Crude Death Rate, as shown in the table below, fluctuated over the 1997 to 2004 eight-year period. It increased from 5.9 in 1997 to a high of 6.7 in 1999 and then displayed a general downward trend from that year to the rate of 5.3 in the current year.

TABLE 1e: CRUDE DEATH RATE FOR 1997 TO 2004