Fertility rate falls to record low in England and Wales, new data reveals

The fertility rate in England and Wales has fallen to a new record low - and four in 10 births involve at least one parent born outside the UK, new figures suggest.

The number of babies born across both nations dropped to the lowest level in almost half a century last year, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.

The average number of children in 2025 that women would expect to have across their lives was 1.39, down from 1.41 the year before.

It is well below the fertility rate needed for a population to remain stable over time, which is around 2.1.

Births where one of the parents hails from another country is on the rise, however.

In 2025, 40.2% of all children were born to at least one non-UK-born parent, climbing from 39.5% the year before.

The proportion of births where the mother was born outside the UK has been on a steady upwards trend for a number of years, rising from 20.8% in 2005 to 27.5% in 2015 and 34.6% last year.

India was the most common country of birth for non-UK-born mothers in 2025, the fourth year in a row it took the top spot.

It was followed by Pakistan, Nigeria and Romania.

Read more from Sky News:
Heatwave latest: Warning over swimming in open water
Energy bills to surge by hundreds of pounds

Greg Ceely, head of population health monitoring at the ONS, said: "In 2025 the number of babies born fell to the lowest level in almost half a century and continues the long-term trend of falling births going back over the past decade.

"More than a third of births are to mothers born outside the UK which again continues recent trends."

Last year, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson suggested people had been put off having children because of financial constraints including rising mortgage and rent repayments, fuel and food prices, as well as childcare costs.

(c) Sky News 2026: Fertility rate falls to record low in England and Wales, new data reveals