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44
Population
General.—Boundary changes consequent upon the inauguration
of the London Borough of Greenwich has meant that, for
comparative purposes, some adjustment to the combined populations
of the old Metropolitan Boroughs of Greenwich and
Woolwich has had to be made by the Registrar General in respect
of the 1961 Census. According to the Registrar General, the 1961
Census population for the new Borough is to be regarded as
230,250, showing a transfer of 1,899 persons from North Woolwich
to the London Borough of Newham.
Actual population is known only by Census enumeration
although it is customary for the Registrar General to estimate for
the inter-censal years. Population growth results from the excess
of births over deaths (natural increase) with the addition of the
excess of immigrants over emigrants.
The Registrar General has submitted his estimate of the Home
population of the London Borough of Greenwich, computed at
mid-year 1965, upon which the statistics of this Report have been
based. The figure returned is 231,770, indicating an increase in
the population of 230 over the previous year and a rise of 1,520
since the 1961 Census.
Natural Increase.—The natural increase for the year, i.e.,
excess of births over deaths, was 1,178 compared with the calculated
figure of 1,443 for the previous year.
Emigration/Immigration.—Taking into account a recorded
natural increase of 1,178, there is a presumptive emigration from
the Borough of 948 persons.
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 68.1 years for males and 74.2 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