Vital Statistics

are those tracing the defining events in people lives that identify their status: birth, marriage, divorce, and death. For details on other statistics got to population.

The ratio of marriages to divorces had been declining in Maine through most of the 20th century beginning at a recorded high 1905 and stabilizing in the early 1970’s at a ratio of about two marriages to one divorce. It has remained close to that level for nearly forty years. The smooth red line represents a ten-year moving average of the data.

Infant deaths declined dramatically about 1915, then leveled off from about 1950 until the 1970’s when the rate began to decline again. It has remained below seven per 1,000 births since 1981.

Since statistics from 1900 through 1965 were reported only every five years, these graphs assume a smooth change in the intervening five-year periods to best represent the long-term change over the century.

Year	Me. Pop.	Live Births	Birth Rate	Deaths All Ages	All Death Rate	Infant Death Rate	NeoN Death Rate	Fetal Death Rate	Mar- riages	Divor- ces	Marrs /Divs
1900	694,466	14,095	20.3	11,389	16.4	267.5		43.6	5,482	801	6.8
1901	699,373	14,335	21	11,387	16	261		44.2	5,638	810	7.0
1902	704,280	14,575	21	11,386	16	254		44.8	5,795	820	7.1
1903	709,186	14,814	21	11,384	16	248		45.3	5,951	829	7.2
1904	714,093	15,054	21	11,383	16	241		45.9	6,108	839	7.3
1905	719,000	15,294	21.3	11,381	15.8	234.2		46.5	6,264	848	7.4
1906	723,674	15,395	21	11,593	16	237		46	6,191	861	7.2
1907	728,348	15,496	21	11,804	16	240		45	6,118	873	7.0
1908	733,023	15,596	21	12,016	16	243		44	6,046	886	6.8
1909	737,697	15,697	21	12,227	17	246		43	5,973	898	6.6
1910	742,371	15,798	21.3	12,439	16.7	249.2	30.4	42.5	5,900	911	6.5
1911	745,297	15,973	21	12,259	16	227	29	42	6,054	930	6.5
1912	748,223	16,147	22	12,080	16	204	28	42	6,209	949	6.5
1913	751,148	16,322	22	11,900	16	181	27	42	6,363	968	6.6
1914	754,074	16,496	22	11,721	16	158	26	42	6,518	987	6.6
1915	757,000	16,671	22	11,541	15.2	135.7	25.4	41.3	6,672	1,006	6.6
1916	759,203	16,836	22	11,603	15	129	29	42	6,914	1,078	6.4
1917	761,406	17,001	22	11,665	15	123	32	42	7,157	1,149	6.2
1918	763,608	17,165	22	11,726	15	116	35	42	7,399	1,221	6.1
1919	765,811	17,330	23	11,788	15	109	38	43	7,642	1,292	5.9
1920	768,014	17,495	22.7	11,850	15.3	102.8	41.2	42.8	7,884	1,364	5.8
1921	770,951	17,537	23	11,655	15	97	43	42	7,552	1,337	5.6
1922	773,888	17,579	23	11,460	15	92	45	40	7,221	1,310	5.5
1923	776,826	17,622	23	11,264	14	86	48	39	6,889	1,282	5.4
1924	779,763	17,664	23	11,069	14	81	50	38	6,558	1,255	5.2
1925	782,700	17,706	22.6	10,874	13.8	75.6	51.8	37	6,226	1,228	5.1
1926	785,645	17,405	22	10,916	14	76	50	37	6,268	1,276	4.9
1927	788,589	17,103	22	10,958	14	76	48	37	6,311	1,323	4.8
1928	791,534	16,802	21	11,000	14	75	46	36	6,353	1,371	4.6
1929	794,478	16,500	21	11,042	14	75	44	36	6,396	1,418	4.5
1930	797,423	16,199	20.3	11,084	13.9	75.4	41.5	35.9	6,438	1,466	4.4
