Boris Johnson alone was probably responsible for the increase
SovietPanda__ on
That thing we were told isnt happening seems to be happening
Edit: Id prefer people stop making assumptions about my beliefs.
Carbonatic on
The Times published research done by Warwick University data analyst James Bowes a few weeks ago. His model predicts that the net migration figure of 204,000 in the year to June 2025 will be minus 63,000 in 2026. Deaths will outnumber births by 2029, and the UKs population will continue to decline for the rest of the century.
lNFORMATlVE on
40pc? Has this editor never discovered the % symbol before?
Luckierexpert on
When people are paid enough to survive but money is still too tight, they’re not going to have kids. For 1st generation immigrants, plenty of them come from nations with high infant mortality rates, so they have a lot of kids because they/their parents probably had a lot of siblings who didn’t make it to 18.
If you want British citizens to have kids, regardless of their background, you have to pay them enough to support their potential family and allow them to work reasonable hours, both to cut childcare costs and give them actual time with their children. Whinging like the Telegraph and Twitters most divorced owner isn’t going to change anything.
PeterG92 on
Is this solely those who are non-UK or does this include people who are British and born abroad? Or British but married to their partner born abroad.
Woukd like to see a breakdown personally
The25er on
Every school in the country has changed in 10 years, I honestly can’t believe how quick it’s happened tbh
Archergarw on
Regardless of your stance on immigration 40% is insane
Outrageous_Glass6580 on
People will fall over themselves to say this is no big deal, because, according to postmodern orthodoxy; the only difference between a Briton, a Nigerian or a Pakistani is the type of carb he prefers with dinner. But this viewpoint is as plausible as medieval Europeans believing the Chinese had dog-heads.
littlefella1979 on
I’m amazed how this is not a national emergency.
It’s 40% now but fast forward 20 years it will probably be 60-70%.
If something is not done soon it’s basically the end of English culture and way of life.
I don’t understand how any government could facilitate the end of its own country.
Inside_Union_6594 on
This isn’t actually happening but if it is it’s a good thing
TheChattyRat on
White Brits aren’t having as many babies. There’s a myriad of reasons why most are cost of living and culture but to the people out there reading this stat as foreigners popping out babies in an attempt to replace the white race are being conspiratorial at best.
RedofPaw on
Nigel Farage:
* **Kirsten Mehr (m. 1999):** Farage’s second wife is a German national with whom he has two daughters. The couple separated in the mid-2010s, with Kirsten confirming in 2017 that they had been living separate lives for several years.
* **Gráinne Hayes (m. 1988–1997):** His first wife was an Irish nurse whom he met after a car accident. They share two children
All his children would count.
FranklinJJunior on
I’m sure a lot of people will chime in here, stating that this doesn’t matter in the slightest. As if Britain is simply a brand, something that can be put on or discarded. But it’s about identity. If the majority of future generations are shaped by people with no ancestral roots here, then Britain stops being the continuation of the people who built it and becomes something entirely different.
Every country on earth assumes that its native population has a legitimate claim to cultural continuity. Britain should be no different. If the demographic foundations shift too fast, the idea of a ‘British people’ becomes diluted to the point of abstraction. The issue isn’t hostility to newcomers – it’s the principle that a nation should remain recognisably descended from the people whose history, institutions and culture define it.
If this argument was made in Japan, China or anywhere else would it be so contentious?
Upbeat-Name-6087 on
Someone has gotta have the kids or we are going to look like Japan pretty fast.
If you want more British babies, fix the housing market and so people can get on the ladder and afford them in their 20s.
Ok-Swan1152 on
I mean my husband and I are foreign parents but are both highly educated immigrants from the EU… Our daughter is a UK citizen and will be growing up British.
