Liozno district is the leader in the Vitebsk region in terms of birth rate in 2009

January 28, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. In the Vitebsk region, 12.7 thousand children were born in 2009, which is 3.3% more than in 2008, the Committee for Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee informed a BELTA correspondent. The undisputed leader in birth rate growth was the Liozno district, where 200 babies were born in 2009, or 132.5% compared to January-December of the previous year. Among the record holders were also Beshenkovichi (112.2%, 166 babies, respectively), Verkhnedvinsk (118.8%, 265), Gorodok (112.3%, 274) and Shumilino (124.4%, 270) districts. Among the cities, the best birth rate indicator was recorded in Orsha (104.2%). At the same time, an unfavorable demographic situation developed in Novopolotsk, where 898 children were born last year, or 91.9% compared to the 2008 level. To rectify the situation, local authorities have already decided to award women in Novopolotsk for giving birth. Each woman who gives birth to a child in 2010 will receive an additional Br100 thousand in addition to the due payments. A low birth rate was also recorded in Vitebsk (89.4%, 396), Braslavsky (96.8%, 268), Glubokoe (92.1%, 375) and Sharkovshchina (93.8%, 152) districts. Among the positive trends of the past year, committee employees noted an increase in the number of marriages (9.8 thousand, or 102% compared to the 2008 level) and a decrease in the number of divorces (4.6 thousand, or 96.6%, respectively). At the same time, the wedding march sounded most often in the Beshenkovichi, Glubokoe, Miory, Orsha, Polotsk, Rossony, Senno, Tolochin and Ushachi districts. Less often than in 2008, residents of Vitebsk, Novopolotsk, Braslavsky, Lepel, Postavy, Chashniki and Sharkovshchina districts exchanged wedding rings. The number of deaths last year amounted to over 20 thousand residents, or 101.3% compared to the previous year. -0-