Heilbrigðisskýrslur - 01.12.1944, Qupperneq 209

Public Health in Iceland 1944. — A Summary.
1. In 1944 the climatic conditions were rather changeable except
in January and August, when they were uncommonly favourablc.
The mean temperature of the air was about 1° above the average.
The rainfall was about 10% below the average. During the summer-
months the sunshine in Reykjavik was af 17,0 hours shorter but in
Akureyri of 98,3 hours longer duration than usually. Business and
trade conditions were favourable. Unemployment was unknown, but
prices continued to be alarmingly high.
2. Population, Births and Deaths. The population was on December
31st 1944: 127791 including Reykjavik 44281 (1943: 125967 and
42815). The marriage rate was 7,8 (7,9), the birth rate 25,4 (25,6)
and the death rate 9,6 (10,1) per 1000 inhabitants. Infant mortalitg
was 38,9 (30,0) per 1000 born alive. The death rate of the year is the
lowest on record, 9,7 being the lowest registered before (1939). The
lowest infant mortality figure recorded is 28,3%,, (1938).
3. Causes of Death are shown on pages 8—14.
The ten following are the most common:
%o of Voo of the
Nuinber deaths population
Old Age 180 147,8 1,4
Cancer — Malignant Growths 178 146,1 1,4
Disease of the Heart 154 126,4 1,2
Violence (all forms) 131 107,6 1,0
Apoplexia 110 90,3 0,9
Tuberculosis (all forms) 96 78,8 0,8
Pneumonia (Lobar and Lobular) 70 57,5 0,6
Diseases of Infants 55 45,2 0,4
Sudden Deaths of Unknown Causes .... 13 10,7 0,1
Arteriosclerosis outside the Heart and Aorta 13 10,7 0,1
Other and Unknown Causes 218 178,9 1,7
. 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
1935—1944 as also the aggregate number of deaths from each disease
during the same period.