Conor Stewart
Research expert covering health & pharmaceuticals in the UK & Europe
Births in the United Kingdom (UK) - Statistics & Facts
The birth rate has decreased in the United Kingdom, as in other developed countries, over many decades. In the 1960s, the birth rate in the UK was almost 19 per 1,000 population, while in 2021 the rate was just about 10. The fertility rate, also called the average number of children born to a woman in her lifetime, was 1.53 in 2021. This was the lowest rate ever recorded in the country. Since 1990 the multiple birth rate in England and Wales has increased from 11.6 per 1,000 pregnancies to a rate of 14.4, meaning that the number of twins, triplets, or more has been growing.
The average age of mothers increasing
In England and Wales, the most common age for a mother giving birth was between 30 and 34 years. The last 30 years have seen a decrease in women having a child under the age of 24 and an increase in women over the age of 35 doing so. Since 2013, there have been more women over the age of 40 having children than the number of teenage mothers. Women waiting longer to have children reflects better accessibility to contraception and greater autonomy of their bodies. For many women, it is preferable to focus on education and careers, ensuring they are financially stable before having children. However, the rising cost of living means that many people may also be putting off having children due to the large financial burden of having them.Methods of deliveries also changing
The method of child deliveries has also changed alongside the changing demographics of mothers giving birth in the United Kingdom. The rate of spontaneous labors in England has decreased from almost 69 percent in 2005 to 43 percent in 2023, while in the same period the number of cesarean sections has gone up, from 10.7 percent to 23 percent. In 2023, spontaneous deliveries in Scotland accounted for 49 percent of births at NHS hospitals. Older mothers in the UK are much more likely to deliver via cesarean section, while the majority of births among mothers younger than 24 years of age were spontaneous vertex deliveries.
