LAW OF POPULATION ILLUSTRATED 181 



SWEDEN 



In the Swedish table the first point which calls 

 for attention is the extraordinary fall of the marriage- 

 rate from an average of 76 marriages per 10,000 

 persons in the first decade to an average of 65 in the 

 second, and its decline to an average of 60 in the last 

 decade. 



The second noteworthy point is the apparent 

 retardation that took place in the general prosperity 

 of the country after the decade 1854-63. This is 

 shown by the lowering of the decennial actual increases. 

 Whereas in the first decade of our table Sweden added 

 numbers equivalent to an increase upon the population 

 of 1853 of 12 -4 per cent., in the next decade her 

 increase fell to 7 per cent., and in the decade 

 188493 to 4* 8 per cent. When we consider that 

 the demand of the labour market is always fully 

 satisfied whatever emigration may be in progress, it is 

 obvious that the numerical increase made in a decade 

 measures the prosperity of a country. 