1931	802,398	16,102	20	11,076	14	73	41	35	6,568	1,468	4.5
1932	807,374	16,005	20	11,067	14	70	40	35	6,698	1,469	4.6
1933	812,349	15,909	20	11,059	14	68	39	35	6,829	1,471	4.6
1934	817,325	15,812	19	11,050	14	65	39	34	6,959	1,472	4.7
1935	822,300	15,715	19.1	11,042	13.4	62.3	37.8	33.6	7,089	1,474	4.8
1936	827,285	15,629	19	10,962	13	60	37	32	7,366	1,487	5.0
1937	832,270	15,543	19	10,881	13	59	36	30	7,643	1,499	5.1
1938	837,256	15,457	18	10,801	13	57	36	28	7,921	1,512	5.2
1939	842,241	15,371	18	10,720	13	55	35	27	8,198	1,524	5.4
1940	847,226	15,285	18	10,640	12.6	52.9	34	24.8	8,475	1,537	5.5
1941	853,881	15,557	18	10,505	12	52	33	25	8,294	1,729	4.8
1942	860,536	15,830	18	10,370	12	50	31	25	8,113	1,921	4.2
1943	867,190	16,102	19	10,236	12	49	30	24	7,931	2,113	3.8
1944	873,845	16,375	19	10,101	12	48	28	24	7,750	2,305	3.4
1945	880,500	16,647	18.9	9,966	11.3	46.6	27	24.1	7,569	2,497	3.0
1946	887,390	17,565	20	9,965	11	44	26	23	7,779	2,430	3.2
1947	894,280	18,484	21	9,964	11	40	25	22	7,988	2,363	3.4
1948	901,170	19,402	21	9,964	11	37	24	21	8,198	2,296	3.6
1949	908,060	20,321	22	9,963	11	34	23	20	8,407	2,229	3.8
1950	914,950	21,239	23.2	9,962	10.9	31.2	22	19.4	8,617	2,162	4.0
1951	920,128	21,542	23	9,998	11	30	21	21	8,546	2,120	4.0
1952	925,306	21,845	24	10,033	11	29	20	23	8,475	2,079	4.1
1953	930,485	22,147	24	10,069	11	27	19	25	8,405	2,037	4.1
1954	935,663	22,450	24	10,104	11	26	18	27	8,334	1,996	4.2
1955	940,841	22,753	24.2	10,140	10.8	24.5	17.3	28.4	8,263	1,954	4.2
1956	946,811	22,859	24	10,262	11	25	18	26	8,182	1,968	4.2
1957	952,780	22,965	24	10,385	11	25	18	24	8,102	1,982	4.1
1958	958,750	23,070	24	10,507	11	25	18	22	8,021	1,997	4.0
1959	964,719	23,176	24	10,630	11	25	18	20	7,941	2,011	3.9
1960	970,689	23,282	24	10,752	11.1	25.2	18.6	17.7	7,860	2,025	3.9
1961	975,198	22,585	23	10,757	11	25	18	18	8,033	2,120	3.8
1962	979,708	21,888	22	10,762	11	24	18	18	8,206	2,216	3.7
1963	984,217	21,190	22	10,768	11	24	18	18	8,380	2,311	3.6
1964	988,727	20,493	21	10,773	11	23	17	18	8,553	2,407	3.6
1965	993,236	19,796	19.9	10,778	10.9	22.4	16.9	17.5	8,726	2,502	3.5
1966	994,714	18,526	18.6	10,915	11	22.6	17.1	15	8,983	2,630	3.4
1967	995,134	17,976	18.1	10,066	10.1	23.1	16.4	16.1	9,210	3,049	3.0
1968	994,632	16,866	17	11,085	11.1	21.6	15.9	16	10,179	3,088	3.3
1969	993,907	17,364	17.5	10,898	11	19.7	15.3	11.8	10,428	3,375	3.1
1970	997,357	17,837	17.9	11,066	11.1	20.9	16.1	13.8	10,975	3,841	2.9
1971	1,012,257	17,850	17.6	10,830	10.7	18.1	13.3	13.2	11,193	3,905	2.9
1972	1,025,775	16,269	15.9	11,147	10.9	17.7	12.8	12.2	11,741	4,132	2.8
1973	1,038,291	15,730	15.1	10,837	10.4	16.1	11.6	13.3	11,925	4,551	2.6
1974	1,050,181	15,110	14.4	10,705	10.2	16.1	12.6	9.9	11,546	4,850	2.4
1975	1,062,640	15,232	14.3	10,253	9.6	13.2	9	10.8	11,190	5,526	2.0
1976	1,074,653	15,046	14	10,422	9.7	11	7.6	8.3	11,302	5,522	2.0
1977	1,087,650	16,252	14.9	10,055	9.2	9.4	6.1	8.6	11,446	5,655	2.0
