Mr. Speaker, today I laid, for information, the Annual Report of the Registry General for the year ended December 31st, 2021. The Registrar General recognizes the essential role that vital statistical information plays in planning for the provision of services in areas such as tourism, health, education and housing, to name a few, and has performed his duties to a high standard in the recording, collating and presenting of the data to be included in the Annual Report.
Mr. Speaker, in accordance with Section 19 of the Registration (Births and Deaths) Act 1949, the Registrar-General shall, within ninety days after the expiration of each calendar year, compile for publication in such form and manner as the Minister may approve a summary of the births and deaths which occurred during the year, together with a general report on the increase or decrease of the population of Bermuda. The Registrar is required also under section 35 of the Marriage Act 1944 to publish a summary of marriages conducted each year.
In preparation of the Annual Report, the Registrar has relied on information received from the Records Office of the King Edward VII Hospital relating to births; from the local funeral directors and medical practitioners in relations to deaths; and from local marriage officers and Masters of Bermuda registered ships in relation to local and maritime marriages, respectively.
Mr. Speaker, the Report which deals primarily with the vital statistics pertaining to the Island’s residential population indicates that there has been a slight decrease in the number of births. In 2021 there were 494 births; a decrease of 47 or 8.7% over the 541 births recorded in 2020. Also, the live birth rate of the population has decreased by 0.7 point per thousand from 8.5 in 2020 to 7.8 in 2021. There was one baby born at the residence of the parents for the year ending 2021, which was the same number of babies born at home in 2020.
Mr. Speaker, the distribution of live births by nationality, based on information provided by the parents at the time of registration of their children’s birth, for 2021 reflects 76.9% or 380 of the total live births have at least one Bermudian parent. In 2021, 114 or 23.1% of the births have parents who are both non-Bermudian.
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members are advised that in 2021, 727 deaths were recorded among residents. A death rate of 11.4 per thousand of the population for 2021 reflects an increase of 161 or 28.4% from 566 recorded in 2020. The Report also indicates that there were three (3) deaths in respect of non-resident persons, which brings the total number of deaths recorded for 2021 to 730. Also, there were no stillbirths recorded for the 2021 period.
Mr. Speaker, there was a decrease of 233 in the estimated resident population at the end of 2021 at 63,648 as opposed to the 63,881 in resident population estimated in 2020. At the end of 2021 there were 2,468 more females than males in the population figures.
However, from the report given and statistics recorded since 2017, and statistics provided for 2021, it would appear that there has been a significant drop in the population from statistics recorded prior to the year 2017. Honourable Members will note that the population estimates were re-based in 2016 after the conduct of the 2016 Population and Housing Census. The re-base of the data is the reason why the population estimates are lower from 2016 forward.
Mr. Speaker, for the year ending 31st December 2021 there were 313 marriages performed in Bermuda, a 65 or 26.2% increase from the 248 marriages recorded in 2020. The increase can be attributed to the relaxation of social gatherings and international travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which appealed to couples wanting to marry that year. During 2021 marriages between parties who were both non-residents accounted for 66 or 21.1% of the total of 313. This figure, for the second consecutive year, breaks the trend were marriages between non-residents to exceed the number of marriages between residents, and marriages between residents and non-residents parties. The Report also shows that there were 211 marriages between parties who were both residents and 36 marriages between a resident and non-resident.
Mr. Speaker, of the total 313 marriages recorded in 2021, three (3) were same-sex marriages which represents a decrease of seven (7) or 70% from the total of ten same-sex marriages in 2020. All three same-sex marriages were performed by the Registry General Office as civil ceremonies. During 2021 same-sex marriages between parties who were both residents accounted for two or 67% of the total of three marriages. The report also shows that same- sex marriages between a resident and non-residents accounted for one or 33%. There were no same-sex marriages between non-resident couples in 2021.
Mr. Speaker, 28 marriages were performed on board twenty-eight Bermuda registered ships in 2021. This total represents a decrease of 42 or 60% from the 2020 total of 70. Of the 28 maritime marriages, one was a same-sex marriage ceremony. The decrease is due to the Covid-19 pandemic that brought the cruise line industry to a halt in March 2020 and did not resume operation until October 2021. There were 28 maritime marriages registered between October and December 2021. The cumulative number of marriages (local and maritime) processed through the Registry General for the year ended 31st December 2021 was 341 as compared to 318 for the year ending 2020.
Mr. Speaker, the Domestic Partnership Act 2018 allowed for the formalization of unions between parties. In 2021 there were six (6) domestic partnership unions recorded for that period. Five of the domestic partnership ceremonies were performed at the Registry General Office, and the remaining one ceremony was performed at an alternative approved location as allowed for under the Domestic Partnership Act 2018.
In closing, Mr. Speaker, the Annual Report seeks to provide an illustrative statistical digest of vital events such as live births, deaths, stillbirths, marriages, domestic partnerships, adoptions and re-registration of births for the year ended December 31st, 2021.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.