The region’s circle of life

A TOTAL of 1054 babies were born in Dumfries and Galloway last year.

Of those 560 were boys and 494 were girls.

Sadly, there were also seven stillbirths, 11 perinatal deaths, six neonatal deaths and seven infant deaths recorded.

And overall in the region there were more deaths than births in 2024, sitting at 2074.

More men died than women at 1069 and 1005 respectively.

On a happier note, Dumfries and Galloway continues to be Scotland’s number one weddings hotspot, with 4748 marriages conducted locally during the year, of which 167 were same sex.

The figures were shared by the National Records of Scotland and Phillipa Haxton, head of vital events statistics for NRS, said: “These figures reflect long-term changes in our population. Scotland has had more deaths than births for over a decade. The gap has widened over time but there was a small narrowing in the most recent year due to a static birth rate and fewer deaths.”