1978	1,101,186	15,919	14.5	10,168	9.2	10.2	6	8.9	11,658	6,164	1.9
1979	1,115,044	16,435	14.7	10,278	9.2	9.7	5.8	7.2	11,918	6,158	1.9
1980	1,125,027	16,474	14.6	10,768	9.6	9.3	5.9	7.1	12,040	6,189	1.9
1981	1,132,849	16,567	14.6	10,331	9.1	10.6	6.6	5.7	12,290	6,351	1.9
1982	1,136,199	16,695	14.7	10,451	9.2	8.7	6	6.9	12,388	5,804	2.1
1983	1,145,730	16,576	14.5	10,916	9.5	8.7	5.9	6.5	12,478	5,939	2.1
1984	1,156,485	16,631	14.4	10,826	9.4	8	4.8	6.8	12,525	5,795	2.2
1985	1,163,850	16,905	14.5	11,392	9.8	8.9	6.3	6	12,248	6,070	2.0
1986	1,172,200	16,717	14.3	11,178	9.5	8.7	5.6	5.9	11,983	5,621	2.1
1987	1,186,350	16,727	14.1	11,238	9.5	8.1	4.8	5.7	12,124	5,878	2.1
1988	1,205,900	17,166	14.2	11,482	9.5	7.9	5.1	6.3	12,553	6,041	2.1
1989	1,216,050	17,464	14.4	11,090	9.1	7	4.8	5.6	11,894	5,469	2.2
1990	1,227,928	17,314	14.1	11,023	9.0	5.9	4.4	5.2	11,914	5,164	2.3
1991	1,234,597	16,755	13.6	11,189	9.1	6.7	4.4	4.9	11,306	5,645	2.0
1992	1,236,348	16,013	13	11,045	8.9	5.6	3.6	5.3	11,305	6,257	1.8
1993	1,239,779	15,054	12.1	11,540	9.3	6.4	4.2	5	11,207	5,997	1.9
1994	1,240,280	14,396	11.6	11,596	9.3	6.1	4	3.8	10,978	5,701	1.9
1995	1,241,382	13,875	11.2	11,698	9.4	6.3	4.3	6	10,104	5,893	1.7
1996	1,243,316	13,766	11	11,695	9.4	4.4	3.3	5	10,705	5,878	1.8
1997	1,242,051	13,657	10.9	11,976	9.6	5.1	3.4	5.1	10,848	5,724	1.9
1998	1,244,250	13,723	10.9	12,067	9.6	6.1	4.2	4.4	10,624	6,229	1.7
1999	1,269,783	13,608	10.7	12,233	9.6	4.7	3.6	4.7	10,934	6,410	1.7
2000	1,274,923	13,590	10.7	12,337	9.6	4.9	3.5	4.6	11,338	6,448	1.8
2001	1,286,670	13,751	10.7	12.403	9.7	6.1	4.7	4.2	11,135	5,730	1.9
2002	1,294.46	13,549	10.5	12,670	9.8	4.3	3.1	5.5	11,094	5,944	1.9
2003	1,305,728	13,850	10.6	12,530	9.6	4.9	4	3.4	11,029	5,742	1.9
2004	1,317,253	13,929	10.6	12,441	9.4	5.7	4.2	4.4	11,270	5,691	2.0
2005	1,321,505	14,111	10.7	12,858	9.7	6.9	3.9	5	10,936	5,508	2.0
2006	1,321,574	14,152	10.7	12,268	9.3	n.a.	n.a.	5	10,289	5,608	1.8

Notes:

The fetal death rate from 1910 through 1973 was calculated based on all reported terminations of pregnancy, regardless of gestational age. In 1973, 12.0% of such terminations were for fetuses of less than 20 weeks gestation.

Since 1973, the fetal death rate has been calculated based on reported fetal deaths of gestational age 20 weeks or more.

“Rate” means “per 1,000.”

Birth rate is per 1,000 of Maine population.

NeoN Rate means Neo-natal rate, the number of deaths during the first 28 completed days of life per 1,000 live births in the same year.

Infant Death Rate is per 1,000 live births in the same year for a child under one year of age.

All data for births and deaths pertain to Maine residents only, starting in 1935. Data on marriages and divorces describe all such events which occurred in Maine.

Source: Maine Department of Human Services http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/boh/phs/odrvs/data/index.html#vital (accessed August 25, 2011)