Population

• The estimated population at December 31, 1954 was 1,531,931; comprising 745,731 males and 786,200 females
• The mean population for the year was 1,517,700
• The male population increased during the year by 13,994 persons and the female population by 14,907
• The male net emigration was 4,722 and female net emigration was 3,705
• An estimate of the numbers of persons in the various age groups of the population was 340,000 children aged 5-14, 74,100 (46.61% of the entire population) person under 20 years

Births

Number and Rates

• The total births registered in Jamaica was 53,630
• The birth rate per 1,000 population was 35.34
• Male births outnumbered female births by 27,076 to 26,554 there being 1,020 male births to every 1,00 female births
• The highest birth rates per 1,000 population was recorded in the parishes of St. Andrew (44.1), Clarendon (36.0), St. Elizabeth (35.7) and Westmoreland (35.6)
• The lowest birth rates per 1,000 population were recorded in St. Thomas (30.4), St. Ann (32.4), Portland and Hanover (32.8 each). In all other parishes the rates were not below 33 per 1,000 and not above 35 per 1,000

Illegitimacy

• Of the total births registered 38,412 (71.6 percent) were illegitimate
• Of the 38,412 illegitimate births 2,567 (7 percent) were registered with fathers

Births in Institution

• Of the total births registered 13,017 (24.27 percent) occurred in public or private hospitals or other institutions, while the remaining 40,613 took place in private homes. In this respect Kingston was different from other parishes, since 94.78 percent of births in Kingston took place in hospitals-the great majority (7,997) in the Victoria Jubilee Hospital and 437 in various private hospitals.

Multiple Births

• Live births registered in 1954 altogether numbered 53,630, representing 52,999 separate maternities
• 12,48 births were described as twins during the year and 17 were registered as triplets
• The living first born of multiple births came from a total of 628 separate twin maternities and 6 cases of triplets
• In the 628 separate twin maternities, males numbered 660 and females 588
• In the 628 separate twin maternities, there were 398 pairs of like sex (219 twin males: 179 twin females) and 230 pairs of unlike sex

Ages of Parents

• The average age of mothers was 26.58 years
• There were 6 mothers aged 13, 48 aged 14 and 258 aged 15
• 176 mothers claimed to have passed their 45^th and 8 to have passed their 50^th birthdays
• Of the mothers 15,018 were married with an average age of 30.54 years; the remainder were unmarried mothers and their average age was 25.01 years
• From the available data on joint age of parents it appeared that among married couples the highest number of births occurred to those where the males aged 30-34 and the females 25-29
• In the case of unmarried unions the highest number of births was found among those where the males aged 25-29 and females 20-24

Deaths

Numbers Registered and Numbers Occurring

• 16,302 deaths were registered in 1954
• The annual death rate was 10.74 per 1,000 population the was the second lowest death rate ever recorded, the lowest previous rate being 10.39 in 1953
• The highest death rates were recorded in the parishes of St. James (14.3 per 1,000 of population), Hanover (11.8) and St. Mary (11.7)
• The lowest death rates were recorded in Kingston (7.9), St. Ann (9.9) and St. Andrew (10.1)
• Of the deaths registered in 1954, 736 actual occurred in 1953 or earlier

Place of Occurrence 

4,599 deaths occurred in institutions, this being 28.2 percent of total deaths. These included 3,375 in the various hospitals of the island, 906 n Alms Houses, Poor Houses or Infirmaries, 178 in the Mental Hospital, 118 in Private Hospitals and 22 in other institutions

Infant Deaths

• Deaths of infants aged under one year numbered 3,600
• Infant mortality rate was 67.13 per 1,000 live births
• Of the total number of infant deaths, 1,228 took place below the age of one month 

Deaths at all ages

The median age of persons dying was 39.1 years for males and 43.6 years for females

Conjugal Condition

• Of the 5,060 male persons who died at ages 10 and over 2,518 were bachelors and 2,491 were or had been married, while in 51 cases no statement of conjugal condition was made
• Of the married persons who died 1,941 were husbands and 1,035 were wives 

Marriages

• The total number of marriages which took place under the Marriage Law, Chapter 237 was 7,654
• There was one marriage registered by the Protector of Immigrants under the Indian Immigrants Marriage, Divorce and Succession Law, Chapter 157
• This year was the fourth time in history of the island that the number of marriages exceeded 7,000, the first being 1907, the second 1946 and the third in 1953
• The marriage rate per 1,000 of population was 5.04. this may be compared with the average rate of 4.66 for the years 1946 to 1950
• The parishes with the greatest rates were St. Andrew (6.85 per 1,000) followed by Kingston (6.53 per 1,000)
• The parishes with the lowest rates were Trelawny (3.94), St. Elizabeth (4.04), Hanover (4.08) and St. James (4.19)
• The denomination with the highest number of marriages was Episcopalian (1,351). Next n order were the Baptist (1,289), Presbyterian (514), Roman Catholic (460), Methodist (454), Adventist (339), Congregational (241) and Moravian (213)

Ages of Persons Marrying

• Bridegrooms to the number of 69 and brides to the number of 892 were aged under 21, representing respectively 0.9 percent of bridegrooms and 11.7 percent of brides
• 1 bride was aged under 16 and 2 bridegrooms were aged 16 years
• The average age of bachelors marrying was 34.64, of widowers re-marrying 51.52 years and of divorced men re-marrying was 44.8 years. 

Occupation of Brides

Of the 7,654 brides in 1954, 3.5 percent were described as agricultural labourers, 14.7 percent as dressmakers and 45.6 percent as domestics. 21.8 percent were stated to be mot in any gainful employment

Literacy of Persons Marrying

18.11 percent of all bridegrooms and 13.27 percent of all brides signed the register by making a mark, being unable to write their names. The proportion signing by mark was highest for both males and females in St. Elizabeth while it was lowest for males in Kingston and for females in St. Andrew

Addition to Married Population

• The effect of the marriages registered in 1954 was to add 15,308 persons to the married population. However, as against the addition of 7,654 marriages, 2,976 marriages were dissolved by death, 1,035 by death of wife and 1,941 by death of husband. 325 marriages were dissolved by divorce
• Apart from changes due to movement into and out of the island there was 8,706 more married persons at the end of the year than at the beginning