Feeling-Medium-7856 on
When you have about two decades of public comms shame messaging, ‘don’t have kids if you can’t afford them’, so people don’t… It does actually touch on this in the article but a huge part of this is the Birth rate itself shrinking. There’s multiple factors at play, but I’ve certainly noticed (as a Millennial) that a lot more people have opted for one instead of two out of housing/cost considerations. Not to mention, people are having those children later. The hurdles are far greater than those of prior generations.
Notable assist provided by Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit ‘points-based immigration’ wave (supported by Nigel Farage, although he funnily enough has nothing but criticism for it now) and hurling public spending at the Triple Lock as a political bribe, without mentioning that we kind of need that immigration to keep paying for it, because we have made it prohibitively difficult for young Brits to get on in life.
Also – the whole ‘one parent’ thing is so obviously designed to produce inflated figures and inflame people already desperate to have something angry about. Even the most committed bigot doesn’t seriously believe that a child born in Britain to one British and one non-British parent *isn’t* British.
CollegeOptimal9846 on
Of course the important “overall number of births falls to lowest since 1976” part of this story is reserved for the sub-headline. And the fact that the number was 30% in 2008, almost 20 years ago, so is likely mostly down to reduction in the native British birthrate than a sudden influx of pregnant women.
Potential_Ask5513 on
“Numbers of live births decreased for parents aged under 30 years and increased for parents aged 30 years and over, with a 14.2% increase in births to fathers aged over 60 years since 2023.”
Ready-Fox-3264 on
It’s not ethnicity or race people are concerned about. It’s the culture that’s attached to a language and an ethnicity that presents a challenge because some cultures tend to clash with others for reasons beyond this thread.
A multiethnic society with one shared culture and language is vastly different from another multiethnic society where a plurality of cultures and languages coexist and compete in the public space.
Exotic_Cantaloupe_96 on
Its actually quite sad. At my workplace, i got many uk born colleagues (not talking about just white, diverse but all uk born) that are nearing their 40s and no interest in having children.
I have 1 child and planning for second although i wouldnt say its because of my ethnicity, i am Greek and back home none of my childhood friends have children yet.
I find it nuts, this isnt natural. Something is very wrong and its very easy to try to blame all to new generations being selfish or that governments dont care to help but i think its a much more complex issue.
Spamsational on
1. It’s not happening.
2. Okay, it is happening but why do you care?
I care. The majority of the UK cares. We’ve consistently voted against this in every major election and have consistently been undermined. I don’t think I’m better than anyone, I just want to preserve my people, my culture, and my home. I think that’s okay to want.
The town my father grew up in doesn’t exist anymore.
Feeling-Boss787 on
Frightening. You can really see the demographic change in my local school.
Plus-Literature-7221 on
> According to the figures, the biggest contingent of foreign-born mothers came from India, who gave birth to 27,601 babies in England and Wales in 2025.
> More than 22,000 mothers were born in Pakistan, 15,500 in Nigeria and 10,600 in Romania. Other leading nations were Bangladesh, Poland, Ghana and Afghanistan
Most of these groups are not integrating and hate our culture.
British women want to have children, the government are actively working against them.
> A 2023 poll found that nine in ten young British women hope to be mothers one day, desiring an average of 2.3 children, but rates of family formation are “in freefall”.
Does this only apply to babies with two foreign parents or babies with only one foreign parent? Anyway people will moan about declining birthrates and isn’t this a solution? And so what anyway?
Eire_go_deo on
Everyone saying, my mum is this and my dad is that so I would be counted in this, is missing the point.
40% is extremely high and we can all see with our own eyes when you see photos of the young people in Britain, that very very many of them do not have British parents.
Repulsive_Work_226 on
As this excludes 2nd and 3rd generation immigrant parents it is easy to assume that around 25% of the births are from South Asian parents alone.
As expected Brexit worked great so that Europeans returning to Europe and their numbers and percentages are decreasing!
TNTiger_ on
For most of London’s history, death rates were higher than birth rates. It was unsustainable- financially and physiologically- to raise children in a city full of dirt, disease, and poverty. Instead, the city relied on population growth frem immigration from the rust of the country- bodies to be burnt on the pile.
