FALLING BIRTH RATE, RISING DEATH AND INFANT MORTALITY RATES AND A LOSS OF POPULATION THROUGH MIGRATION ARE SHOWN IN OFFICIAL PALESTINE GOVERNMENT STATISTICS.
FOR PERHAPS THE FIRST TIME IN RECENT YEARS THE SECOND QUARTER OF 1937 SHOWED A NET DECREASE IN THE JEWISH POPULATION.
THESE FINDINGS ARE CONTAINED IN THE MONTHLY BULLETIN FOR AUGUST OF THE GOVERNMENT OFFICE OF STATISTICS, WHICH IS HEADED BY S.A. CUDMORE, AND A SEPARATE REPORT COVERING THE SECOND QUARTER WHICH HAS BEEN ISSUED BY THE OFFICE’S VITAL STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.
PALESTINE’S POPULATION TOTALLED 1,316,767 ON JUNE 30, INCLUDING 809,394 MOSLEMS, 386,084 JEWS, 109,769 CHRISTIANS AND 11,520 OTHERS IN THE PROPORTIONS OF 61.5, 29.3, 8.3 AND 0.9.
THE POPULATION REMAINED ALMOST STATIONARY DURING THE SECOND QUARTER OF 1937–SHOWING AN INCREASE OF ONLY 625–BECAUSE THE NATURAL POPULATION INCREASE OF 6,046 WAS ALMOST ENTIRELY COMPENSATED FOR BY A 5,421 EXCESS OF EMIGRANTS OVER IMMIGRANTS.
THE JEWISH POPULATION, AS A MATTER OF FACT, SHOWED A NET DECREASE OF 3,306. THE NATURAL INCREASE OF 1,583 WAS COMPLETELY ECLIPSED BY A LOSS OF 4,889 THROUGH MIGRATION.
THE PRINCIPAL FACTORS IN THE FALLING OF THE POPULATION RATE WERE LOSS THROUGH MIGRATION–THE CHIEF CAUSE–DECREASING BIRTH RATE AND RISING DEATH RATE.
THE LOSS THROUGH MIGRATION CANNOT BE BLAMED ON DECREASE IN TOURIST TRAFFIC, FOR AS A MATTER OF FACT THIS TRAFFIC HAS INCREASED. TEMPORARY VISITORS AND TRANSIT TRAVELERS ARRIVING NUMBERED 10,167 IN JULY, AS COMPARED WITH 9,504 IN JUNE AND 4,427 IN JULY, 1936.
IT CAN BE BLAMED ON RESIDENTS DEPARTING FROM PALESTINE, FOR HERE THE NUMBER HAS INCREASED WHILE GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS ON IMMIGRATION MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR ENTRY TO COMPENSATE. RESIDENTS DEPARTING FOR LESS THAN A YEAR NUMBERED 14,599 IN JULY, COMPARED RETURNED IN JULY FROM ABSENCES OF LESS THAN A YEAR, LEAVING A NET TOWARD MOVEMENT OF 6,643–3,703 JEWS AND 2,940 NON-JEWS.
THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF 1937 SHOW A NET DECREASE IN THE DE FACTO POPULATION OF 5,996 DUE TO RECORDED MIGRATION. THERE WAS A NET LOSS OF 4,127 JEWS AND 1,869 NON-JEWS.
THE BIRTH RATE IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 1937 WAS 37.8 PER THOUSAND. THE JEWISH BIRTH RATE WAS 23.7–LOWER THAN IN ANY QUARTER SINCE THE BEGINNING OF 1935. THERE WERE 12,416 BIRTHS IN ALL REGISTERED DURING THE THREE MONTHS, INCLUDING 2,295 JEWS. THE GENERAL BIRTH RATE OF 37.8 COMPARES WITH 39.0 FOR THE SAME PERIOD OF 1936, 41.5 FOR THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD OF 1935, AND 52.6 FOR THE PREVIOUS PERIOD OF 1937.
THE NUMBERS OF DEATHS IN THE QUARTER UNDER REVIEW WAS 6,370, COMPARED WITH 5,723 IN THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND 4,537 IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 1936. IT IS HIGHER THAN IN ANY QUARTER SINCE THE BEGINNING OF 1935. BUT IT WAS THE MOSLEMS WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE HIGH DEATH RATE, FOR THE JEWISH RATE WAS 7.4 COMPARED WITH THE MOSLEM 25.7 AND THE GENERAL 19.4; THE JEWISH DEATH RATE HAS BEEN CONSTANTLY FALLING FROM 9.5 IN THE THIRD QUARTER OF 1936.
THE GENERAL INFANT MORTALITY RATE WAS 214 PER THOUSAND LIVE BIRTHS, ALMOST DOUBLE THE RATE IN THE FIRST QUARTER (113). THE TOTAL INFANT BIRTHS WAS 2,541. THE RATE WAS HIGHEST AMONG MOSLEMS, AT 239, AND LOWEST AMONG THE JEWS, WITH 73 PER THOUSAND. THE RATE IN THE VILLAGES WAS SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN IN THE TOWNS. THE MEDICAL SUB-DISTRICT WITH THE LOWEST RATE WAS TEL AVIV.
OTHER INTERESTING STATISTICS CONCERN MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE, AND CRIME. FOR EVERY THREE MARRIAGES DURING THE QUARTER UNDER REVIEW THERE WAS ONE DIVORCE–3,398 MARRIAGES AND 1,131 DIVORCES. THE NUMBER OF DIVORCES WAS HIGHEST SINCE THE BEGINNING OF 1935. JEWS HAD THE LARGEST RATIO OF DIVORCES TO MARRIAGE–617 PER THOUSAND, WHILE THE MOSLEMS HAD 152 AND THE CHRISTIANS REGISTERED NONE. JEWS ALSO HAD THE HIGHEST MARRIAGE RATE–14.17 PER THOUSAND, COMPARED WITH THE MOSLEM 9.33 AND THE CHRISTIAN 4.35.
AS TO CRIME, THERE WERE DURING THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF 1937 A TOTAL OF 10,813 OFFENCES RECORDED OUTSIDE OF TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS, INCLUDING 93 MURDERS, 163 ATTEMPTS AT MURDER, 47 CASES OF MANSLAUGHTER AND 261 OFFENSES AGAINST MORALITY. THE FIGURES CANNOT BE COMPARED WITH LAST YEAR BECAUSE THE METHOD OF CLASSIFICATION WAS CHANGED.
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