According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on 27 August, the average number of children born per woman in England and Wales dropped to 1.41 last year, marking the lowest recorded level since 1938.
This decline follows a consistent fall in birth rates since 2010, with the 2024 rate dropping from 1.42 in 2023 amid a slight overall birth increase.
Fertility rates varied regionally, with the West Midlands highest at 1.59 and south-west England lowest at 1.31, while Luton had the highest local rate of 2.00.
Just over a third of babies were born to mothers born outside the UK, especially in Luton where seven in 10 babies had foreign-born mothers, offsetting births decline among UK-born mothers.
The continued low fertility rate, below the replacement level of 2.1, implies a rising economic burden on working-age people due to a growing retired population and dependence on immigration for population growth.