I suspect that as we’ve globalised, this system simply hasn’t fundementally changed- just now, rather than London solely being the extractive core and the rest of the country being fodder, the entire country has become extractive and the rest of the world- formly the British Empire- has become the fodder.
OrganizationStill135 on
The US overlords are hollowing out the post-capitalistic middle/working class with capitalistic hungry baby making class. 80% by 2050 anyone?
evenifihateit on
As a British person married to a Polish man, I wonder whether our 3 babies count as foreign or not for these sort of stats?
Radiant-History-5630 on
I’m born to a foreign parent (my dad is an immigrant, now a British citizen)! I am now part of the British system, paying taxes and contributing to our economy. Pretty simple life, not harming anyone. Hope that doesn’t trigger your racist sensitivities.
Including – the top ten for birth of Mother – (note that Ireland is about 13th)
|**Country of birth of mother**|**2025**Rank|**2025**Number|**2025**Percentage of all live births|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|**Total outside the UK**|**[z]**|**202,612**|**34.6**|
|India|1|27,601|4.7|
|Pakistan|2|22,058|3.8|
|Nigeria|3|15,509|2.6|
|Romania|4|10,649|1.8|
|Bangladesh|5|10,334|1.8|
|Poland|6|6,943|1.2|
|Ghana|7|4,722|0.8|
|Afghanistan|8|4,663|0.8|
|Iraq|9|3,871|0.7|
|Albania|10|3,483|0.6|
|**Country of birth of mother and of father**|**2025** Numbers|**2025** Percentages|
|:-|:-|:-|
|**Total**|**585,396**|**100.0**|
|Mother and father non-UK-born|160,016|27.3|
|Mother non-UK-born, father born in the UK|37,465|6.4|
|Mother non-UK-born, father not recorded or not stated|5,131|0.9|
|Mother born in the UK, father non-UK-born|32,653|5.6|
|Mother born in the UK, father not recorded or not stated|20,039|3.4|
|Mother and father born in the UK|330,040|56.4|
|Mother’s country of birth is not stated|52|[low]|
Unable-Object-8469 on
My child must be included there. Spanish mum and British dad.
33 Comments
Boris Johnson alone was probably responsible for the increase
That thing we were told isnt happening seems to be happening
Edit: Id prefer people stop making assumptions about my beliefs.
The Times published research done by Warwick University data analyst James Bowes a few weeks ago. His model predicts that the net migration figure of 204,000 in the year to June 2025 will be minus 63,000 in 2026. Deaths will outnumber births by 2029, and the UKs population will continue to decline for the rest of the century.
40pc? Has this editor never discovered the % symbol before?
When people are paid enough to survive but money is still too tight, they’re not going to have kids. For 1st generation immigrants, plenty of them come from nations with high infant mortality rates, so they have a lot of kids because they/their parents probably had a lot of siblings who didn’t make it to 18.
If you want British citizens to have kids, regardless of their background, you have to pay them enough to support their potential family and allow them to work reasonable hours, both to cut childcare costs and give them actual time with their children. Whinging like the Telegraph and Twitters most divorced owner isn’t going to change anything.
Is this solely those who are non-UK or does this include people who are British and born abroad? Or British but married to their partner born abroad.
Woukd like to see a breakdown personally
Every school in the country has changed in 10 years, I honestly can’t believe how quick it’s happened tbh
Regardless of your stance on immigration 40% is insane
People will fall over themselves to say this is no big deal, because, according to postmodern orthodoxy; the only difference between a Briton, a Nigerian or a Pakistani is the type of carb he prefers with dinner. But this viewpoint is as plausible as medieval Europeans believing the Chinese had dog-heads.
I’m amazed how this is not a national emergency.
It’s 40% now but fast forward 20 years it will probably be 60-70%.
If something is not done soon it’s basically the end of English culture and way of life.
