There were 585,396 live births in England and Wales in 2025, and the total fertility rate was 1.39 children per woman
Live births each year, 1838 to 2025, and the total fertility rate, 1938 to 2025, England and Wales. Births; children per woman.
Latest figures
| Series | Period | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Live births | 2025 | 585,396 |
| Total fertility rate | 2025 | 1.39 |
Notes
- The total fertility rate is the average number of children a woman would have if she experienced that year's birth rate at each age throughout her childbearing years. It describes a single year, not how many children any group of women has had or will have.
- The replacement level is the total fertility rate at which a population would exactly replace itself from one generation to the next, leaving aside migration: about 2.1 children per woman where few people die young. It is above 2 because slightly more boys are born than girls and some women die before the end of their childbearing years.
- Births are counted in the year they occurred, from birth registrations, including a small number registered late from the year before. The figures include births to mothers who usually live outside England and Wales.
- Registering a birth became compulsory in 1875, so the earliest counts may miss some births.
- Fertility rates from 1938 to 1980 use population estimates rounded to the nearest hundred, so are slightly less accurate. Rates from 2012 use population estimates revised after the 2021 Census.
- Up to 2022 the figures come from the ONS's summary tables of births; later years come from each year's birth registrations dataset, which replaced them.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics, Births in England and Wales: birth registrations (Table 1 of each edition from 2023)
- Office for National Statistics, Births in England and Wales: summary tables, 2022 (Table 1; discontinued)
More on population
- 33,374 people crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats in the year to June 2026
- 40,168 people in the UK were waiting for a first decision on their asylum claim at the end of June 2026, and 16,021 people seeking asylum were living in hotels
- Life expectancy at birth in the UK was 79.1 years for males and 83.0 years for females in 2022 to 2024
- Net migration to the UK was 171,000 in the year to December 2025: 813,000 people moved to the UK and 642,000 moved away
- Life satisfaction in the UK averaged 7.45 out of 10 in 2022-23; worthwhile 7.73, happiness 7.39 and anxiety 3.23