Live births in England and Wales

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), series Number of live births, England, Wales and elsewhere (Table 1 and Table 6). Annual. The ONS now publishes a first count in May (Births in England and Wales) and final rates in late summer or autumn (Birth summary tables). The 2025 final rates were published on 8 September 2026; the bulletin gives the next release as May 2027. Quarterly provisional counts are also published. The .xlsx file name includes the year, so the link changes each year

What it measures

This figure is the number of babies born alive in England and Wales during a calendar year, counted from birth registrations. Parents must register a birth within 42 days, and the ONS includes a small number of births from the previous year that were registered too late for that year's count (576 in the 2025 dataset). Births to mothers who usually live outside England and Wales are in the national total but not in any local area figure. Stillbirths are counted separately. Scotland and Northern Ireland register births through their own registrars, so a UK total needs figures from three statistical offices.

How to read it

A fall in the number of births does not by itself show that families are having fewer children: it also depends on how many women are of childbearing age. The total fertility rate adjusts for that and is the better measure of family size. Births are counted by year of occurrence, so the annual total is final once late registrations are added; quarterly provisional counts can differ. When a claim links births to migration, the ONS also publishes births by parents' country of birth. The crude birth rate (births per 1,000 people) was 9.4 in 2025, which allows comparison between areas of different sizes.

Background

Civil registration of births in England and Wales began in 1837, and the ONS chart of live births runs from 1838. The ONS reported 585,396 live births in 2025, 1.6% fewer than the 594,677 in 2024 and the lowest number since 1977. Births fell in every English region in 2025, with the smallest fall in the North East (0.3%) and the largest in the West Midlands (3.1%). The registration tables show 657,076 births in 2018, 613,936 in 2020 and 624,828 in 2021. The most common birthday in 2025 was 28 May.

Other parts of the UK

National Records of Scotland: births time series data · NISRA: births in Northern Ireland · ONS: quarterly births in England and Wales (provisional)

How many babies were born in England and Wales in 2025?

There were 585,396 live births in England and Wales in 2025, according to the ONS. That was 1.6% fewer than in 2024, with England down 1.5% to 558,988 and Wales down 2.0% to 26,282. The ONS said it was the lowest annual number since 1977.

Is the birth rate declining in the UK?

In England and Wales both the number of births and the fertility rate fell in 2025. Births fell from 657,076 in 2018 to 585,396 in 2025, with small rises in 2021 and 2024. The total fertility rate fell to 1.39 children per woman, the lowest in the series. Scotland and Northern Ireland publish their own figures.

How many babies are born in the UK each year?

There is no single annual UK births release. Add the ONS total for England and Wales to the National Records of Scotland and NISRA totals for the same calendar year. Check that all three figures refer to the same year and to births registered or occurring, since the offices publish on different dates.

What is the birth rate per 1,000 people in England and Wales?

The ONS crude birth rate for England and Wales was 9.4 live births per 1,000 people in 2025, using mid-2025 population estimates. England's rate was 9.5. Crude rates are affected by a population's age structure, so the ONS uses fertility rates when comparing areas or years.

Are birth records public in England and Wales?

Statistics on births are public, but individual birth register entries are not published online. Certificates are ordered from the General Register Office or a local register office. The ONS statistics give counts by area, parents' ages and other characteristics without identifying anyone.

Related questions

• How many babies are born in the UK each year?
• What is the UK fertility rate?
• What is the average age of mothers in the UK?
• What are the most popular baby names in the UK?
• Why is the UK population growing?

More on this source: UK population and vital statistics (ONS, National Records of Scotland and NISRA)