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We are often asked what percentage of registered deaths are included in Ryerson.
The simple answer is that we don't know exactly, because there are too
many variables. But we are able to provide some interesting statistics
which can act as a guide to estimating the coverage.
The table below compares the total deaths recorded in NSW each year with
the total notices published in both Sydney daily newspapers - Sydney
Morning Herald (SMH) and Daily Telegraph (DT). We have also
identified those notices appearing in both newspapers
on the same day, to avoid double-counting in our estimates.
There is a clear declining trend in the number of notices published,
despite a gradual increase in the number of deaths occurring. We put
this trend down to two factors:
- the increasing cost of inserting a death notice. This has a two-fold
result: some deaths are now not reported at all, while others which in
the past would have been reported in more than one paper are now only
reported once. Thus, many
non-metropolitan deaths are now being recorded in country papers, and not
published in the metropolitan dailies.
- the increasing proportion of residents with ethnic origins, for whom
publication of a death notice is not a natural action, or who are more
likely to use an ethnic-language newspaper to notify of a death, rather
than the SMH.
The figures for actual death registrations from 1972 until the present were supplied, and are used,
with the permission of the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Figures for earlier years
are taken from the "Official Yearbook of the Commonwealth of Australia", published by the ABS.
To compare the Registry figures with the newspaper figures, we have divided the
yearly total for each paper by the corresponding Registry total, to give the
inclusion rates as raw percentages. We have also identified (via a sample) those cases
where the same notice was inserted in both papers on the same day. This equates to
approximately 4% of notices, and we have adjusted by this amount
when calculating the overall percentage.
Such a calculation can only give an approximation, because of factors such as:
- deaths which are the subject of more than one notice over a number of
days. A sample of our data shows about 3.5% of published deaths fall into this
category.
- deaths which occur interstate or overseas, and so do not count in the
NSW stats, but have a notice published in a NSW newspaper. A sample of our data shows about
6.5% of published deaths fall into this category.
These figures suggest that about 10% of published deaths should be excluded
when comparing the combined SMH and DT figures to those from the Registry.
We have used this figure when calculating our "best guess" for the combined percentage.
Further figures are added to the table as each years' notices are
completed, and in the case of current years, when the NSW Registry
website is updated with the previous year's totals.
YEAR |
DEATH REGS |
SMH DEATHS |
RAW SMH % |
DT DEATHS |
RAW DT % |
Est DUPLICATES
(Both papers, same day) |
COMBINED %
(our best estimate) |
1950 |
30,965 |
18,527 |
60% |
|
|
|
|
1951 |
31,932 |
18,671 |
58% |
|
|
|
|
1952 |
32,038 |
18,783 |
59% |
|
|
|
|
1953 |
31,707 |
18,716 |
59% |
|
|
|
|
1954 |
32,444 |
19,423 |
60% |
|
|
|
|
1955 |
32,553 |
19,849 |
61% |
|
|
|
|
1956 |
34,064 |
20,882 |
61% |
|
|
|
|
1957 |
33,317 |
19,933 |
60% |
|
|
|
|
1958 |
32,350 |
19,951 |
62% |
|
|
|
|
