Registration of births, deaths, stillbirths, marriage and civil partnerships: Annual Statement for 2023

STATES OF JERSEY

BIRTHS, DEATHS, STILLBIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS REGISTERED IN THE TWELVE PARISHES OF THE ISLAND OF JERSEY FOR THE YEAR 2023

Presented to the States on 3rd May 2024 by the Minister for Justice and Home Affairs

STATES GREFFE

2024  R.72

Annual Statement  

Office of the Superintendent Registrar  

Births, Deaths, Stillbirths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships registered in the twelve parishes of the Island of Jersey

for the year 2023

Claire Follain, Superintendent Registrar March 2024

Contents

1. Births .................................................................................................................. 2

1. Actual births ....................................................................................................................... 2
2. Registered births .............................................................................................................. 3
3. Baby names ........................................................................................................................ 3

2. Deaths ................................................................................................................ 4

1. Registered deaths ............................................................................................................. 4
2. Actual deaths ..................................................................................................................... 4
3. Explanation of Cause of Death in Registration of Death ................................... 5
4. Burials and Cremations ...................................................................................................... 5

3. Stillbirths ........................................................................................................... 6

4. Marriage ............................................................................................................ 6

1. Marriage in Jersey ............................................................................................................ 6
2. Conversion to marriage ................................................................................................. 7
3. Marriage of Jersey residents in other jurisdictions .............................................. 7
4. Marriage of non-Jersey residents in Jersey ............................................................ 7

5. Civil Partnership ............................................................................................... 7

6. Table of registrations – 1995 to 2023 ............................................................ 8

The Minister for Justice and Home Affairs presents the following statistics for the year 2023:

1. Births

1. Actual births

The number of actual births in Jersey in 2023 was 795 – comprising 370 females and 425 males.

This represents the number of babies born in Jersey between 1st January 2023 and 31st December 2023.

There were therefore 40 less births in Jersey in 2023 than in 2022 i.e. a 5% decrease. This is the lowest number of births recorded since 1955.

96% of births in Jersey occurred in St. Helier , i.e. 760.

752 births occurred at the General Hospital (i.e. 95% of all births). The remaining 43 births (5% of all births) occurred at a location other than the General Hospital.

Table showing the number of actual births in Jersey in 2023 by month and gender

Table showing the number of actual births in Jersey in 2023 by parish

2. Registered births

The number of registered births (including re-registrations) in Jersey in 2023 was 800.

This represents the number of births which were registered between 1st January 2023 and 31st December 2023.

There were therefore 57 less registrations of birth than in 2022 (ie a decrease of 7%). The proportion of births registered to married parents was 52%.

3. Baby names

The following table shows the 10 most popular baby names for girls and boys registered in Jersey between 2016 and 2023 (most popular first):

2. Deaths

1. Registered Deaths

There were 835 deaths registered in Jersey in 2023. There were 39 less deaths registered in 2023 than in 2022. This is the lowest number of deaths registered since 2021. 66% of deaths were registered in St. Helier i.e. 555 deaths.

Table showing the number of registered deaths in Jersey in 2023 by parish

2. Actual deaths

There were 888 deaths which occurred in Jersey between 1st January 2023 and 31st December 2023 – ie 25 less than in 2022.

54% of those who died in 2023 were male and 46% were female.

The highest number of deaths which occurred in Jersey in 2023 occurred in the months of April and October

The lowest number of deaths which occurred in Jersey in 2023 occurred in the months of February, July and August.

Table showing the number of actual deaths which occurred in Jersey in 2023

3. Explanation of Cause of Death in Registration of Death

A doctor qualified in law to certify a death, is required by law to certify the condition or conditions which caused a person's death. This certification is carried out immediately following a death and then forwarded to the Superintendent Registrar. In other cases, the Viscount provides confirmation to the Superintendent Registrar of the medical conditions which caused the death following further investigation and/or inquest.

Once established, these conditions are then registered as Cause of Death' on a death registration by the Superintendent Registrar.

Cause of Death' within a death registration sets out four separate, but related, sections for the recording of these conditions as follows:

1a. The disease or condition that lead to the death

1b. Due to or as a consequence of []

1c. Due to or as a consequence of []

2. Other significant conditions contributing to the death

A Cause of Death must include a condition in 1a. and may include conditions(s) in any of the other sections (or be blank in some sections if not relevant).

