Births, Deaths and Other Vital Events - First Quarter 2014

Provisional figures for births, deaths and other vital events registered during the first quarter of 2014 are published today by the National Records of Scotland.

The statistics show that 13,959 deaths were registered in the first quarter of the year – 1,132 (7.5 per cent) fewer than in the same period of 2013. This is the lowest first quarter total for at least 40 years.

The provisional figures also show that:

• 13,930 births were registered in Scotland between 1 January and 31 March 2014 – 68 (0.5 per cent) more than in the same period of 2013. The total number of births for the first quarter fell to a low of around 12,400 in 2002. It then rose to around 15,100 in 2008 before falling again to the current level of around 13,900 in the first three months of both 2013 and 2014.
• There were 3,548 marriages, 290 more than the figure for the first quarter of 2013 (a rise of 8.9 per cent) and the highest quarter 1 total since 2005.
• There were 77 civil partnerships (31 male and 46 female), 14 more than during the first quarter of 2013.
• Compared with the same period in 2013, the number of deaths from coronary heart disease fell by 10.8 per cent to 1,759, deaths from stroke fell by 12.4 per cent to 1,096, and there were 3,874 deaths from cancer (a fall of 0.5 per cent).

Tim Ellis, the Chief Executive of National Records of Scotland, said:

"Today's statistics show a fall in the number of deaths registered in Scotland, to the lowest number recorded in the first quarter for at least 40 years. This is the third consecutive quarter which has seen a fall in the number of deaths compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

“There were slightly more births than deaths (29) recorded in this quarter, in line with the general picture since 2008, but levels of births and deaths are both relatively low in historical terms.”

The full publication, Births, deaths and other vital events - quarterly figures, is available on the NRS website.