Births, deaths & other vital events - first quarter 2016

Provisional figures for vital events registered in the first quarter 2016, published today by the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

The statistics show that 15,430 deaths were registered in the first quarter of the year – 1,095 (6.6 per cent) fewer than in the same period of 2015.

The first quarter of 2015 had seen particularly large increases in the numbers of deaths from coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. The decreases in the first quarter of 2016 take the numbers of deaths from both of these causes back to around their 2014 level.

The provisional figures also show that:

• 13,278 births were registered in Scotland in quarter one – 42 (0.3 per cent) fewer than in the same period of 2015. The total number of births for the first quarter fell to a low of  around 12,400 in 2002. It then rose to the most recent peak of 15,100 in 2008 and plateaued around 14,600 between 2009 and 2012.  Since then, it has fallen steadily to the current level of around 13,300 in 2016.
• There were 3,512 marriages in total, 376 fewer than the figure for the first quarter of 2015 (a fall of 9.7 per cent). This takes the number of marriages to around the same level as the first quarter of 2014 and is a higher figure than in the first quarter of each year from 2006 to 2013. 
• There were 155 same-sex marriages between 1 January and 31 March 2016, 289 (65.1 per cent) fewer than the total of 444 in the same period of 2015 (which was the first full quarter since the provisions on same sex marriage came into force at the end of 2014).  In the first quarter 2015, the majority of same-sex marriages were changes from civil partnerships (333, 75 per cent). In 2016 quarter one, only 35 (23 per cent) of same sex marriages were changes from civil partnerships.  
• There were 12 civil partnerships (8 male and 4 female), eight fewer than during the first quarter of 2015. 
• Compared with the same period in 2015, the number of deaths from coronary heart disease fell by 12.5 per cent to 1,775, deaths from cerebrovascular disease fell by 12.8 per cent to 1,140, and there were 4,010 deaths from cancer (a decrease of 2.5 per cent). The first quarter of 2015 had seen particularly large increases in the numbers of deaths from coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. The decreases in the first quarter of 2016 take the numbers of deaths from both of these causes back to around their 2014 level.

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