H.—3l

Still-births. —Still-births, which are defined by the Births and Deaths Registration Act of 1924 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 registrable 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 1923-27. Still-births (Number and Rate) in New Zealand, 1923-27. Total Number Rate of Still-births Year. of Still-births per 1,000 registered. Live Births. 1923 .. .. .. .. .. .. 894 32-0 1924 .. .. .. .. .. .. 855 30-5 1925 .. .. .. .. .. .. 861 30-6 1926 .. .. .. .. .. .. 886 31-1 1927 .. .. .. .. .. ..878 31-5 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 total number of deaths (11,613) registered during the year 1927, as compared with 11,819 in 1926 for a smaller population, gives a reduced general death-rate. Crude Death-rates. Crude Death-rate Crude Death-rate Year. per 1,000 Mean Year. per 1,000 Mean Population. Population. 1901 .. .. 9-81 1924 .. .. 8-29 1911 .. .. 9-39 1925 .. .. 8-29 1921 .. .. 8-73 1926 .. .. 8-74 1922 .. .. 8-77 1927 .. .. 8-45 1923 .. .. 9-03 Infant Mortality. The infant-mortality rate for 1927 was 38-74 per 1,000 births. The achievement of such a phenomenally low infant-death rate stands as a record for New Zealand and also for the world.

Infant Mortality in New Zealand, 1900-27 (per 1,000 Live Births).

6

Under Total under v „ Under 1 One Month and Total under ear ' One Month. Months' Twelve Months. ear ' One Month. I twelve Months. , 1900 .. 31-1 44-1 75-2 1914 .. 28-9 28-5 51-4 1901 .. 29-8 41-6 71-4 1915 .. 29-2 20-8 50-0 1902 .. 32-2 50-7 82-9 1916 .. 27-0 23-7 50-7 1903 .. 31-7 49-4 81-1 1917 .. 27-9 20-3 48-2 1904 .. 29-4 41-6 71-0 1918 .. 26-7 21-7 48-4 1905 .. 30-1 37-4 67-5 1919 .. 28-4 16-9 45-3 1906 .. 29-6 32-5 62-1 1920 .. 30-8 19-7 50-5 1907 .. 30-4 58-4 88-8 1921 .. 30-7 17-1 47-8 1908 .. 31-2 36-7 67-9 1922 .. | 27-2 14-7 41-9 1909 .. 29-9 31-7 61-6 1923 .. 29-1 14-7 43-8 1910 .. 30-2 37-5 67-7 1924 .. 24-0 16-3 40-3 1911 .. 28-5 27-8 56-3 1925 .. 26-4 13-5 39-9 1912 .. 30-1 21-1 51-2 1926 .. 25-46 14-3 39-76 1913 .. 29-7 _ 29-5 59-2 I 1927 .. 25-83 12-91 38-74 It will be seen from the above table that the decline in the infant-death rate again applies to infants aged one month and over and not to the new-born.