Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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The death-rate in successive periods has been as follows :—
Period. • | Death-rate (All Causes) per 1,000 persons living. | Period. | Death-rate (All Causes) per 1,000 persons living. |
---|---|---|---|
1841-50 | 24.8 | 1902 | 17-21 |
1851-60 | 23.7 | 1903 | 15-21 |
1861-70 | 24.4 | 1904 | 1611 |
1871-80 | 22.5 | 1905 | 15.11 |
1881-90 | 20.3 | ]906 | 1511 |
1891-1900 | 19.21 | 1907 | 14.61 |
1901 | 17.11 | 1908 | 13.81 |
The death-rate in each year since 1840 in relation to the mean death-rate of the period
1841-1908 is shown in diagram III.
The following table has been prepared for the purpose of comparing the death-rate of London
with those of other English towns having populations which exceeded 200,000 persons at the census
of 1901. The columns showing " death-rates corrected for age and sex distribution " have been
obtained by multiplying the crude death-rates by the " factors for correction " published by the
Registrar-General in the Annual Summary for 1908.
Town. | Estimated Populal ion (middle of 190S.) | Crude death-rate ...per 1,000 persons living. | Death-rate per 1,000 persons living (corrected for age and sex distribution). | Comparative mortality figure. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1898-1907. | 1908. | 1898-1907. | 1908. | 1908. | ||
London | 4,795,757 | 16.71 | 13.81 | 17.61 | 14.51 | 989 |
Liverpool | 753,203 | 21.9 | 19.2 | 23.4 | 20.5 | 1,398 |
Manchester | 649,251 | 21.0 | 18.2 | 23.4 | 20.3 | 1,383 |
Birmingham | 558,357 | 18.9 | 15.9 | 20.3 | 17.1 | 1,165 |
Leeds | 477,107 | 17.7 | 1.3 | 19.3 | 16.7 | 1,135 |
Sheffield | 463,222 | 18.7 | 15.8 | 20.2 | 17.1 | 1,162 |
Bristol | 372,785 | 15.8 | 13.6 | 162 | 13.9 | 948 |
West Ham | 315,000 | 16.9 | 13.9 | 18.1 | 14.8 | 1,009 |
Bradford | 292,136 | 16.8 | 15.5 | 18.6 | 17.2 | 1,170 |
Newcastle-on-Tyne | 277,257 | 19.7 | 16-0 | 21.2 | 17.2 | 1,172 |
Hull | 271,137 | 17.9 | 16.2 | 18.3 | 16.6 | 1,128 |
Nottingham | 260,449 | 17.8 | 15.2 | 18.8 | 16.0 | 1,091 |
Salford | 239,294 | 20.6 | 17.8 | 22 .-8 | 19.7 | 1,340 |
Leicester | 240,172 | 15.4 | 13.0 | 16.4 ' | 13.8 | 941 |
London had therefore (comparing the corrected death-rates) both in the decennium 1898-1907,
and the year 1908 a lower death-rate than any of these towns except Bristol and Leicester.
The following table enables comparison to be made of the crude death-rate of London with
that of several foreign towns2:—
Town. | 1898-1907. | 1908. | Town. | 1898-1907. | 1908. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
London | 16.71 | 13.81 | St. Petersburg | 24.5 | 28.6 |
Paris | 18.6 | 17.5 | Berlin | 17.1 | 15.4 |
Brussels | 15.6 | 14.5 | Vienna | 19.1 | 17.6 |
Amsterdam | 15.0 | 13.0 | Rome | 19..2 | 18.5 |
Copenhagen | 16.7 | 16.4 | New York | 19.3 | 16.5 |
Stockholm | 15.7 | 14.7 |
It will be seen from the foregoing table that in the decennium 1898-1907 the London deathrate
was exceeded by the death-rates of Paris, St. Petersburg, Berlin, Vienna, Rome and New York,
and in 1908 was lower than that of any except Amsterdam.
1 These death-rates are fully corrected for institutions, i.e., by the exclusion of deaths of persons not belonging
to, but occurring in, institutions situated within London, and by the inclusion of deaths of persons belonging to
London, but occurring in London institutions situated outside the Administrative County.
2 All death-rates in this report relating to foreign towns are calculated upon figures published by the RegistrarGeneral.