1959 |
35,249 |
21,799 |
62% |
|
|
|
|
1960 |
35,030 |
22,184 |
63% |
|
|
|
|
1961 |
35,048 |
21,970 |
63% |
|
|
|
|
1962 |
36,861 |
23,272 |
63% |
|
|
|
|
1963 |
37,226 |
23,736 |
64% |
|
|
|
|
1964 |
39,487 |
25,156 |
64% |
|
|
|
|
1965 |
38,949 |
25,423 |
65% |
|
|
|
|
1966 |
40,546 |
26,391 |
65% |
|
|
|
|
1967 |
39,613 |
25,702 |
65% |
|
|
|
|
1968 |
41,803 |
26,706 |
64% |
|
|
|
|
1969 |
40,665 |
26,099 |
64% |
|
|
|
|
1970 |
43,601 |
27,504 |
63% |
|
|
|
|
1971 |
41,691 |
26,654 |
64% |
|
|
|
|
1972 |
42,865 |
26,652 |
62% |
|
|
|
|
1973 |
44,085 |
25,186 |
57% |
|
|
|
|
1974 |
44,663 |
27,479 |
62% |
|
|
|
|
1975 |
40,484 |
24,782 |
61% |
|
|
|
|
1976 |
42,098 |
25,796 |
61% |
|
|
|
|
1977 |
40,338 |
24,337 |
60% |
|
|
|
|
1978 |
40,336 |
23,837 |
59% |
|
|
|
|
1979 |
38,790 |
22,868 |
59% |
|
|
|
|
1980 |
41,030 |
23,027 |
56% |
|
|
|
|
1981 |
39,944 |
23,092 |
58% |
1,248 |
3% |
553 |
54% |
1982 |
42,334 |
22,839 |
54% |
1,032 |
2% |
411 |
50% |
1983 |
40,302 |
21,966 |
55% |
824 |
2% |
359 |
50% |
1984 |
39,078 |
21,680 |
55% |
676 |
2% |
348 |
51% |
1985 |
44,006 |
22,667 |
52% |
910 |
2% |
361 |
47% |
1986 |
41,990 |
21,447 |
51% |
998 |
2% |
363 |
47% |
1987 |
41,964 |
21,777 |
52% |
1,083 |
3% |
374 |
48% |
1988 |
44,436 |
21,507 |
48% |
1,170 |
3% |
387 |
47% |
1989 |
44,756 |
22,217 |
50% |
1,518 |
4% |
465 |
47% |
1990 |
43,552 |
20,577 |
47% |
1,563 |
4% |
423 |
45% |
1991 |
42,304 |
19,813 |
47% |
1,343 |
3% |
364 |
44% |
1992 |
44,578 |
19,959 |
45% |
1,649 |
4% |
447 |
43% |
1993 |
43,034 |
19,345 |
45% |
1,479 |
3% |
366 |
43% |
1994 |
44,881 |
19,959 |
44% |
2,206 |
5% |
559 |
43% |
1995 |
44,710 |
18,205 |
41% |
4,068 |
9% |
812 |
43% |
1996 |
45,038 |
18,130 |
40% |
4,697 |
10% |
792 |
44% |
1997 |
45,289 |
17,619 |
39% |
5,468 |
12% |
865 |
44% |
1998 |
44,437 |
17,037 |
38% |
5,850 |
13% |
1,013 |
44% |
1999 |
43,540 |
16,551 |
38% |
5,935 |
14% |
1,149 |
44% |
2000 |
45,389 |
16,282 |
36% |
6,463 |
14% |
1,297 |
43% |
2001 |
44,960 |
15,445 |
34% |
6,662 |
15% |
1,274 |
42% |
2002 |
46,712 |
15,805 |
34% |
7,262 |
16% |
1,343 |
42% |
2003 |
46,061 |
14,955 |
32% |
7,175 |
16% |
1,188 |
41% |
2004 |
45,881 |
14,415 |
31% |
7,622 |
17% |
1,187 |
41% |
2005 |
44,803 |
13,651 |
30% |
7,390 |
16% |
1,165 |
40% |
2006 |
45,926 |
13,050 |
28% |
7,723 |
17% |
1,053 |
39% |
2007 |
47,025 |
13,576 |
29% |
7,886 |
17% |
1,026 |
39% |
2008 |
48,006 |
13,725 |
29% |
8,137 |
17% |
1,015 |
39% |
2009 |
47,314 |
12,724 |
27% |
7,634 |
16% |
868 |
37% |
2010 |
47,493 |
12,189 |
26% |
7,266 |
15% |
785 |
35% |
2011 |
49,801 |
12,413 |
25% |
7,345 |
15% |
762 |
34% |
2012 |
50,676 |
11,241 |
22% |
7,009 |
14% |
712 |
31% |
2013 |
49,912 |
10,295 |
21% |
6,183 |
12% |
558 |
28% |
2014 |
52,034 |
9,888 |
19% |
5,943 |
11% |
606 |
26% |
2015 |
52,404 |
9,230 |
18% |
5,461 |
10% |
588 |
27% |
2016 |
52,689 |
8,689 |
16% |
4,994 |
9% |
547 |
25% |
2017 |
54,691 |
8,055 |
15% |
4,617 |
8% |
506 |
22% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL
1981-2017 |
1,357,896 |
435,040 |
32% |
158,548 |
12% |
23,735 |
42% |
TOTAL
1950-2017 |
2,863,778 |
1,550,073 |
54% |
|
|
|
|
YEAR |
DEATH REGS |
SMH DEATHS |
RAW SMH % |
DT DEATHS |
RAW DT % |
Est DUPLICATES
(Both papers, same day) |
COMBINED %
(our best estimate) |
This page is owned by Ryerson Index Inc, a non-profit organisation incorporated under the laws of New South Wales, Australia.
The last update was July 18th, 2018.
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