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Live births—There were 73,171 live births registered in London in the year; after
correction for residence the final figure of births allocated to London was 63,500 (32,395
boys-31,105 girls), an increase of 976 over 1962, giving a birth rate of 20.0 per 1,000
population compared with 19.6 in 1962 and 18.9 in 1961. The post-war trend in London
followed closely that for England and Wales until 1956 when the rise in the London rate
preceded a similar rise in the country as a whole and since then the crude London rate has
continued to exceed the national rate by an increasing margin. The major factor contributing
to the increased birth rate, both local and national, is the increased proportion of
women of child-bearing age who are married. The two rates are not, however, strictly
comparable because the proportion of women of child-bearing age in the population is
greater in London than in England and Wales; adjusting for this difference by multiplying
the crude rate by the Registrar General's area comparability factor for London births
(0.86 for 1963) the rate becomes 17.2. The crude birth rate for the past 12 years is shown in
figure 1 below, together with the national rate and the adjusted birth rate.
Figure 1
LIVE BIRTH RATELONDON
(A.C.) AND ENGLAND & WALES, 1954-63
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