[Click
here to download a
Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet of the above table]
HIGHLIGHTS TO TABLE 1/FIGURE 3
- British Columbia's 1999 vital events continued to follow recent trends. As a result of social and demographic changes since 1950, the population of the province has more than tripled, the live birth and stillbirth rates have decreased by 56.3% and 47.8% respectively, the marriage rate has declined by 44.9%, and there has been a 32.4% decrease in the death rate.
- In 1999, there were 41,739 live births in the province to B.C. residents, 21,540 males and 20,199 females. The number of live births decreased by 1,117 births from 42,856 in 1998. The crude birth rate, 10.4 live births per 1,000 population, was the lowest birth rate to date, and was less than half of the birth rate of the 1950s.
- In 1999, there were 27,794 deaths of British Columbia residents in the province, down slightly from the previous year (27,805). The 1999 crude death rate, 6.9 deaths per 1,000 population, was unchanged from the 1998 rate.
- There were 21,616 marriages were solemnized in the province in 1999. This represents a slight decrease from 21,764 marriages in 1998, and a 14.2% decline from the peak of 25,185 marriages in 1990. The crude marriage rate has shown a consistent downward trend in the last two decades, from 9.0 marriages per 1,000 population in 1980 to 5.4 in 1998 and 1999. This latest year was the fourth year in a row that there were fewer than 6.0 marriages per 1,000 population. Marriage statistics in this publication include all marriages that took place in the province, including those where one or both parties were non-B.C. residents.
- There were 294 stillbirths to B.C. residents in 1999, an increase from 278 in 1998. The crude stillbirth rate was 7.0 per 1,000 total births (live births and stillbirths) in 1999. The stillbirth rates have fluctuated widely between 6.2 and 7.5 in the last decade.
Top