4.6 Quality of first population statistics high

The contents of the first population statistics still meet the information needs of even demanding demographers of today.

The information on population number was collected by gender, age, marital status and occupation (at first social class). From the start the age classification used was five-year age groups and those aged 0 were in a separate group.

The information on population changes was gathered into groups according to gender and month of the event. The information concerned births, deaths and marriages contracted. However, up till 1773 this information was collected on baptisms and burials as was stated in the tables until that time.

At first the number of burials in the statistics consisted only of those buried in the churchyard and the information was collected by five-year age group. Children dead before the age of one year made up a separate group. Thus it became easier to examine infant deaths. The information on deaths was also available by marital status and cause of death. The nomenclature of diseases, representing the medical knowledge of the day, caused problems for many of the clergymen filling in the forms.

The information was collected monthly on marriages contracted and marriages ending in death.