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POPULATION.
The Registrar General has increased our population figure
this year by 1,700 to 75,290, the highest figure yet recorded.
Reference to Table II on page 18 will show that our
population climbed to a peak in 1939 at 72,150 and this fell
during the war years until in 1944 it had dropped to 62,760 just
above its 1936 level. After 1944 it started to climb again and
last year at 73,590 it passed its previous zenith. It has therefore
continued its climb to a new record.
BIRTHS.
The registered live births for the year 1947 total 1,345 of
which 38 were illegitimate births.
This figure is the highest ever recorded for the district and
raises the birth rate to 17.86 per thousand with the exception of
the year 1944 when it was 18.3 per thousand. This is the
highest recorded since 1923, as reference to Table II will
show. This compares with a rate of 20.5 per thousand for
England and Wales for the year 1947 which was the highest
for 26 years.
For many years before the war, the birth rate was below
the level necessary to maintain the population. This figure is 21
per cent. above the reproduction rate. It remains to be seen
whether the fall in the population predicted by the experts during
the thirties will eventuate. These figures may only mean postponement
and it may be that another two or three years must
elapse before we can see at what level the birth rate is likely to
settle to under normal peace time conditions.
The number of illegitimate births has fallen from 45 last
year to 40 this year.