Registration of births, deaths, stillbirths, marriage, conversion to marriage and civil partnerships: Annual Statement for 2020

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

2020

Claire Follain, Superintendent Registrar February 2021

Contents

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

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

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

1. Registered deaths ............................................................................................................ 2
2. Actual deaths ..................................................................................................................... 3
3. Explanation of Cause of Death in Registration of Death ................................... 3
4. COVID-19 related deaths .............................................................................................. 2
5. Burials and Cremations .................................................................................................. 3

3. Stillbirths ........................................................................................................... 7

4. Marriage ............................................................................................................ 8

1. Marriage in Jersey ............................................................................................................ 8
2. Conversion to marriage ................................................................................................. 9
3. Marriage of Jersey residents in other jurisdictions .............................................. 9
4. Marriage of non-Jersey residents in Jersey ............................................................ 9

5. Civil Partnership ............................................................................................... 9

6. Table of registrations – 1995 to 2020 .......................................................... 10

The Minister for Home Affairs presents the following statistics for the year 2020:

1. Births

1. Actual births

The number of actual births in Jersey in 2020 was 863 – comprising 419 females and 444 males.

This represents the number of babies born in Jersey between 1st January 2020 and 31st December 2020.

There were therefore 17 less births in Jersey in 2020 than in 2019.

This is the lowest number of actual births in Jersey since 1976.

98.6% of births in Jersey occurred in St. Helier , i.e. 851.

Table showing the number of actual births in Jersey in 2020 by month and gender

Table showing the number of actual births in Jersey in 2020 by parish

2. Registered births

The number of registered births (including re-registrations of birth) in Jersey in 2020 was 845.

This represents the number of births which were registered between 1st January 2020 and 31st December 2020.

There were therefore 79 less registrations of birth than in 2019. This is the lowest number of registered births in Jersey since 1976. COVID-19

Registration of birth continued throughout 2020 albeit with applied public health measures.

3. Baby names

The following table shows the 10 most popular baby names for girls and boys registered in Jersey between 2016 and 2020 (most popular first):

2. Deaths

1. Registered Deaths

There were 718 deaths registered in Jersey in 2020.

There were 77 less deaths registered in 2020 than in 2019.

This is the lowest number of deaths registered since 2014.

57% of deaths were registered in St. Helier .

Table showing the number of registered deaths in Jersey in 2020 by parish

2. Actual deaths

The highest number of deaths which occurred on the island occurred in the months of April and December.

Table showing the number of actual deaths which occurred in Jersey in 2020

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 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).

An example is as follows:

1a. Stroke

1b. Cerebral Haemorrhage

1c. Hypertensive Heart Disease

2. Rheumatoid Arthritis

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. COVID-19 related deaths

During the pandemic period, the Superintendent Registrar has been publicly reporting the number of registrations of deaths on a daily and weekly basis. This includes COVID- 19 related deaths.

Where COVID-19 is recorded in any section of the Cause of Death' on a death registration, the Superintendent Registrar publicly reports the death as a COVID-19 related' death statistic. This is in line with international reporting of COVID-19 deaths.

Where a person was diagnosed with (or suspected to have had) COVID-19 at the time of their death but it did not cause their death, it is not certified as a cause of death and COVID-19 does not form part of the Cause of Death on the death registration. It therefore would not be reported by the Superintendent Registrar as a COVID-19 related death statistic.

COVID-19 related registered deaths in 2020

Of the 718 deaths registered in Jersey in 2020, 44 deaths were registered with COVID- 19 recorded on the death registration.

COVID-19 related deaths where the date of death occurred in 2020

There were 57 deaths registered as COVID-19 related deaths, whose date of death occurred in 2020 i.e. where the person's actual date of death was in 2020 and COVID-19 was recorded on the death registration either in 2020 or to date in 2021.

The first death which was registered as a COVID-19 related death in Jersey occurred on 25 March 2020. The last COVID-19 related death of 2020 in Jersey occurred on 30 December 2020.

Of the 57 deaths registered as COVID-19 related deaths, whose date of death occurred in 2020, 34 were of men and 23 were of women.

56 COVID-19 related deaths which occurred in 2020 were registered with other conditions. 1 COVID-19 related death which occurred in 2020 was registered with no other conditions.

34 COVID-19 related deaths occurred in a Health & Community Services venue (i.e. 30 at the General Hospital, 3 at St Saviour's Hospital and 1 at Sandybrook Nursing Home). 21 COVID-19 related deaths occurred in Care Homes and 2 COVID-19 related deaths occurred in domestic residences.

The age range of those registered as a COVID-19 related death, whose date of death occurred in 2020 was: 50-101 years of age. The average age was 82 years of age.

Table showing the number of COVID-related deaths which occurred in 2020 in Jersey by age demographic and gender

Table showing the number of COVID-related deaths and non COVID-19 related deaths which occurred in 2020 in Jersey

5. Burial and cremation

79% of deaths registered in Jersey in 2020 resulted in cremation (73% in 2019). 21% of deaths resulted in burial (27% in 2019).

3. Stillbirths

There was 1 stillbirth in the Island in 2020 – 4 less than in 2019 and the lowest number of stillbirths registered since 2015.

4. Marriage

1. Marriage in Jersey

Total number of marriages

There were a total of 184 marriages in Jersey in 2020 – 175 less than 2019.

This number includes civil marriage, marriage in the Church of England, and all other religious denomination marriage.

This is the lowest number of marriages registered in Jersey since 1944.

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

The Superintendent Registrar authorised 146 marriages in 2020 – i.e. civil and non- Anglican religious marriages. This is 135 less than in 2019.

Civil / religious marriage statistics

There were 135 civil (i.e. non-religious) marriage ceremonies in Jersey in 2020 – 123 less than in 2019 i.e. 73% of all weddings which took place in Jersey were civil (non- religious) weddings.

53 out of 135 civil marriage ceremonies in Jersey in 2020 took place in the Register Office and Temporary Register Office.

There were 49 religious marriage ceremonies – 52 less than in 2019, i.e. 27% of all marriages in Jersey.

Of these ceremonies –

• 38 marriages were conducted in Church of England churches i.e. 21% of the total Island marriages and 40 less than in 2019
• 7 marriages were conducted in Catholic churches i.e. 4% of the total marriages and 7 less than in 2019
• The remaining 4 religious marriages occurred in other denomination churches i.e. 5 less than in 2019

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

COVID-19

Due to the pandemic, no marriages, except those authorised under emergency provisions, took place in April, May and June.

Of the 184 weddings that took place in Jersey in 2020, 149 weddings occurred between 1st July and 31st December under COVID-19 public health restrictions.

2. Conversion to marriage

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 ceremonies were solemnised in Jersey in 2020, 5 less than in 2019.

The total number of marriages solemnised in Jersey in 2020, including conversion to marriage ceremonies, was therefore 187.

3. Marriage of Jersey residents in other jurisdictions

The number of Jersey resident couples who applied to the Superintendent Registrar for to marry in jurisdictions outside the Island in 2020 was 3 i.e. 35 less than in 2019.

4. Marriage of non-Jersey residents in Jersey

The number of non-Jersey resident couples who travelled to Jersey in 2020 for the purpose of marriage by authorisation of the Superintendent Registrar was 10.

This was 37 less than in 2019 and 7% of all civil and non-Anglican marriages – a fall of 73% from 2019.

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 February and September.

5. Civil Partnership

In 2020, there was 3 civil partnerships ceremony in Jersey – 2 more than in the previous year.

6. Table of registrations – 1990 to 2020

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.