460 



Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



recently the death-rate of New Zealand had no permanent 

 tendency to increase, and was even very much less in 1896, 

 wmen it was 9 - 10 per thousand, than in 1891, when it was 

 10-35. Since 1896, however, the increase has been sub- 

 stantial and steady, the death-rates for the years 1896-99 

 being 9-10, 9-14, 9-84, and 10-24 respectively. 



The proportion of old people, in fact, has now reached a 

 magnitude which makes the number of deaths of old people 

 bear a very substantial ratio to the total number of deaths, 

 and consequently the increase in the proportion of old people 

 in the population will have a considerable influence, by reason 

 of the corresponding increase in the number of deaths of old 

 people, in affecting both the total annual number of deaths 

 and the death-rate. This is illustrated by the following table, 

 giving the annual number of dearths of people over sixty years 

 of age, the total number of deaths, and the percentage the 

 former are of the latter for the years 1896-99 : — 



Deaths, 1896-99. 



We may thus expect the death-rate to increase in the 

 future to a figure considerably greater than that at which it 

 stands at present. 



Increase of Population of New Zealand. 



Increase of population is due to two causes, excess of 

 births over deaths and excess of immigration over emigra- 

 tion. 



Now, the excess of births over deaths in New Zealand 

 reached its maximum in 1884, while for 1899 the excess 

 was not as great as it was in 1876 — i.e., twenty-four years 

 ago. 



The following table gives the excess of births over deaths 

 for the last twenty-four years : — 



