The number of live births in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level in two decades, figures show.

A little over 605,000 children were born in England and Wales in 2022, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It’s the lowest number since 2002 and a drop of almost 20,000 (3%) from the year before, continuing a trend of a falling birth rate since before the COVID-19 pandemic, the ONS said.

Nearly a third of live births (30%) in 2022 were to mothers from outside the UK, the highest proportion since records began.

India has replaced Romania as the most common country of birth for non-UK-born mothers, but non-UK-born fathers are most likely to come from Pakistan.

There were almost 18,000 live births to Indian-born mothers, a 16% rise from 2021.

Afghanistan appeared in the top 10 countries in the list for the first time, reflecting the number of Afghans who arrived in the UK as part of government resettlement schemes, following the Taliban takeover of the country two years ago.

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James Tucker, head of health analysis at the ONS, said the annual number of births in England and Wales “continues its recent decline”.

“Almost a third of all those births were to non-UK-born women. This is the highest proportion of live births to non-UK-born women seen since our records began, with India now the most common country of birth for non-UK-born parents.”

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Two-thirds of live births where one or both parents were born outside UK, happened in London, making England’s capital city the most likely place for it.

Across English and Wales, the number of live births to UK-born women fell more than 30,000, year-on-year.

But live births to non-UK-born women rose for the first time in five years by 2%, to a little over 183,000.

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