"Figure 2: The proportion of live births in the 20% most deprived areas in England decreased in 2018","" "Percentage of live births by Index of Multiple Deprivation, England, 2014 to 2018","" "","" "Notes","1. Deprivation is measured using the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). There are different measures for England and Wales, which are not comparable. 2. Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) deciles range from 1 to 10, with 1 being the most deprived and 10 being the least deprived. 3. For the years 2014 to 2017, the [English indices of deprivation 2015](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2015) have been used, whilst the [English indices of deprivation 2019](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019) have been used for 2018. These are very similar but not strictly directly comparable. 4. Figures are based on mothers’ usual area of residence, based on boundaries as of May 2019." "Unit","%" "","" "","Most deprived decile","2nd most deprived decile","2nd least deprived decile","Least deprived decile" "2014","14.1","12.9","7.8","7.0" "2015","13.9","12.9","7.8","7.0" "2016","14.0","12.9","7.8","6.9" "2017","14.0","12.8","7.8","6.9" "2018","13.6","12.3","8.0","7.1"