Live births in England and Wales by age 2021

In 2021, there were 216,738 live births to mothers aged between 30 and 34 years old in England and Wales, making it the most common age group for live births in that year. Between 1973 and 2000, the most common age for mother giving birth was 25 to 29, and between 1961 and 1972 it was 20 to 24, indicating a gradual trend of mothers giving birth later in life.

Number of live births in England and Wales from 1938 to 2021, by age group of mother

Age of mother	Under 20	20-24	25-29	30-34	35-39	40-44	45 and over
1938	25,410	146,675	199,931	145,353	77,276	24,474	2,085
1939	28,788	139,504	199,877	143,510	77,179	23,474	2,147
1940	26,270	142,100	191,027	133,335	72,375	23,032	1,981
1941	24,499	147,563	180,475	127,268	73,028	24,297	1,961
1942	24,031	165,269	200,524	149,874	83,240	26,516	2,049
1943	24,262	176,262	195,762	163,937	93,421	28,565	2,125
1944	24,725	193,473	201,886	187,041	110,475	31,797	2,081
1945	25,437	174,869	182,212	163,501	101,089	30,656	2,173
1946	24,816	195,225	248,121	202,752	116,021	31,653	2,131
1947	27,747	227,598	281,454	195,181	114,350	32,473	2,223
1948	30,454	210,120	249,889	156,083	97,434	29,275	2,051
1949	31,850	200,945	245,253	137,128	87,631	25,866	1,845
1950	30,847	190,644	228,968	137,581	83,040	24,282	1,735
1951	29,111	187,514	219,064	140,231	77,167	22,855	1,587
1952	29,148	189,342	214,402	144,569	72,422	22,256	1,596
1953	30,417	194,765	216,697	150,639	68,468	21,894	1,492
1954	31,709	193,627	211,567	149,162	64,334	21,845	1,407
1955	32,947	192,555	212,187	141,542	66,410	20,823	1,347
1956	37,938	203,893	222,720	142,976	70,998	20,486	1,324
1957	41,228	211,654	230,565	143,736	75,147	19,712	1,339
1958	43,831	221,938	234,046	144,266	76,916	18,388	1,330
1959	46,067	229,064	233,579	143,475	77,261	17,737	1,318
1960	51,645	240,128	242,939	150,663	77,603	20,621	1,406
1961	59,786	249,829	248,540	152,286	77,516	21,916	1,408
1962	67,334	260,882	256,386	153,985	76,219	22,615	1,315
1963	71,640	267,559	263,241	153,696	74,401	22,312	1,206
1964	76,734	276,103	270,700	153,513	75,371	22,313	1,238
1965	81,611	278,874	263,395	144,638	72,022	20,820	1,365
1966	86,746	285,808	253,743	136,406	67,036	18,714	1,370
1967	84,542	291,656	243,802	130,279	63,085	17,522	1,278
1968	82,075	295,946	240,807	125,316	58,083	15,904	1,141
1969	81,659	289,012	238,381	120,395	52,843	14,238	1,010
1970	80,975	289,209	238,228	114,086	48,323	12,756	909
1971	82,641	285,703	247,239	109,616	45,224	11,915	817
1972	79,087	249,109	247,676	98,739	39,821	10,313	695
1973	73,270	223,675	243,753	91,800	34,178	8,649	628
1974	68,724	208,084	235,593	89,132	30,308	7,496	548
1975	63,507	190,198	225,990	88,379	28,147	6,653	571
1976	57,943	182,210	220,712	90,791	26,117	5,999	498
1977	54,477	174,544	207,916	100,807	25,527	5,534	454
1978	55,984	182,580	210,598	113,077	27,937	5,719	523
1979	59,143	193,209	222,102	125,664	31,394	5,978	538
1980	60,754	201,541	223,438	129,908	33,893	6,075	625
1981	56,570	194,500	215,760	126,590	34,210	6,170	690
1982	55,435	192,322	211,905	120,758	38,992	5,886	633
1983	54,059	191,852	214,078	120,996	41,277	6,210	662
1984	54,508	191,455	218,031	122,774	42,921	6,576	553
1985	56,929	193,958	227,486	126,185	44,393	6,882	584
1986	57,406	192,064	229,035	129,487	45,465	7,033	528
1987	57,545	193,232	238,929	136,558	46,604	8,112	531
1988	58,741	193,726	243,460	140,974	47,649	8,520	507
1989	55,543	185,239	242,822	145,320	49,465	8,845	491
1990	55,541	180,136	252,577	156,264	51,905	9,220	497
1991	52,396	173,356	248,727	161,259	53,644	9,316	519
1992	47,861	163,311	244,798	166,839	56,650	9,696	501
1993	45,121	151,975	235,961	171,061	58,824	9,986	539
1994	42,026	140,240	229,102	179,568	63,061	10,241	488
1995	41,938	130,744	217,418	181,202	65,517	10,779	540
1996	44,667	125,732	211,103	186,377	69,503	11,516	587
1997	46,372	118,589	202,792	187,528	74,900	12,332	582
1998	48,285	113,537	193,144	188,499	78,881	12,980	575
1999	48,375	110,722	181,931	185,311	81,281	13,617	635
2000	45,846	107,741	170,701	180,113	84,974	14,403	663
2001	44,189	108,844	159,926	178,920	86,495	15,499	761
2002	43,467	110,959	153,379	180,532	90,449	16,441	895
2003	44,236	116,622	156,931	187,214	97,386	18,205	875
2004	45,094	121,072	159,984	190,550	102,228	19,884	909
2005	44,830	122,145	164,348	188,153	104,113	21,155	1,091
2006	45,509	127,828	172,642	189,407	110,509	22,512	1,194
2007	44,805	130,784	182,570	191,124	115,380	24,041	1,309
2008	44,691	135,971	192,960	192,450	116,220	24,991	1,428
2009	43,243	136,012	194,129	191,600	114,288	25,357	1,619
2010	40,591	137,312	199,233	202,457	115,841	25,973	1,758
2011	36,435	134,946	200,587	207,151	115,444	27,518	1,832
2012	33,815	132,456	202,370	216,242	114,797	28,019	1,975
2013	29,136	119,719	196,693	212,306	111,500	27,148	2,010
2014	25,977	112,615	196,818	215,642	115,171	27,021	1,989
2015	23,948	108,111	198,183	217,755	120,614	27,065	2,176
2016	22,465	102,607	196,132	220,129	125,205	27,447	2,286
2017	20,358	97,506	190,028	216,787	125,114	26,956	2,357
2018	18,976	91,095	180,858	212,707	124,567	26,499	2,366
2019	17,720	86,756	173,944	209,905	122,409	27,228	2,390
2020	15,940	79,626	164,765	205,675	118,426	27,073	2,339
2021	13,738	75,602	163,223	216,738	124,942	28,478	2,064