Births, deaths & other vital events - third quarter 2016

Provisional figures for vital events registered in Scotland during the third quarter (Q3) of 2016 were published today by National Records of Scotland.

The statistics show 14,257 births, 13,202 deaths and 11,299 marriages were registered between July and September.

At 14,257, the number of births registered was 353 (2.4 per cent) fewer than in the same period of 2015 and the lowest quarter three total since 2006. The total number of births for the period fell to a low of  around 13,200 in 2001. It then rose to around 15,500 in 2008 and has been below 15,000 since 2012.

At 13,202, the number of deaths registered was 116 (0.9 per cent) more than in the same period of 2015. This is the third consecutive increase in the Q3 total and the highest figure for Q3 since 2003. Over the last decade the number of deaths in the third quarter has generally increased apart from an unusually low figure of 12,224 in 2013.

Compared with the third quarter of 2015, the number of deaths from coronary heart disease fell by 8.6 per cent to 1,443. Deaths from respiratory system disease fell by six per cent to 1,398 and there were 3,973 deaths from cancer (a decrease of 0.6 per cent). Deaths from cerebrovascular disease rose by 3.5 per cent to 964 and there was an increase of 21.6 per cent in the number of deaths from Alzheimer’s Disease (461).

The provisional figures also show there were 11,299 marriages in total, 135 fewer than during the third quarter of 2015 (a fall of 1.2 per cent). 

There were 355 same-sex marriages, a fall of 121 (25.4 per cent) from the 476 same-sex marriages registered in the same period of 2015. Fifty seven (16 per cent) of the same sex marriages registered in the third quarter were changes from civil partnerships. 

There were 25 civil partnerships (17 male and eight female), six more than during the third quarter of 2015.

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