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9
DEATHS.
The Registrar-General's official return shows that 714
residents of the Borough died during the year (359 male and 355
female). This figure gives a Death Rate of 11.51 of the
estimated population. In a memorandum issued with the
official returns for 1934, the Registrar-General drew attention
to the fact that this rate is unsuitable for the purposes of
comparison with other areas, by reason of the fact that the
populations of all areas are not similarly constituted as regards
the proportions of their sex and age group components.
Consequently he has supplied a correcting or adjusting factor to
all areas with instructions that the Recorded Death Rate should
be multiplied by the factor supplied to ascertain what is known
as the Corrected Death Rate. The object of this is to provide a
true mortality index for comparison purposes, eliminating
variations in mortality which arise as the result of differences
in the age and sex group components of various populations.
The correcting factor for this area is 1.02 and, multiplying
the Recorded Death Rate of 11.51 by this figure, a Corrected
Death Rate of 11.74 is ascertained—a figure which is lower
than the previous year of 12.24.
It is again interesting to note that of the 714 deaths, 362
or 51 per cent, occurred in hospitals and institutions outside the
Borough.

It will thus be seen that 362 persons dying during the year
—or approximately 51 per cent.—reached the age of 65 or over.