Live births

Live births by age, sex, marital status, country of birth, socio-economic status, previous children and UK area of parent. Also includes trends in baby names.

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Birth characteristics in England and Wales: 2021

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  • In 2021, the average age of mothers who gave birth in England and Wales increased to 30.9 years, while the average age of fathers remained at 33.7 years.
  • The highest stillbirth rate in 2021 remained in women aged 40 years and over at 5.9 stillbirths per 1,000 births, followed by women aged under 20 years at 5.0 stillbirths per 1,000 births.
  • Babies from the Black ethnic group continued to have the highest stillbirth rate at 6.9 stillbirths per 1,000 births in 2021.
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Births in England and Wales: 2021

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  • There were 624,828 live births in England and Wales in 2021, an increase of 1.8% from 613,936 in 2020, but still below the 2019 figure (640,370); 2021 remains in line with the long-term trend of decreasing live births seen before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
  • The total fertility rate (TFR) increased to 1.61 children per woman in 2021 from 1.58 in 2020; the first time TFR has risen since 2012.
  • Fertility rates increased overall; however, younger age groups saw declining fertility rates while older age groups saw fertility rates increase.
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Baby names in England and Wales

Most popular first names for baby boys and girls in 2021 using birth registration data.

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Datasets related to Live births

  • Baby names for boys in England and Wales

    Rank and count of the top names for baby boys, changes in rank since the previous year and breakdown by country, region and month of birth.

  • Baby names for girls in England and Wales

    Rank and count of the top names for baby girls, changes in rank since the previous year and breakdown by country, region and month of birth.

  • Parents’ country of birth

    Annual data on live births in England and Wales by parents' country of birth.

  • Births in England and Wales: summary tables

    Live births and stillbirths annual summary statistics, by sex, age of mother, whether inside marriage or civil partnership, percentage of non-UK-born mothers, birth rates and births by mothers' area of usual residence.

  • Births by parents’ characteristics

    Annual live births in England and Wales by age of mother and father, type of registration, median interval between births, number of previous live-born children and National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC). Commentary for both publications is covered in the Birth characteristics in England and Wales: 2020 bulletin.

  • Birth characteristics

    Annual live births in England and Wales by sex, birthweight, gestational age, ethnicity and month, maternities by place of birth and with multiple births, and stillbirths by age of parents and calendar quarter.

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Publications related to Live births

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Methodology related to Live births

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