Fewer children City fertility rate among the lowest in the country

BRISTOL women are having fewer children than almost anywhere else in the country, new figures show.

- Ian JONES

The total fertility rate across England and Wales, defined as the average number of live children women would expect to have across their childbearing life, stands at 1.41 in 2024 - a new record low.

In Bristol it was lower still at 1.15, following a fall in the birth rate of more than a third in the past decade.

For a country’s population to remain stable over time - discounting any impact from migration - the total fertility rate needs to be around 2.1.

The drop in the rate comes despite the number of births in England and Wales increasing slightly last year from 591,072 to 594,677.

But this was offset by a jump in the size of the overall population, meaning fertility rates fell overall.

Greg Ceely, ONS head of population health monitoring, said: “Fertility rates in England and Wales have been in overall decline since 2010.