Analysis: Live birth statistics for England and Wales 2022

In 2022, parents welcomed over 605,342 new additions to the family in England and Wales according to the latest statistics available.

But in the numbers show interesting trends on both a regional and authority level. So we’ve analysed and sorted the numbers to dig into what’s really happening and cherry picked the key points you should know.

Read on to see how different regions compare to one another, which authorities saw live births increase and how regions compare to their 2021 statistics.

Note: The birth statistics for 2022 presented in this post were collected from the ONS’s latest births in England and Wales release.

 

Live birth statistics by region (England and Wales):

Overall, live births in England and Wales decreased from 624,729 to 605,342, a 3.1% decrease. This has been an on-going trend and picks up from the pre-COVID years as birth rates consistently decrease.

In terms of where those births are happening, we’ve ranked regions in England and Wales by live births below.

  1. London: 106,696
  2. South East: 90,589
  3. North West: 76,399
  4. East Anglia: 64,294
  5. West Midlands: 63,368
  6. Yorkshire and the Humber: 55,203
  7. South West: 48,947
  8. East Midlands: 46,849
  9. Wales: 28,296
  10. North East: 24,701

 

Live births by authority (top 10 by volume):

Within these regions, county councils register the most births due to their size, with 8 out of 10 of the authorities with the highest volume of live births being county councils.

  1. Kent: 16,364
  2. Essex: 15,546
  3. Birmingham: 14,482
  4. Hampshire: 12,838
  5. Hertfordshire: 12,449
  6. Lancashire: 11,754
  7. Surrey: 11,740
  8. Leeds: 8,617
  9. Staffordshire: 8,021
  10. West Sussex: 7,970

 

Regional live birth breakdown:

North East – 24,701 live births

The North East saw a 1.8% decrease on their statistics from 2021 (down from 25,153).

Newcastle, Stockton and Middlesbrough all saw an increase in the number of live births seen in their authorities compared to the year prior.

The biggest net increase was in Newcastle (+87), while the biggest decrease was in Gateshead (-133).

  1. Durham: 4,505
  2. Newcastle: 3,070
  3. Sunderland: 2,593
  4. Northumberland: 2,464
  5. Stockton-On-Tees: 1,901
  6. North Tyneside: 1,898
  7. Gateshead: 1,850
  8. Middlesbrough: 1,785
  9. South Tyneside: 1,436
  10. Redcar and Cleveland: 1,276
  11. Darlington: 1,032
  12. Hartlepool: 891

 

North West – 76,399 live births

The North West saw a decrease of 2.21% in their total live births compared to their 2021 figures (78,127).

Manchester, Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, Warrington and Blackpool all saw increases in the number of live births in their authorities.

The biggest increase was seen in Manchester (+180), while the biggest decrease was seen in Stockport (-296).

  1. Lancashire: 11,754
  2. Manchester: 6,956
  3. Liverpool: 5,105
  4. Cumbria: 3,966
  5. Cheshire East: 3,717
  6. Bolton: 3559
  7. Salford: 3,557
  8. Wigan: 3,439
  9. Cheshire West and Chester: 3,219
  10. Oldham: 3,158
  11. Stockport: 2,931
  12. Wirral: 2,877
  13. Rochdale: 2,769
  14. Tameside: 2,488
  15. Sefton: 2,474
  16. Trafford: 2,170
  17. Bury: 2,008
  18. Knowlsey: 1,932
  19. Warrington: 1,914
  20. St Helens: 1,858
  21. Blackburn with Darwen: 1,856
  22. Blackpool: 1,499
  23. Halton: 1,193

 

Yorkshire and the Humber – 55,203 live births

The Yorkshire and the Humber saw a drop of 2.08% in their total live births compared to their 2021 figures (56,377).

Doncaster, Hull and Barnsley all saw increases in the number of live births in their authorities over the previous year.

The biggest increase in live births was seen in Hull (+30), while the biggest fall was seen in Wakefield (-211).

  1. Leeds: 8,617
  2. Bradford: 6,684
  3. Sheffield: 5,705
  4. North Yorkshire: 4,934
  5. Kirklees: 4,702
  6. Wakefield: 3,646
  7. Doncaster: 3,350
  8. Kingston Upon Hull: 3,109
  9. Rotherham: 2,811
  10. East Riding: 2,566
  11. Barnsley: 2,525
  12. Calderdale: 1,945
  13. York: 1,573
  14. North Lincolnshire: 1,549
  15. North East Lincolnshire: 1,487

 

East Midlands – 47,860 live births

The East Midlands saw a 2.11% decrease in their total live births compared to their 2021 figures (47,860).

Leicester was the only authority to have a greater number of live births within the authority compared to their 2021 value.

The biggest increase in the East Midlands was seen in Leicester (+204) while the biggest decrease was seen in Nottinghamshire (-356).

  1. Nottinghamshire: 7,549
  2. Derbyshire: 7,217
  3. Leicestershire: 6,603
  4. Lincolnshire: 6,397
  5. West Northamptonshire: 4,451
  6. Leicester: 4,376
  7. North Northamptonshire: 3,714
  8. Nottingham: 3,404
  9. Derby: 2,864
  10. Rutland: 274

 

West Midlands – 63,368 live births

The West Midlands saw a 0.75% decrease in their total live births compared to their 2021 figures (63,846), the lowest decrease of all the regions over that same time period.

Birmingham, Sandwell, Coventry, Dudley, Wolverhampton, Stoke and Telford all increased in birth volumes on their previous year.

The biggest increase in the West Midlands was seen in Coventry (+111), while the most significant decrease was found in Staffordshire (-259).

