In the United Kingdom, the crude birth rate in 1800 was 37 live births per thousand people, meaning that 3.7 percent of the population had been born in that year. From 1800 until 1830, the crude birth rate jumped between 35 and 45, before plateauing between 35 and 37 until the 1880s. From 1880 until the Second World War, the crude birth rate dropped to just under fifteen births per one thousand people, with the only increase coming directly after World War One. After WWII, the United Kingdom experienced a baby boom, as many soldiers returned home and the economy recovered, however this boom stopped in the late 1960s and the crude birth rate went into decline again. From the late 1970s until today, the crude birth rate has remained between eleven and fourteen, and is expected to be 11.5 in 2020.

In 2021 the live birth rate of the United Kingdom fell to 10.4 births per 1,000 population, the lowest it had been during this time period. The UK's birth rate has been declining steadily since 2010 when the birth rate was 12.9 births per 1,000 population. After 1938, the year with the highest birth rate in the UK was 1947, when the crude birth rate was 21.2 births per 1,000 population. Under two children per mother in 2021 The most recent crude live birth rate for this statistic is based on the 694,685 births, that occurred in 2021 as well as the mid-year population estimate of 67 million for the United Kingdom. It has a close relation to the fertility rate which estimates the average number of children women are expected to have in their lifetime, which was 1.53 in this reporting year. Among the constituent countries of the UK, Northern Ireland had the highest birth rate at 11.6, followed by England at 10.5, Wales at 9.3, and Scotland at 8.7. International comparisons The UK is not alone in seeing its birth and fertility rates decline dramatically in recent decades. Across the globe, fertility rates have fallen noticeably since the 1960s, with the fertility rate for Asia, Europe, and the Americas being below two in 2021. As of this year, the global fertility rate was 2.31, and was by far the highest in Africa, which had a fertility rate of 4.12, although this too has fallen from a high of 6.72 in the late 1960s. A reduction in infant mortality, as well as better access to contraception, are factors that have typically influenced declining fertility rates recently.

United Kingdom UK: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data was reported at 11.800 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 11.900 Ratio for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 12.900 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 18.800 Ratio in 1964 and a record low of 11.300 Ratio in 2002. United Kingdom UK: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

The fertility rate of a country is the average number of children that women from that country would have throughout their reproductive years. In the United Kingdom in 1800, the average woman of childbearing age would have five children over the course of their lifetime. Over the next 35 years the fertility rate was quite sporadic, rising to over 5.5 in the 1810s and 1820s, then dropping to 4.9 by 1835. This was during and after the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 with the US, which was a time of increased industrialization, economic depression and high unemployment after the war. As things became more stable, and the 'Pax Britannica' (a period of relative, international peace and economic prosperity for the British Empire) came into full effect, the fertility rate plateaued until 1880, before dropping gradually until the First World War. The fertility rate then jumped from 2.6 to 3.1 children per woman between 1915 and 1920, as many men returned from the war. It then resumed it's previous trajectory in the interwar years, before increasing yet again after the war (albeit, for a much longer time than after WWI), in what is known as the 'Baby Boom'. Like the US, the Baby Boom lasted until around 1980, where it then fell to 1.7 children per woman, and it has remained around this number (between 1.66 and 1.87) since then.

Annual UK and constituent country figures for births, deaths, marriages, divorces, civil partnerships and civil partnership dissolutions.

Annual data on birth registrations. The tables contain summary data for live births for local authorities and health areas including figures by age of mother.

Source agency: Office for National Statistics

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Births by area of usual residence of mother, England and Wales

The crude birth rate in the United Kingdom saw no significant changes in 2022 in comparison to the previous year 2021 and remained at around ten live births per 1,000 inhabitants. Yet 2022 saw the lowest rate in the United Kingdom with ten live births per 1,000 inhabitants. The crude birth rate is the annual number of live births divided by the total population, expressed per 1,000 people.Find more statistics on other topics about the United Kingdom with key insights such as total life expectancy at birth, infant mortality rate, and total fertility rate.

United Kingdom UK: Adolescent Fertility Rate: Births per 1000 Women Aged 15-19 data was reported at 13.547 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 14.596 Ratio for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Adolescent Fertility Rate: Births per 1000 Women Aged 15-19 data is updated yearly, averaging 30.317 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 88.785 Ratio in 1962 and a record low of 13.547 Ratio in 2016. United Kingdom UK: Adolescent Fertility Rate: Births per 1000 Women Aged 15-19 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Health Statistics. Adolescent fertility rate is the number of births per 1,000 women ages 15-19.; ; United Nations Population Division, World Population Prospects.; Weighted average;

Annual live births in England and Wales by age of mother and father, type of registration, median interval between births, number of previous live-born children and National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC).

Live births by usual residence of mother, and General Fertility Rates (GFR), and Deaths and Standardised Mortality Ratio (SMR) by ward and local authority.

The births and deaths data comes from ONS Vital Statistics Table 4.
Small area data is only available directly from ONS under licence.

The general fertility rate (GFR) is the number of live births per 1,000 women aged 15-44.

SMR measures whether the population of an area has a higher or lower number of deaths than expected based on the age profile of the population (more deaths are expected in older populations). The SMR is defined as follows: SMR = (Observed no. of deaths per year)/(Expected no. of deaths per year).

Rates are provisional, they are based on the GLA 2011 based SHLAA ward projections (standard) released in January 2012. At national level, however, they are based on the mid-year population estimates.

More information is on the ONS website.

