The city’s birth rate is up for the first time in nearly two decades, just as the death rate has reached an all-time low.

The city’s most recent release of data shows that 125,506 babies were born in 2006, up from 122,725 in 2005. On the other spectrum of the life cycle, 55,391 New Yorkers died in 2006, down from 57,068 the year before.

Other information from the city’s Annual Summary of Vital Statistics, published this week, reflects a year’s worth of marriages, illnesses, and life cycle events among more than 8 million New York City residents:

• Overall, life expectancy for New Yorkers increased to 78.7 years, up from 78.6. For females born in 2006, expectancy increased to 81.3 years, up 2.5 months from 2004. The life expectancy of males born in 2006 was 75.7, the same as the year before.

• Just as the city’s death rate dropped to an all-time low, the majority of deaths that were reported occurred in March, when 4,972 individuals died. That month, the city logged an average of 160 deaths a day.

• Smoking-related deaths declined, following aggressive anti-smoking campaigns on the part of the city. In 2006, 7,744 individuals died from smoking-related illnesses, down from 8,722 in 2002.

• There were 90,157 abortions in 2006, up from 88,891 the year before. The majority of women who terminated pregnancies were unmarried and between the ages of 20 and 24.

• Pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, made a slight comeback, with 112 cases in 2006. There were 40 cases in 2005, and five cases in 2002. By contrast, there were 5,775 cases in 1940.

• Heat-related deaths increased to 49 in 2006, up from six the year before.

• There were 65,619 marriages on record in 2006. The majority of couples wed in June, when 6,220 weddings took place. That month, there was an average of 207 weddings a day in New York City.