How many babies are born in the UK each year?

About 650,000 babies are born in the UK each year. The ONS estimates 652,400 births in the year to mid-2025, the lowest number for at least 43 years, in its mid-year population estimates published on 1 October 2026.

Each nation counts its own registrations. There were 585,396 live births in England and Wales in calendar year 2025, the lowest since 1977 (ONS). National Records of Scotland recorded 45,067 births in 2025, the lowest since records began in 1855, and NISRA recorded 19,416 births registered in Northern Ireland in 2024.

Check whether a figure counts births by year of occurrence or registration, and calendar year or the year to mid-year. Fewer births does not always mean a lower birth rate, because the number of women of childbearing age also changes. See the fertility rate.

Official sources: ONS: Births in England and Wales (latest) · NRS: vital events in Scotland, 2025 · NISRA: births

The latest figure

The newest value is at Office for National Statistics (ONS). More on it: Live births in England and Wales.

When is the next figure out?

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

Every official release due in the next two weeks is on the release calendar.

Terms used in this answer

• Crude rate
  A rate calculated by dividing events by the whole population, with no adjustment for differences in age structure between places or over time.
• Calendar year
  January to December. Used for GDP annual totals, registered deaths and many international comparisons, unlike the April to March financial year.
• England and Wales
  A single legal jurisdiction, so crime, courts, prisons and death registration statistics are often published for England and Wales together.
• Administrative data
  Information collected by organisations while running a service, such as tax records, benefit claims or hospital activity, and then used to produce statistics.
• Provisional figures
  Early estimates published before all data are in, so users get timely figures. They are expected to be updated when later data arrive.

Where the figures come from

• UK population and vital statistics (ONS, National Records of Scotland and NISRA)
  Where to find official UK figures on births, fertility, baby names, marriage, divorce, households, population estimates, projections and the census.

Related questions

• What is the UK fertility rate?
• Why is the UK population growing?
• How many people die in the UK each year?

This answer says where the official figures are published and how they are defined. It gives no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request. More questions about population, births and families: all Population, births and families questions.