Population profile of Scotland is 'steadily growing older'
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The number of births registered in Scotland in the fourth quarter of last year fell by almost eight per cent against the average according to National Records of Scotland.
The latest NRS quarterly report on births, deaths, marriages and other vital events found 11,332 births happened between October and December.
This was 7.8 per cent lower than the average for the same period in the previous four years.
The infant death rate was 3.4 per 1,000 live births. This is lower than in the first three quarters of 2023 but there has been a generally increasing trend in the infant death rate since 2020.
The report found a total of 15,739 deaths among people of all ages in the final quarter of 2023.
This was 6.9 per cent lower than the expected number of deaths for the fourth quarter.
NRS statistician Phillipa Haxton said: “In the last quarter of 2023 we saw the continuation of some long term trends.
“We’re still seeing falling numbers of births and rising numbers of deaths.
“In part this reflects the changing age profile of the population which is steadily growing older.”
Meanwhile the number of marriages has fallen 9 per cent against the recent average at 5,634 between October and December of last year.
The number of same sex marriages was 232 which is similar to the average for the fourth quarter. Civil Partnerships have been open to mixed sex couples since 2021 and of the 183 which took place in quarter four 146 were between mixed sex partners.
