The crude birth
rate is the number of live births per 1,000 people in the population per
year. This rate can be influenced by the
age structure of the population; for example, a population with proportionally
more women of child-bearing age might have a correspondingly higher crude birth
rate.
Crude birth
rate is an important public health indicator because it is associated
with the socioeconomic status of the region. Countries with higher birth rates
are typically of lower socioeconomic status when compared to countries with fewer
births.
In Canada, there were 388,729 births in
2015, with the crude rate being 10.9 per 1,0001.
In the NWHU
area, crude birth rates have remained relatively stable over the past decade,
and have been slightly higher than the provincial rate. In 2015 there were 917 live births in the
area, which equals a crude birth rate of 11.3 per 1,000.
Figure 1: Crude birth rate, 2005-2015
Source: Inpatient Discharges 2005-2015, IntelliHEALTH
Ontario, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Date Extracted: January
15, 2016
Of the larger municipalities in the NWHU area, Sioux Lookout has had the
highest crude birth rates. Overall,
between 2005 and 2015 the crude birth rate in Sioux Lookout was 15.3 per 1,000
people per year. Atikokan had the lowest
rate during the same time period, at 7.5 per 1,000 per year, just under half as
high as the rate in Sioux Lookout.
Figure 2: Crude birth rates in the NWHU by municipality,2005-2015
Source: Inpatient Discharges 2005-2015, IntelliHEALTH
Ontario, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Date Extracted: January
15, 2016
References
1 Statistics Canada.
(2015). Birth estimates by provinces and
territories. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/demo04a-eng.htm