Heilbrigðisskýrslur - 01.12.1938, Page 195

Public Health in Iceland 1938. — A Summary.
í- In 1938 the climatic conditions were on the whole favourable.
I he atmospheric pressure in Ihe whole country was 3,3 mni. below
the average. 'l'he mean temperature of the air was 1,4° afaove the
:jverage. The rainfall was 21% above the average. 1938 was still a dif-
licult year for the econoniic status of the people, especially for the
iishing industry. The econoinic depression was mainly due to poor
fishing and to the embarrassed circumstances of trade in general As
a natural consequence unemployment was extensive.
2. Population, births and deaths. The population was on December
3lst 1938: 118888 including Reykjavík 37366 (1937: 117692 and
46103). The marriage rate was 5,4 (5,5), the birth ratc 19,7 (20,4) and
the death rate 10,2 (11,2) per 1000 inhabitants. Infant mortalitij was
(32,8) per 1000 born alive.
Tlie dcath rate (10,2%,) wras somewhat lower than in the preceding
year, when it was unusually low (U),8%0) and in fact the lowest death
rate on record. The infant mortality (29,2%c) also showed the lowest
figure ever registered (the lowest figure before was last year (32,8%0).
3. Causes of death are shown on pages 8—11. The ten following are the most common: %c of O/ /oo of the
Number deaths population
Old Age 184 153,1 1,6
Cancer — Malignant Growths 147 122,3 1,2
Diseases of the Heart 135 112,3 1,1
Apoplexy 125 104,0 1,1
Pneumonia (lobar and lobular) 114 94,8 1,0
Tuberculosis (all forms) 106 88,2 0,9
Accidents (all forms) 75 62,4 0,6
Diseases of the Arteries 34 28,3 0,3
Premature Birth and Debility of Newborn .. 27 22,5 0,2
Nephritis 24 20,0 0,2
Other and Unknown Causes 231 192,1 2,0
4. Epidemic diseases. The incidence of epidemic diseases is shown
in tables II, III and IV, 1—27.
The following table shows the incidence of epidemic diseases in
1929—1938 as also the aggregate number of deaths from each disease
diiring the same period.