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Vital
Events-
Related
Statistics

TABLE 1:

FIGURE 3:

Highlights:
Tab 1/Fig 3

• Since 1950, as the population of British Columbia tripled, demographic and social changes had significant impacts on vital events. Provincial rates for live births, stillbirths, and marriages in 2000 fell to about half the rates seen in 1950, while mortality rates declined by nearly a third.

• In 2000, there were 40,467 live births in the province to B.C. residents. The number of live births decreased by 1,273 births from 41,740 in 1999. The birth rate, 10.0 live births per 1,000 population, was the lowest birth rate to date.

• There were 27,273 deaths of British Columbia residents in the province in 2000, down slightly from the previous year (27,829). The 2000 crude death rate, 6.7 deaths per 1,000 population, was the lowest death rate to date.

• A total of 22,074 marriages were solemnized in the province in 2000. This number represents a slight increase from the 21,623 marriages in 1999. The marriage rate has shown a downward trend in the last two decades, from 9.0 marriages per 1,000 population in 1980 to 5.4 in 1998, 1999 and 2000. This latest year was the fifth 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 279 stillbirths to B.C. residents in 2000, a decrease from 294 in 1999. The stillbirth rate was 6.9 per 1,000 total births (live births and stillbirths) in 2000. Stillbirth rates have fluctuated between 6.2 and 7.5 in the last decade.