Mr. Speaker,

Today I rise to introduce the Annual Report of the Registry General for the year ended December 31, 2025. The Registrar General recognises 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 “Act”), 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. Pursuant to section 35 of the Marriage Act 1944, the Registrar General is also required to publish a summary of marriages conducted each year.

Mr. Speaker,

• 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;
• local funeral directors, medical practitioners, and the Coroner’s Office in relation to deaths;
• local domestic partnership officers in relation to domestic partnerships; 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 increase in the number of births. In 2025 there were 452 births; an increase of 27 or 6.0% over the 425 births recorded in 2024.

Mr. Speaker,

The distribution of live births by nationality for 2025, based on information provided by parents at the time of registration of their children’s birth, shows that 75.4% or 341 of the total live births have at least one Bermudian parent. In 2025, 111 or 24.6% of the births have parents who are both non-Bermudian.

Mr. Speaker,

Honourable colleagues are advised that in 2025, 552 deaths were recorded among residents, a decrease from the 602 deaths recorded in 2024. The Report also indicates that there were six deaths in respect of non-resident persons, which brings the total number of deaths recorded for 2025 to 558.

Mr. Speaker,

For the year ending December 31, 2025, 273 marriages were performed in Bermuda, a decrease of 56 or 20.5% from the 329 marriages recorded in 2024. During 2025, marriages between parties who were both non-residents accounted for 95 or 34.8% of the total of 273. The Report also shows that there were 148 marriages between parties who were both residents and 30 marriages between a resident and non-resident.

Mr. Speaker,

Marriages are regularly performed aboard 28 Bermuda-registered ships. In 2025, the number of maritime marriages was 490, which represents an increase of 145 or 29.6% from the 2024 total of 345. The increase is due to efforts of the cruise line industry to expand services for weddings onboard their ships. The cumulative number of marriages (local and maritime) processed through the Registry General for the year ending December 31, 2025, was 763 as compared to 674 for the year 2024.

Mr. Speaker,

The Domestic Partnership Act 2018 allows for the formalisation of unions between partners. In 2025, there were four domestic partnership unions recorded. All four domestic partnership unions were between couples who were residents and they were formalised at the Registry General Office.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, the Annual Report provides an illustrative statistical digest of vital events such as live births, deaths, stillbirths, marriages, domestic partnerships, adoptions and re-registration of births in Bermuda for the year ended December 31, 2025.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.