'Total number of births registered in Delhi during 2008 are 3.34 lakhs against 3.22 lakhs in 2007. Of the total birth registered, 166,583 (49.89 percent) were male and 167,325 (50.11 percent) were female,' it said.

'Out of total births in Delhi during 2008, only 4.55 percent were registered in rural Delhi. Of the total births, 2.45 lakhs (73.45 percent) were institutional births and among them 61.25 percent were in government hospitals,' said Walia adding that among the non-institutional births 56.59 percent were female.

Meanwhile, about 1.08 lakhs deaths were registered in Delhi in 2008 as compared to 1.01 lakhs in 2007.

'Of the total deaths registered, 62.23 percent were male and 36.77 percent were female. In 2008, about 53 percent of the total deaths were reported by the medical institutions and the remaining 47 percent were non-institutional deaths,' the statement said.

'About 16 percent of the total deaths were due to disease of pulmonary circulation and other forms of heart disease, 8.15 percent due to septicemia, 6.98 percent due to diabetics mellitus and 3.74 percent due to T.B,' it added.

'Out of total deaths registered during the year as many as 6,138 were infant deaths. The infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births was 18.38 during 2008 as against 25.44 during 2007. The maternal mortality rate per 1,000 live births was 0.20 in 2008 while it was 0.26 in 2007. The death rate per 1,000 of population worked out to 6.29 during 2008 as against 6.07 in 2007,' the statement further said.