I don’t understand how any government could facilitate the end of its own country.
This isn’t actually happening but if it is it’s a good thing
White Brits aren’t having as many babies. There’s a myriad of reasons why most are cost of living and culture but to the people out there reading this stat as foreigners popping out babies in an attempt to replace the white race are being conspiratorial at best.
Nigel Farage:
* **Kirsten Mehr (m. 1999):** Farage’s second wife is a German national with whom he has two daughters. The couple separated in the mid-2010s, with Kirsten confirming in 2017 that they had been living separate lives for several years.
* **Gráinne Hayes (m. 1988–1997):** His first wife was an Irish nurse whom he met after a car accident. They share two children
All his children would count.
I’m sure a lot of people will chime in here, stating that this doesn’t matter in the slightest. As if Britain is simply a brand, something that can be put on or discarded. But it’s about identity. If the majority of future generations are shaped by people with no ancestral roots here, then Britain stops being the continuation of the people who built it and becomes something entirely different.
Every country on earth assumes that its native population has a legitimate claim to cultural continuity. Britain should be no different. If the demographic foundations shift too fast, the idea of a ‘British people’ becomes diluted to the point of abstraction. The issue isn’t hostility to newcomers – it’s the principle that a nation should remain recognisably descended from the people whose history, institutions and culture define it.
If this argument was made in Japan, China or anywhere else would it be so contentious?
Someone has gotta have the kids or we are going to look like Japan pretty fast.
If you want more British babies, fix the housing market and so people can get on the ladder and afford them in their 20s.
I mean my husband and I are foreign parents but are both highly educated immigrants from the EU… Our daughter is a UK citizen and will be growing up British.
When you have about two decades of public comms shame messaging, ‘don’t have kids if you can’t afford them’, so people don’t… It does actually touch on this in the article but a huge part of this is the Birth rate itself shrinking. There’s multiple factors at play, but I’ve certainly noticed (as a Millennial) that a lot more people have opted for one instead of two out of housing/cost considerations. Not to mention, people are having those children later. The hurdles are far greater than those of prior generations.
Notable assist provided by Boris Johnson’s post-Brexit ‘points-based immigration’ wave (supported by Nigel Farage, although he funnily enough has nothing but criticism for it now) and hurling public spending at the Triple Lock as a political bribe, without mentioning that we kind of need that immigration to keep paying for it, because we have made it prohibitively difficult for young Brits to get on in life.
Also – the whole ‘one parent’ thing is so obviously designed to produce inflated figures and inflame people already desperate to have something angry about. Even the most committed bigot doesn’t seriously believe that a child born in Britain to one British and one non-British parent *isn’t* British.
Of course the important “overall number of births falls to lowest since 1976” part of this story is reserved for the sub-headline. And the fact that the number was 30% in 2008, almost 20 years ago, so is likely mostly down to reduction in the native British birthrate than a sudden influx of pregnant women.
“Numbers of live births decreased for parents aged under 30 years and increased for parents aged 30 years and over, with a 14.2% increase in births to fathers aged over 60 years since 2023.”
It’s not ethnicity or race people are concerned about. It’s the culture that’s attached to a language and an ethnicity that presents a challenge because some cultures tend to clash with others for reasons beyond this thread.
A multiethnic society with one shared culture and language is vastly different from another multiethnic society where a plurality of cultures and languages coexist and compete in the public space.
Its actually quite sad. At my workplace, i got many uk born colleagues (not talking about just white, diverse but all uk born) that are nearing their 40s and no interest in having children.
I have 1 child and planning for second although i wouldnt say its because of my ethnicity, i am Greek and back home none of my childhood friends have children yet.
I find it nuts, this isnt natural. Something is very wrong and its very easy to try to blame all to new generations being selfish or that governments dont care to help but i think its a much more complex issue.
