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There were 1,025 still-births in 1954 or 19.8 per 1,000 total births—the legitimate and
illegitimate rates being 19.1 and 29.3 respectively. The number of still-births and rate
per 1,000 total births in each year since 1946 and for each of the three preceding quinquennia
is shown in Table 2 (page 218). After remaining stable for several years the
still-birth rate fell sharply in 1943 and continued to fall until 1948 ; since then the rate
has remained relatively stable and somewhat lower than that of England and Wales
123-5).
Still-births
Mortality
The total deaths in 1954 amounted to 35,469 or 10.7 per 1,000 of the population.
Detailed figures are given in Tables 3, 4 and 5 (pages 219-221). Mortality from infectious
diseases is discussed under the heading of ' Infectious Diseases' on page 17, and
tuberculosis is dealt with separately (see page 23). For the latter and other principal
causes of death the trend is indicated by the diagrams on page 12.*
The death-rate from all causes, which, with the increasing age of the population,
had been slowly rising before the war, rose sharply in 1940. This increase was partly
due as explained in the footnote below to the exclusion of the young and healthy
section of the population from the statistics but the heavy toll of air raids was an
important contributory factor. Between 1944 and 1950 there was generally a decline
followed by a rise in 1951 attributable largely to an increase in respiratory and heart
disease ; since that year there has been a steady decline to the current figure which is
the lowest ever recorded. The course of the death-rate over the last 21 years is shown
in the diagram (page 11).

Leading
causes
death
J Excluding pneumonia of the new bom (under 4 weeks) which is included in 'Diseases of early infancy'
* The sharp changes that occurred between 1939 and 1940 are attributable to two causes. In the first place, the
Registrar-General abandoned the rates of selection which had hitherto operated in multiple causes of death, and, as from
1940, accepted the principal cause of death as shown on the medical certificate. In addition, the International List of Causes
of Death, which was revised in 1938, was applied in 1940, in accordance with international agreement. The general
movements resulting from these alterations are estimated to be :
Cause Approximate change as a percentage of those formerly assigned to this cause† Cause Approximate change as a percentage of those formerly assigned to this cause†
Influenza — 11 percent. Bronchitis + 100 ,, ,,
Cancer . — 3 ,, ,, Pneumonia + 5 „ ,,
Diabetes -30 ,, ,, Other respiratory diseases + 50 ,, ,,
Heart diseases — 10 ,, ,, Nephritis. + 12 ,, ,,
Other circulatory diseases — 6 ,, ,, Diseases of pregnancy, etc. 10 ,, ,,
† Based on the dual classification of deaths for England and Wales, 1939.
The second cause affecting the statistics was the outbreak of war. The young and healthy section of the population was,
from September, 1939, excluded from the mortality statistics, which henceforth related only to civilians. This selective
factor was found to inflate the death-rates, since the population in respect of which they were calculated was now on the
average older and less healthy.
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