Mr. Speaker, today I rise to introduce the Annual Report of the Registry General for the year ended December 31st, 2022. 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, Mr. Speaker, 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 2022 there were 479 births; a decrease of 15 or 3% over the 494 births recorded in 2021. Also, the live birth rate of the population has decreased by 0.3 point per thousand from 7.8 in 2021 to 7.5 in 2022. There were two babies born at the residence of the parents for the year ending 2022, which was an increase of one from the number of babies born at home 2021.
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 2022 reflects 79.3% or 380 of the total live births have at least one Bermudian parent. In 2022, 99 or 20.7% of the births have parents who are both non-Bermudian.
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Colleagues are advised that in 2022, 585 deaths were recorded among residents. A death rate of 9.2 per thousand of the population for 2022 reflects a decrease of 142 or 19.5% from 727 recorded in 2021. The Report also indicates that there were sixteen (16) deaths in respect of non-resident persons, which brings the total number of deaths recorded for 2022 to 601. Also, there were two stillbirths recorded for the 2022 period.
Mr. Speaker, there was a decrease of 106 in the estimated resident population at the end of 2022 at 63,542 as opposed to the 63,648 in resident population estimated in 2021. At the end of 2022 there were 2,500 more females than males in the population figures.
However, Mr. Speaker, from the report given and statistics recorded in 2018, and statistics provided for 2022, it would appear that there has been a continuous drop in the population from statistics recorded prior to the year 2018. However, 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 2022 there were 336 marriages performed in Bermuda, a 23 or 7.3% increase from the 313 marriages recorded in 2021. The increase can be attributed to the relaxation of social gatherings restrictions previously imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the surge in interest of couples wanting to marry that year. During 2022 marriages between parties who were both non-residents accounted for only 103 or 30.7% of the total of 336. This figure, for the third consecutive year, breaks the trend where marriages between non-residents exceed the number of marriages between residents and marriages between residents and non-resident parties. The Report also shows that there were 211 marriages between parties who were both residents and 22 marriages between a resident and non-resident.
Mr. Speaker, of the total 336 local marriages recorded in 2022, none (0) were same-sex marriages which represents a decrease of 100% from the total of three (3) same-sex marriages in 2021. As of March 15, 2022, no same-sex marriages were allowed to be performed in Bermuda as a result of the UK Privy Council’s decision on March 14, 2022.
Mr. Speaker, 277 marriages were performed on board twenty-eight Bermuda registered ships in 2022. This total represents an increase of 249 or 889.3% from the 2021 total of 28. Of the 277 maritime marriages, one was a same-sex marriage ceremony on account of the marriage was performed on February 21, 2022, prior to the UK Privy Council’s decision on March 14, 2022. The increase is due to the cruise line industry resuming operations in October 2021, after the industry was bought to a halt in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The cumulative number of marriages (local and maritime) processed through the Registry General for the year ended 31st December 2022 was 613 as compared to 341 for the year ending 2021.
Mr. Speaker, the Domestic Partnership Act 2018 allowed for the formalization of unions between parties. In 2022 there were four (4) domestic partnership unions recorded for that period. Two of the domestic partnership ceremonies were performed at the Registry General Office, and of the remaining two ceremonies one was performed at a hotel, and one was performed at a home, both 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, 2022.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.