Births, deaths & other vital events, 2017 Q3

Provisional figures for vital events registered in Scotland during the third quarter of 2017 were published today by National Records of Scotland.

The statistics show 13,847 births, 13,185 deaths and 10,870 marriages were registered between July and September.

At 13,847, the number of births registered was 411 (2.9 per cent) fewer than in the same period of 2016 and the lowest quarter three total since 2004.

At 13,185, the number of deaths registered was 17 (0.1 per cent) fewer than in the same period of 2016.

Compared with the third quarter of 2016:

• the number of deaths from coronary heart disease rose by 4.1 per cent to 1,533;
• Deaths from cerebrovascular disease fell by 6.6 per cent to 900;
• There were 3,960 deaths from cancer (a decrease of 0.6 per cent);
• Deaths from respiratory system diseases fell by 8.5 per cent to 1,293;
• There was an increase of 6.7 per cent in the number of deaths from Alzheimer’s Disease (491);
• The number of deaths from dementia rose by 13.6 per cent to 861 (although respiratory disease, Alzheimer’s and dementia deaths are affected by the change in cause of death coding software – refer to note 2 below for more details.)

Over the longer term, deaths from coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease have decreased considerably whilst the number of deaths from cancer and respiratory disease has risen slightly.  There has been a relatively large increase in the number of deaths from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease with such deaths now accounting for around 10 per cent of all deaths compared to 5 per cent a decade ago.

National Records of Scotland have today also published updated figures on alcohol deaths using the new National Statistics definition following a consultation exercise carried out by the Office for National Statistics earlier this year.  The age-standardised death rates section of the website has been amended to incorporate the new alcohol deaths definition and two further tables have been added on age-standardised death rates by deprivation quintile.

Background

• Full publication, Births, deaths and other vital events - quarterly figures, including figures for NHS Boards and local authority areas. 
• Updated Alcohol deaths web section, including figures on the old and new definitions.
• Updated Age-standardised death rates web section, including two new tables by deprivation quintile.