People are living longer

Population figures are released

There were 318 more deaths registered in South Lanarkshire last year than births.

New government figures showed that parents welcomed 3205 new arrivals into the world in 2017.

And the same statistics reveal that 3523 deaths happened across the area during the same period.

Anne Slater, the Acting Registrar General for Scotland, said: “With a growing and ageing population, it may be expected that the number of deaths will increase.”

South Lanarkshire had an overall population of 318,170 according to the latest information from the National Records of Scotland.

And while there were more females than males overall, more baby boys were being born.

There were 164,419 females and 153,751 males of all ages in South Lanarkshire – a difference of 10,668 between the sexes.

Of the 3205 babies that were born in South Lanarkshire, there were 1678 boys and 1527 girls.

There were 11 stillbirths in South Lanarkshire, 12 perinatal deaths, four neonatal deaths and five infant deaths during 2017.

Of the 3523 deaths that were registered, 1693 were male and 1830 were female.

National Records of Scotland also released data on the number of marriages that took place.

In South Lanarkshire, 1074 people tied the knot during 2017. That broke down into 1074 oppositesex marriages and 35 same-sex marriages. There were also two civil partnerships, both female.

Neighbouring North Lanarkshire had a population of 339,960 – that was 164,523 males and 175,437 females.

There were 3558 babies born in North Lanarkshire – 1796 boys and 1762 girls.

North Lanarkshire had 16 still births,22 perinatal deaths, nine neonatal deaths and 13 infant deaths.

And North Lanarkshire had 884 couples getting hitched during the last year – 863 involving opposite-sex couples and 21 of the same sex.

There was one female civil partnership.