The total fertility rate across England and Wales dropped to a new record low in 2023, while the number of live births fell to the lowest in nearly five decades.

The latest official data was revealed on Monday.

The fertility rates across the two nations have been in overall decline since 2010, and in 2023, the rate fell to 1.44 children per woman.

The Office for National Statistics said this is the lowest value since records began in 1938. 

The rate was down from an average of 1.49 children per woman over their lifetime in 2022 and has decreased mostly among women between 20 and 24.

Greg Ceely, head of population health monitoring at the ONS, said, “Total fertility rates declined in 2023, a trend we have seen since 2010.

“Looking in more detail at fertility rates among women of different ages, the decline in fertility rates has been the most dramatic in the 20-24 and 25-29 age groups.” 

It decreased by 79 per cent from 181.6 live births per 1,000 women of this age group in 1964 to 38.6 in 2023.

The average age of mothers remained stable at 30.9, while fathers’ average age increased slightly from 33.7 in 2022 to 33.8 last year.

The biggest drops in the overall total fertility rate were in Wales (1.46 to 1.39) and the northwest of England (1.53 to 1.46).

London (1.39 to 1.35), the North East (1.47 to 1.43) and the West Midlands (1.62 to 1.58) saw the smallest decreases.

The fertility rate was defined as the average number of live children a group of women would have if they experienced age-specific fertility rates throughout their childbearing life.

In 2023, the number of live births (591,072) in England and Wales fell to the lowest since 1977, when there were 569,259.

The data, which also covers stillbirth rates, said those fell in Wales from 4.4 per 1,000 births in 2022 to 4.0 and stayed the same in England at 3.9 stillbirths per 1,000 births.

Stillbirth rates decreased in the black, mixed or multiple, and white ethnic groups for England and Wales compared with 2022, but rates rose in the Asian and any other ethnic groups, the ONS said.

Stillbirth rates overall remained higher for Asian, black, and “any other” ethnic groups than the England and Wales overall rate, the statistics body added.

(dpa/NAN)