Cause of Death' on a death registration therefore represents a comprehensive narrative of all the conditions that caused the death of the person.

Only those conditions which caused the death are certified as a cause of death and registered as a Cause of Death' on the death registration. I.e. not all conditions which a person suffers with at the time of death will or should be certified/registered – only those that caused the death.

Due to the legal process involved with the registration of death, death registrations will be carried out several days following the actual date of death once all information is received and verified.

4. Burial and cremation

Table showing the percentage of deaths registered in Jersey which resulted in cremations and burials in Jersey.

Note: some deaths which occur in Jersey result in the repatriation of bodies to other jurisdictions for burial or cremation and do not form part of these statistics.

3. Stillbirths

There were 2 stillbirths in the Island in 2023 – 1 less than in 2022.

4. Marriage

1. Marriage in Jersey Total number of marriages

There were a total of 374 marriages in Jersey in 2023. This is 65 less than 2022 ie 15% fewer marriages than in 2022.

This number includes every marriage solemnised in Jersey ie all civil marriage (including conversion to marriage from civil partnership), marriage in the Church of England, and all other religious denomination marriage.

Marriages authorised by the Superintendent Registrar (Civil and Non-Anglican marriage)

The Superintendent Registrar authorised 299 marriages in 2023 – i.e. civil and non- Anglican religious marriages. This is 61 less than in 2022 (17% less).

283 of the 299 marriages authorised by the Superintendent Registrar in 2023 were civil marriages and 16 were religious denomination marriages.

Civil / religious marriage statistics

There were 283 civil (i.e. non-religious) marriage ceremonies in Jersey in 2023 – 57 less than in 2022 i.e. 76% of all marriages which took place in Jersey were civil (non- religious) marriage ceremonies.

111 out of 283 civil marriage ceremonies in Jersey in 2023 took place in the Register Office – 5 more than in 2022.

There were 91 religious marriage ceremonies – 8 less than in 2022, i.e. 24% of all marriages in Jersey.

Of these ceremonies –

• 75 marriages were conducted in Church of England churches - 4 less than in 2022

• 10 marriages were conducted in Catholic churches – 7 less than in 2022

• The remaining 6 religious marriages occurred in other denomination ceremonies

– 3 more than in 2022

The most popular months for marriage in Jersey were August and September.

2. Conversion to marriage / Conversion to Civil Partnership

Following amendments to the Marriage and Civil Status (Jersey) Law 2001 (which came into force on 1st July 2018), couples in valid civil partnerships are able to convert their civil partnership to marriage.

3 conversion to marriage (from civil partnership) ceremonies were solemnised in Jersey in 2023, 3 more than in 2022.

0 conversion to civil partnership (from marriage) ceremonies were solemnised in Jersey following a change in the law in March 2023 to allow such conversions.

The total number of marriages solemnised in Jersey in 2022, including conversion to marriage ceremonies, was therefore 302.

3. Marriage of Jersey residents in other jurisdictions

The number of Jersey resident couples who applied to the Superintendent Registrar to marry in jurisdictions outside the Island in 2023 was 13 i.e. 5 less than in 2022. The most popular destinations for marriage were Greece and Poland.

4. Marriage of non-Jersey residents in Jersey

The number of non-Jersey resident couples who travelled to Jersey in 2023 for the purpose of marriage by authorisation of the Superintendent Registrar was 55.

This was 2 more couples than in 2022 and made up 18% of all civil and non-Anglican marriages that were authorised by the Superintendent Registrar in 2023.

The largest proportion of non-residents who travelled to Jersey to marry came from England.

The most popular months for non-residents to marry in Jersey were July and August.

5. Civil Partnership

In 2023, there was 5 civil partnership ceremonies in Jersey – 4 more than in the previous year.

6. Table of registrations – 1990 to 2023

Notes:

1. The figures for births shown above are, in column A, the number of births registered in each year, which includes the re-registration of births under the Marriage and Civil Status (Jersey) Law 2001; and in column B, the number of children actually born in each year.
2. The table includes civil partnerships from April 2012 onwards, and conversions to marriage from 1st July 2018 onwards.
3. The figures for deaths shown above represent the number of registered deaths in Jersey.
4. The figures for marriage shown above represent the total number of marriages solemnised in Jersey.

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