The percentage of intercommu-nity marriages in 2022 rose to 47.5 from 46% in the preceding year. Of the total 160 marriages 84 were Parsi marriages and 76 intercommunity marriages. Of those who had married out in 2022, the males numbered 46 or 61% as compared to 30 females. Last year of the total 153 marriages, 83 were Parsi and 70 intercommunity, and males accounted for 59% of the interfaith component.
Even though the oldest woman to get married was 90 years old, the average age of brides reduced from 31 years in 2021 to 30 years in 2022. The youngest to wed in 2022 was 20 years old. Among the males in 2022, the oldest was 72 and the youngest groom 23; the average age of marriage was 32 years. In the preceding year, 2021, the oldest was 75 and the youngest 22, with an average age of 33.
December 2022 saw the maximum number of community marriages, 22, followed by 18 in February and 15 in January. The maximum number of interfaith marriages, 20, took place in February. October and December had the second highest count of seven interfaith marriages each. In August there were no Parsi to Parsi marriages but, interfaith marriages continued throughout the year.

The total number of deaths in 2022 was 739, lower by 59 when compared to the year before. In 2021 there were 798 deaths with 638 consigned to dakhmas and 160 cremated. Last year the number of those consigned to the dakhmas was 631, seven less than in 2021. The count of those cremated was 108, a reduction of 52. This may be because the number of those succumbing to Covid reduced from 80 in 2021 to 23 in 2022. In 2021 cremation or burial was mandatory for Covid afflicted deaths. The percentage of those being cremated thereby reduced to 15% as versus 20% in 2021. There were 316 males and 315 females consigned to the dakhmas last year as compared to 309 males and 329 females in the previous year. Of those cremated the number of males reduced from 89 to 53 and of females from 71 to 55.
The average age at death continued to be 81 years, the same as in the preceding year. The oldest to die were one male and one female, both aged 103, the youngest being an 18-year-old girl. Among the deceased were four centenarians and 192 nonagenarians (in their 90s). While 21% of the deceased in 2021 were over 90 years of age, in 2022 it had risen to 27%.
Parsi birth figures compiled by the Bombay Municipal Corporation are reportedly given to The Chief Registrar of Births and Deaths and the Director General of Health Services, Maharashtra. Parsiana had been unable to access the data from either. A letter from the Office of the Registrar General, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India states while the figures of births are available on their website,
http://crsorgi.gov.in, no breakdown of religions is provided.
As per the data on births available with Parsiana, there were 54 babies born in 2022, 27 boys and 32 girls. The previous year 35 boys and 39 girls were born. We continue to be primarily dependent on the Breach Candy Hospital for data on births along with a few families who write in to us directly with documentary proof.
The data on those consigned to Doongerwadi is provided by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet and on those cremated by the Worli Prayer Hall Trust. There are around 15 crematoria in Bombay but Parsiana is not in a position to logistically obtain data from them all.
Given below are the 2022 demographic details on the Zoroastrian community residing in Bombay, based on information available with Parsiana.
Births (limited information; only those listed in Parsiana): 59
Boys: 27 Girls: 32
Marriages: 160
Parsi: 84 Intercommunity: 76
Males married out: 46
Females married out: 30
Deaths: 739
Consigned to dakhmas: 631
Males: 316 Females: 315
Cremated: 108
Males: 53 Females: 55