Vital Statistics

Vital Statistics, an important division of the great subject of Statistics (q.v.), which deals with the facts and problems concerning population in one or more countries. The absolute numbers of the people at various dates, the rate of increase, density, proportion of sexes, marriage-rate, ages at marriage, birth-rate, illegitimacy, death-rate, mortality at different ages, mortality in different occupations, causes of death, accidents, emigration and immigration, religions of the people, and many other subjects fall within this head. These various points are dealt with in many articles throughout this work, as in the relevant sections in the articles on Great Britain and on the other countries, and in the articles named at STATISTICS. See also works there cited; books on vital statistics by Neison, Farr, and Newsholme; and the census reports and the statistical returns of the various countries.