, the figure for '2011 Q4' is the number of events registered in the period from 2011 Q1 to 2011 Q4, inclusive - i.e. the total for 2011 as a whole. The figure for '2013 Q2' is the number of events registered from 2012 Q3 to 2013 Q2, inclusive. The chart shows the longer-term trends, and also short-term fluctuations in the some of the numbers.

The full publication, Births, deaths and other vital events - quarterly figures, is available on the NRS website.