Birth rates in England and Wales have fallen to a record low for the third time in three years. In 2024, the total fertility rate across both nations, defined as the average number of live children women would expect to have across their childbearing life, stood at 1.41 – down from 1.42 in 2023, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). For a country’s population to remain stable over time the total fertility rate needs to be around 2.1.
The figures come just a day after Scotland’s total fertility rate was also confirmed to have dropped to a new record low, falling from 1.27 in 2023 to 1.25 in 2024. The fall in the rate comes despite the number of births in England and Wales increasing slightly last year from 591,072 to 594,677.
However, this was offset by a jump in the size of the overall population, meaning fertility rates fell overall.
While most regions saw a drop in the total fertility rate, only two locations saw an increase – London and the West Midlands.
At a local level, Luton in Bedfordshire had the highest total fertility rate in 2024 (2.00 children per woman), followed by Barking & Dagenham in London (1.99), Slough in Berkshire (1.96) and Sandwell in the West Midlands (1.91).
The City of London had the lowest rate (0.32), followed by Cambridge (0.95), Brighton & Hove in East Sussex (0.97) and Islington in London (0.99).
Newport had the highest local rate in Wales (1.64) while Cardiff had the lowest (1.19).
Greg Ceely, ONS head of population health monitoring, said: “Fertility rates in England and Wales have been in overall decline since 2010.
“The total number of births increased last year, for the first time since 2021, but this was offset by population growth.
“As a result, fertility rates fell overall, and are now at the lowest rates on record.”
The ONS figures show that the West Midlands had the highest regional fertility rate in 2024, at 1.59, while south-west England had the lowest (1.31).