Irish regional life tables

Abstract

There are three recognised measures of the mortality of a population, known as the crude death-rate, the standardised death-rate and the life table death-rate. Comparisons of the crude death-rate as between one people and another or one year and another, give no information, without further knowledge or further inquiry, as to whether one people is healthier than another or whether health conditions have improved over a period. The reason is that the crude death-rate is chiefly influenced by the age distribution of the people. In 1936, 45 per cent of all deaths in Éire were of persons aged 65 years and over, and infant mortality is also very high as compared with mortality at most other ages. Differences, therefore, in the birth-rate or in the proportion of old persons among the population will greatly affect the crude death-rate.