  1. Birmingham: 14,482
  2. Staffordshire: 8,021
  3. Warwickshire: 5,757
  4. Worcestershire: 5,334
  5. Sandwell: 4,330
  6. Coventry: 4,059
  7. Walsall: 3,502
  8. Dudley: 3,439
  9. Wolverhampton: 3,323
  10. Stoke: 3,059
  11. Shropshire: 2,567
  12. Telford: 1,991
  13. Solihull: 1,983
  14. Herefordshire: 1,521

 

East Anglia – 64,294 live births

East Anglia saw the second most significant decrease in birth volumes between 2021 and 2022, with a decrease of 4.12% (from 67,054).

Only Luton had a growth in the number of live births over this period, increasing by 71.

However, the district also saw the biggest fall across England and Wales in Hertfordshire, with over 1,000 less births than the year before.

  1. Essex: 15,546
  2. Hertfordshire: 12,449
  3. Norfolk: 7,679
  4. Suffolk: 6,858
  5. Cambridgeshire: 6,395
  6. Central Bedfordshire: 3,388
  7. Luton: 3,304
  8. Peterborough: 2,618
  9. Thurrock: 2,191
  10. Bedford: 1,995
  11. Southend: 1,871

 

London – 106,696 live births

The inner and outer London boroughs saw a decrease of 3.84% over their 2021 figure of 110,961.

Newham, Brent, Ealing, Barking and Dagenham, Havering and City of London all saw increases in the number of births in their district during 2022 on the year prior.

As well as managing the highest number of births in London, Newham also saw the biggest increase in live births (+252), while Hackney saw the biggest decrease (-489).

  1. Newham: 5,598
  2. Croydon: 4,872
  3. Barnet: 4,621
  4. Brent: 4,431
  5. Ealing: 4,427
  6. Redbridge: 4,243
  7. Tower Hamlets: 4,127
  8. Waltham Forest: 4,040
  9. Hillingdon: 4,037
  10. Enfield: 3,921
  11. Lewisham: 3,820
  12. Wandsworth: 3,812
  13. Greenwich: 3,760
  14. Hounslow: 3,529
  15. Hackney: 3,482
  16. Bromley: 3,431
  17. Southwark: 3,393
  18. Barking and Dagenham: 3,360
  19. Lambeth: 3,345
  20. Harrow: 3,298
  21. Havering: 3,089
  22. Haringey: 3,085
  23. Bexley: 2,765
  24. Merton: 2,497
  25. Islington: 2,443
  26. Sutton: 2,220
  27. Camden: 2,072
  28. Hammersmith and Fulham: 2,006
  29. Westminster: 1,967
  30. Richmond: 1,827
  31. Kingston: 1,726
  32. Kensington and Chelsea: 1,387
  33. City of London: 65

 

South East – 90,589 live births

The South East saw a drop of ~4,000 live births from the year prior, with an overall decrease of 3.92%.

Medway, Slough and Reading all saw live births increase in their authorities compared to the year prior.

Surrey saw the greatest decrease in the region (-711), while Slough oversaw an increase of 177.

  1. Kent: 16,364
  2. Hampshire: 12,838
  3. Surrey: 11,740
  4. West Sussex: 7,970
  5. Oxfordshire: 7,201
  6. Buckinghamshire: 5,533
  7. East Sussex: 4,411
  8. Medway: 3,293
  9. Milton Keynes: 3,073
  10. Southampton: 2,660
  11. Slough: 2,293
  12. Portsmouth: 2,140
  13. Brighton: 2,099
  14. Reading: 2,077
  15. Wokingham: 1,672
  16. West Berkshire: 1,490
  17. Bracknell Forest: 1,409
  18. Windsor and Maidenhead: 1,356
  19. Isle of Wight: 970

 

South West – 48,947 live births

The South West saw a similar drop of around 4,000 live births to their South East neighbours, but this represented a far more significant overall decrease of 6.37%, the highest of all regions.

No borough had an increase in births compared to their 2021 statistics.

Wiltshire saw the smallest decrease in live births (-90), while Devon saw a greatest decrease (-520) over the time period.

  1. Devon: 6,132
  2. Gloucestershire: 5,834
  3. Bristol: 5,048
  4. Somerset: 4,817
  5. Wiltshire: 4,503
  6. Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly: 4,456
  7. Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch: 3,332
  8. South Gloucestershire: 2,925
  9. Dorset: 2,615
  10. Plymouth: 2,409
  11. Swindon: 2,391
  12. North Somerset: 1,842
  13. Bath and North East Somerset: 1,633
  14. Torbay: 1,010

 

Wales – 28,296 live births

Compared to their 2021 figure, Wales saw a decrease of around 500 live births (28,781), a decrease of 1.69%.

Rhondda Cynon Taf, Newport, Caerphilly, Carmarthenshire, Neath Port Talbot, Torfaen, Conwy and Monmouthshire all saw their live birth figures grow from 2021.

Though holding the top spot in terms of the number of live births in Wales, Cardiff also saw the greatest decrease with 221 less live births than the year before. Neath Port Talbot however saw the greatest increase over the same time period, increasing by 50.

  1. Cardiff: 3,597
  2. Rhondda Cynon Taf: 2,300
  3. Swansea: 2,035
  4. Newport: 1,901
  5. Caerphilly: 1,620
  6. Carmarthenshire: 1,559
  7. Flintshire: 1,420
  8. Bridgend: 1,337
  9. Neath Port Talbot: 1,299
  10. Wrexham: 1,249
  11. Vale of Glamorgan: 1,204
  12. Gwynedd: 997
  13. Powys: 990
  14. Pembrokeshire: 980
  15. Torfaen: 948
  16. Conwy: 926
  17. Denbighshire: 870
  18. Monmouthshire: 742
  19. Blaenau Gwent: 670
  20. Merthyr Tydfil: 610
  21. Isle of Anglesey: 565
  22. Ceredigion: 477

 

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