Women in England and Wales had an average of 1.44 children between 2022 and 2023, the lowest rate on record. Only 591,072 babies were born in 2023, fewer than in any year since 1977 and a fall of more than 14,000 on the previous year, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed.
The average age of new mums and dads has increased to 33.8 for fathers and 30.9 for mothers.
Research suggests millennials, born up to the mid-1990s, are not having children because of financial pressures, not feeling ready or having not found the right partner. While the number of births fell to a record low last year, the number of women of child-bearing age was at its highest ever at 12 million. This meant the total fertility rate in 2023 was the lowest recorded since 1938.
Greg Ceely, head of population health monitoring at the ONS, said total fertility rates had been declining since 2010 but was particularly notable in some age groups. "The decline in fertility rates has been the most dramatic in the 20-24 and 25-29 age groups,” he said. For countries to maintain their populations, the fertility rate needs to be around 2.
1 children per woman. But despite a declining fertility rate in England and Wales since the 1970s, the population has continued to grow, largely because of immigration. In most countries around the world, fertility rates are falling.
In Scotland, the total fertility rate also fell to 1.3, and the number of babies born was also down to the lowest ever figure of 45,935.
