H.—3l

Still-births. —Still-births, which are defined by the Births and Deaths Registration Amendment Act of 1915 as " children which have issued from their mother after the expiration of the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy, and which were not alive at the time of such issue," are compulsorily registerable in the Dominion. The next table shows the number of such births, and their rate per 1,000 live births in individual years for the quinquennium 1921-25. Still-births (Number and Rate) in New Zealand, 1921-25. v Total Number of Rate of Still-births eal ' Still-births registered. per 1,000 Live Births. 1921 .. .. .. .. ..903 31-6 1922 .. .. .. .. .. 842 22-1 1923 .. .. .. .. .. 894 32-0 1924 .. .. .. .. .. 855 30-5 1925 .. .. .. .. .. 861 30-6 A noticeable feature of the table is the continued high rate of still-births for the year under review. (Note. —Still-births are not included, either as births or deaths, in the various numbers and rates given elsewhere in this report.) Deaths. The number of deaths recorded during 1925 was 11,026. The Census and Statistics Office gives the crude death-rate for 1925 as 8-29 per 1,000 of mean population, and the international standardized death-rate as 8-67. This latter figure is based upon a standard population compiled by the International Institute of Statistics, in which the age-distribution (eleven age-groups) of the population of nineteen European countries at their censuses nearest to the year 1900 is used in the computation of international death-rates. The New Zealand crude rate is thus corrected as regards the age and also the sex of the population. The following table gives the standardized rates for New Zealand under the above system for the years 1901, 1911, 1921, 1924, and 1925. The first three are census years. The corresponding crude rates are also shown.

Crude and International Standardized Death-rates.

The crude death-rate (8-29) was equal to that of the previous year, the lowest on record. The international standardized rate (8-67) shows a further decline. Both these rates are in all probability lower than those of any other civilized country. Infant Mortality. —The infant-mortality rate for 1925 was 39-96 per 1,000 births. This rate is the lowest recorded in the Dominion. The next table demonstrates the relative obstinacy of the first-month mortality to react to the administrative measures which have proved so successful at later ages : —

Infant Mortality in New Zealand, 1900-25. —Proportion of Deaths under Twelve Months in every 1,000 Births in Individual Years.

2—H. 81.

9

Crude Rates. i International Standardized Rates. Both Sexes. Year. j j Males. Females. ! J Males. Females. Without Distinc J With Bis . tion between j tion between Sexes. ! Sexes. 1901. .. 10-80 | 8-71 9-81 11-81 11-21 11-64 11-51 1911 .. 10-46 8-21 9-39 10-79 9-74 10-40 10-26 1921 .. 9-75 7-66 8-73 9-65 8-63 9-23 9-14 1924 .. 9-22 ! 7-32 8-29 9-18 8-26 8-79 8-72 1925 .. 9-09 ! 7-46 8-29 8-99 8-35 8-75 8-67

Under One Month and Tota , under j Under One Month and j Total under Year. One Month. un Months V ° '^ we ' ve Months. J ear ' One Month. UD Months twelve Months. I 1 II I j I 1900 .. 31 "1 44-1 75-2 1913 .. 29-7 29-5 59-2 1901 .. 29-8 41-6 714 1914 .. 28-9 28-5 51-4 1902 .. 32-2 50-7 82-9 1915 .. 29-2 20-8 50-0 1903 .. 31-7 49-4 81-1 ! 1916 .. 27-0 23-7 50-7 1904 .. 29-4 41-6 71-0 1917 .. 27-9 20-3 48-2 1905 .. 30-1 37-4 67-5 1918 .. 26-7 21-7 48-4 1906 .. 29-6 32-5 62-1 1919 .. 28-4 16-9 45-3 1907 .. 30-4 58-4 88-8 1920 .. 30-8 19-7 50-5 1908 .. 31-2 36-7 67-9 1921 .. 3G-7 17-1 47-8 1909 .. 29-9 31-7 61-6 1922 .. 27-2 14-7 41-9 1910 . 30-2 37-5 67-7 1923 .. 29-1 14-7 43-8 1911 .. 28-5 27-8 56-3 1924 .. i 24-0 16-3 40-2 1912 30-1 21-1 51-2 : 1925 .. 26-4 13-5 39-9