Vital Events - General Background Information

The pages in this section provide some general information about the National Records of Scotland's (NRS) statistics of Vital Events. 

The material available via the links below is described as general because it applies to several types of event; material which applies to one specific type of event can be found in the section of the website which relates to that type of event.

It should be noted that, because the data on Divorces, and on Dissolutions of Civil Partnerships, are provided by the Scottish Courts Service (rather than by Registrars), much of this general material does not apply in the case of statistics of Divorces and Dissolutions.

• Date of registration is basis of Vital Events statistics (PDF 162 Kb)
• Births and Deaths: Days until Registration
• Age and Age Standardisation (PDF 18 Kb)
• Geographical basis of Vital Events statistics (PDF 36 Kb) 
• Code-lists used in Vital Events statistics
• Declaration on Confidentiality and Privacy
• Quality of NRS data on Vital Events
• Birth and Death Rates: breaks in series circa 2011
• Occupation and social class / socio-economic classification (PDF 214 Kb)
• Some of the uses of the Vital Events Statistics - as at November 2010 (PDF 61 Kb)
• Enquiries for Vital Events statistics (PDF 195 Kb)

Also relevant is the information about fluctuations in death statistics, particularly when the numbers are small because similar points apply to the figures for other types of vital events (such as births) for small areas, short periods or sub-groups of the population.

More detailed information about the 'Quality of NRS Data on Deaths' is available from this website.

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