1. It’s not happening.
2. Okay, it is happening but why do you care?
I care. The majority of the UK cares. We’ve consistently voted against this in every major election and have consistently been undermined. I don’t think I’m better than anyone, I just want to preserve my people, my culture, and my home. I think that’s okay to want.
The town my father grew up in doesn’t exist anymore.
Frightening. You can really see the demographic change in my local school.
> According to the figures, the biggest contingent of foreign-born mothers came from India, who gave birth to 27,601 babies in England and Wales in 2025.
> More than 22,000 mothers were born in Pakistan, 15,500 in Nigeria and 10,600 in Romania. Other leading nations were Bangladesh, Poland, Ghana and Afghanistan
Most of these groups are not integrating and hate our culture.
British women want to have children, the government are actively working against them.
> A 2023 poll found that nine in ten young British women hope to be mothers one day, desiring an average of 2.3 children, but rates of family formation are “in freefall”.
https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/newsroom/baby-bust
Does this only apply to babies with two foreign parents or babies with only one foreign parent? Anyway people will moan about declining birthrates and isn’t this a solution? And so what anyway?
Everyone saying, my mum is this and my dad is that so I would be counted in this, is missing the point.
40% is extremely high and we can all see with our own eyes when you see photos of the young people in Britain, that very very many of them do not have British parents.
As this excludes 2nd and 3rd generation immigrant parents it is easy to assume that around 25% of the births are from South Asian parents alone.
As expected Brexit worked great so that Europeans returning to Europe and their numbers and percentages are decreasing!
For most of London’s history, death rates were higher than birth rates. It was unsustainable- financially and physiologically- to raise children in a city full of dirt, disease, and poverty. Instead, the city relied on population growth frem immigration from the rust of the country- bodies to be burnt on the pile.
I suspect that as we’ve globalised, this system simply hasn’t fundementally changed- just now, rather than London solely being the extractive core and the rest of the country being fodder, the entire country has become extractive and the rest of the world- formly the British Empire- has become the fodder.
The US overlords are hollowing out the post-capitalistic middle/working class with capitalistic hungry baby making class. 80% by 2050 anyone?
As a British person married to a Polish man, I wonder whether our 3 babies count as foreign or not for these sort of stats?
I’m born to a foreign parent (my dad is an immigrant, now a British citizen)! I am now part of the British system, paying taxes and contributing to our economy. Pretty simple life, not harming anyone. Hope that doesn’t trigger your racist sensitivities.
The full stats – [https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/birthsummarytablesenglandandwales/2025](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/bulletins/birthsummarytablesenglandandwales/2025)
[https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/datasets/parentscountryofbirth](https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/datasets/parentscountryofbirth)
Including – the top ten for birth of Mother – (note that Ireland is about 13th)
|**Country of birth of mother**|**2025**Rank|**2025**Number|**2025**Percentage of all live births|
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|**Total outside the UK**|**[z]**|**202,612**|**34.6**|
|India|1|27,601|4.7|
|Pakistan|2|22,058|3.8|
|Nigeria|3|15,509|2.6|
|Romania|4|10,649|1.8|
|Bangladesh|5|10,334|1.8|
|Poland|6|6,943|1.2|
|Ghana|7|4,722|0.8|
|Afghanistan|8|4,663|0.8|
|Iraq|9|3,871|0.7|
|Albania|10|3,483|0.6|
|**Country of birth of mother and of father**|**2025** Numbers|**2025** Percentages|
|:-|:-|:-|
|**Total**|**585,396**|**100.0**|
|Mother and father non-UK-born|160,016|27.3|
|Mother non-UK-born, father born in the UK|37,465|6.4|
|Mother non-UK-born, father not recorded or not stated|5,131|0.9|
|Mother born in the UK, father non-UK-born|32,653|5.6|
|Mother born in the UK, father not recorded or not stated|20,039|3.4|
|Mother and father born in the UK|330,040|56.4|
|Mother’s country of birth is not stated|52|[low]|
My child must be included there. Spanish mum and British dad.