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18
POPULATION
General—The Registrar General has submitted his estimate
of the population of Greenwich, computed at mid-year 1961, upon
which the statistics of this Report have been based. The figure
returned is 85,240, indicating a decrease in the population of 3,070
since last year and a fall of 4,606 since the 1951 Census. However,
the current figure shows an advance of 21,440 over that for 1945.
Natural Increase—The natural increase for the year, i.e. excess
of births over deaths, was 371 compared with 328 for 1960.
Expectation of Life—From 1841, when the expectation of life
at birth was 40 years for males and 42 for females, there was a
gradual but persistent rise in both these figures until 1954, but
since that year the expectation of life at birth has scarcely changed
and now stands at 68 years for males and 74 for females.
Age Composition of Population—It has been expedient from
time to time to make analyses of the population figures with particular
regard to age distribution in relation to whooping cough,
diphtheria, poliomyelitis and B.C.G. prophylaxis and, more
recently, the problem of the aged. In line with the general trend
throughout the country, Greenwich has an ageing population and
the number of persons outside the normal working range is still
increasing. Although since the end of World War II there has
been a sharp rise in births compared with those of the immediate
pre-war years, a fact which naturally tends to advance the proportion
of "under 15s" of the population, the relative size of the
"over 65s" group also continues to increase. These two faotors
together have augmented the pressure of dependency on the working
portion of the population, viz., those between 15 and 65 years
—a section of the community whose relative size has correspondingly
diminished.
From details given in the following table it will be seen that
the "working" population of Greenwich, i.e. those between 15 and
65 years amounts to approximately 64% and that of "dependent"
groups collectively, to 36%. In effect, this means that for every
two persons of "working age" there is one dependent person
outside this group.