There were 694,685 live births recorded in the United Kingdom in 2021, compared with 681,560 in the previous year. Between 1887 and 2021 the year with the highest number of live births was 1920 when there were approximately 1.13 million births, while the year with the fewest births was 1977, when there were just 657,038 births. Birth rate at a historic low in 2020 At 10.2 births per 1,000 people, the birth rate of the United Kingdom in 2020 was at a historic low. After witnessing a twenty-first century high of 12.9 in 2010, the birth rate gradually declined before a sharp decrease was recorded between 2012 and 2013. Although there was a slight uptick in the birth rate in 2021, when there were 10.4 births per 1,000 people, the total fertility rate reached a low of 1.53 births per woman in the same year. As well as falling birth and fertility rates, the average age of mothers has been increasing. In 1991, the average age of mothers at childbirth was 27.7 years, compared with 30.9 years in 2021. UK population reaches 67 million In 2022, the overall population of the United Kingdom was almost 67.6 million people. Of the four countries that comprise the UK, England has by far the highest population, at 57.1 million, compared with 5.45 million in Scotland, 3.13 million in Wales, and 1.91 million in Northern Ireland. These countries are far less densely populated than England, especially when compared to London, which had approximately 5,630 people per square kilometer, compared with just 70 in Scotland. After London, North West England was the second-most densely populated area of the UK, which includes the large metropolitan areas of the cities of Manchester, and Liverpool

United Kingdom UK: Fertility Rate: Total: Births per Woman data was reported at 1.800 Ratio in 2016. This stayed constant from the previous number of 1.800 Ratio for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Fertility Rate: Total: Births per Woman data is updated yearly, averaging 1.820 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.930 Ratio in 1964 and a record low of 1.630 Ratio in 2002. United Kingdom UK: Fertility Rate: Total: Births per Woman data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.World Bank: Health Statistics. Total fertility rate represents the number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years and bear children in accordance with age-specific fertility rates of the specified year.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average; Relevance to gender indicator: it can indicate the status of women within households and a woman’s decision about the number and spacing of children.

Note: (10/12/2010) The Health and Social Care Information Centre initially published the Provider Level Analysis spreadsheet on 18/11/2010. Due to the suppression of small numbers it wasn't possible to calculate method of onset or delivery rates for all providers. Additional information has been added to tables C and D of the Provider Level Analysis allowing estimated rates to be presented. Maternity data The publication includes details of all deliveries taking place in NHS hospitals (in England) excluding home births and those taking place in independent sector hospitals. This includes a wide range of information such as details of how the baby was born (method of delivery), complications, birth weight and gestation. Data for 2009-10 A number of revisions have been made to the size and the presentation of the 2009-10 NHS Maternity Statistics publication. These revisions are intended to bring the publication in line with the National Statistics code of practice and highlight data quality issues to stimulate improvement in the quality of HES maternity data submitted by NHS organisations. For further details on the changes to the table numbers and locations see Appendix A of the maternity explanatory notes. The 2009-10 NHS Maternity Statistics publication will include two downloadable excel files; NHS Maternity Statistics, 2009-10 33 tables and 3 graphs are now available in one excel workbook which includes data on the following; Place of delivery Person conducting delivery Anaesthetics Method of onset and method of delivery Episiotomy Antenatal/postnatal stay Complications Gestation Birth weight Miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy Provider level analysis, 2009-10 The purpose of the provider level analysis is to contribute to the improvement of both the quality and coverage of maternity data submitted to HES. It is hoped this will stimulate discussion and ultimately contribute to enhancements in patient care. The provider level analysis provides information at National, strategic health authority, hospital provider and site level (where submitted) relating to: Gestation period in weeks at first antenatal assessment date Gestation length at delivery Method of onset of labour Method of delivery Person conducting delivery Place of delivery Selected maternity statistics Spontaneous deliveries with episiotomy Caesarean with postnatal stay 0-3 days Total caesarean with anaesthetics Unassisted deliveries Please note that an additional data quality note relating to gestation length at delivery was added on 08/01/2014.

Statistics on live and still births occurring annually in England and Wales. Statistics for births in previous years are included to show trends in fertility. It also covers birth counts and birth rates tabulated by, among other attributes, parents' age, occurrence within or outside marriage, multiple births, mother's area of residence and country of birth, place of confinement, and father's social class (defined by occupation).

Source agency: Office for National Statistics

Designation: National Statistics

Language: English

Alternative title: Birth statistics, England and Wales (Series FM1)

Population figures over a 25-year period, including births, deaths and migration by sex for regions and local authorities in England. 2018-based estimates are the latest principal projection.

Among nations of the UK, Northern Ireland had the highest number of live births per 1,000 in 2021, at 11.6, followed by England at 10.5, Wales at 9.3, and Scotland at 8.7. The crude birth has fallen for all nations of the UK when compared with 1971, while Northern Ireland has consistently had the highest number of live births per 1,000 people. Long-term birth trends After reaching a postwar peak of 18.8 births per 1,000 people, the UK's crude birth rate has declined considerably, falling to a low of just 11 births per 1,000 people in 2020. In that year, there were just 681,560 live births, compared with over one million in 1964. Additionally, the average age of mothers in the UK has been steadily increasing since the mid-1970s. In 1975, for example, the average age at which mothers gave birth was 26.4 years, compared with 30.9 in 2021. Millennials overtake Boomers as largest generation Due to the large number of births that happened in the years following the Second World War, the generation born during this time were called Baby Boomers, and until 2020 were the largest generation in the UK. Since that year, the Millennial generation, born between 1981 and 1996 have been the largest generational cohort. In 2022, there were approximately 14.48 million Millennials, 14.14 million Generation X members (born between 1965 and 1980) and around 13.8 million Baby Boomers. Generation Z, the generation immediately after Millennials, numbered approximately 12.9 million in 2022.