Births in England and Wales continued to decline last year while the share of babies born to migrant parents reached a new record high, according to official statistics released by the Office for National Statistics.
The data show that 40.2 percent of babies born in 2025 had at least one parent born outside the UK, rising slightly from 39.5 percent in 2024. The share stood at 30.1 percent in 2008. In total, 585,396 babies were born last year, meaning more than 235,000 births involved at least one migrant parent. Overall, births fell 1.6 percent from 594,677 the previous year.
The largest group of foreign-born mothers was from India, accounting for 27,601 births in England and Wales in 2025. Other major countries of origin included Pakistan with more than 22,000 mothers, Nigeria with about 15,500, and Romania with roughly 10,600. Bangladesh, Poland, Ghana, and Afghanistan were also listed among the leading countries.
India has also been a major source of immigration to the UK in recent years, including during what has been described as the “Boriswave,” with around 300,000 arrivals in 2023 at its peak. Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Ghana have also contributed significant migration flows in recent years.
The overall number of births last year marked the lowest total since 1977, a period marked by economic strain, and is comparable in scale to levels last seen during parts of the Second World War, though the population has since increased significantly.
At the same time, the total fertility rate in England and Wales fell to 1.39 children per woman, the lowest level on record dating back to the 1930s. That compares with around 1.9 in the years following the financial crisis and roughly 1.8 during the 1980s and 1990s.
Demographers typically identify a fertility rate of 2.1 as the level required to maintain a stable population without immigration. England and Wales have not recorded a rate above that threshold since 1972, reports the Telegraph.
The decline in births comes amid wider concerns about population ageing and long-term fiscal pressures. Government spending is increasingly concentrated in areas such as healthcare and pensions, which tend to rise as populations age, while the share of working-age taxpayers shrinks relative to retirees.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned in its latest Fiscal Risks Report of “negative long-term fiscal consequences” linked to “birth rates falling even further below replacement than previously forecast”. It added that lower fertility may initially reduce spending on education but is expected to increase long-term fiscal pressure as the “old-age dependency ratio” rises.
Former prime minister Sir Tony Blair also weighed in on demographic and fiscal pressures, calling for “fundamental reform, over time, of welfare” in a recent essay. He also warned that “the triple lock is unaffordable long term." “All of this is horribly hard, but the British people know, deep down, the necessity of doing it,” he wrote.
The data show that 40.2 percent of babies born in 2025 had at least one parent born outside the UK, rising slightly from 39.5 percent in 2024. The share stood at 30.1 percent in 2008. In total, 585,396 babies were born last year, meaning more than 235,000 births involved at least one migrant parent. Overall, births fell 1.6 percent from 594,677 the previous year.
The largest group of foreign-born mothers was from India, accounting for 27,601 births in England and Wales in 2025. Other major countries of origin included Pakistan with more than 22,000 mothers, Nigeria with about 15,500, and Romania with roughly 10,600. Bangladesh, Poland, Ghana, and Afghanistan were also listed among the leading countries.
India has also been a major source of immigration to the UK in recent years, including during what has been described as the “Boriswave,” with around 300,000 arrivals in 2023 at its peak. Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, and Ghana have also contributed significant migration flows in recent years.
The overall number of births last year marked the lowest total since 1977, a period marked by economic strain, and is comparable in scale to levels last seen during parts of the Second World War, though the population has since increased significantly.
At the same time, the total fertility rate in England and Wales fell to 1.39 children per woman, the lowest level on record dating back to the 1930s. That compares with around 1.9 in the years following the financial crisis and roughly 1.8 during the 1980s and 1990s.
Demographers typically identify a fertility rate of 2.1 as the level required to maintain a stable population without immigration. England and Wales have not recorded a rate above that threshold since 1972, reports the Telegraph.
The decline in births comes amid wider concerns about population ageing and long-term fiscal pressures. Government spending is increasingly concentrated in areas such as healthcare and pensions, which tend to rise as populations age, while the share of working-age taxpayers shrinks relative to retirees.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has warned in its latest Fiscal Risks Report of “negative long-term fiscal consequences” linked to “birth rates falling even further below replacement than previously forecast”. It added that lower fertility may initially reduce spending on education but is expected to increase long-term fiscal pressure as the “old-age dependency ratio” rises.
Former prime minister Sir Tony Blair also weighed in on demographic and fiscal pressures, calling for “fundamental reform, over time, of welfare” in a recent essay. He also warned that “the triple lock is unaffordable long term." “All of this is horribly hard, but the British people know, deep down, the necessity of doing it,” he wrote.
