London had the lowest under-18 birth rate in 2015, but the highest rate for women aged 45 and over, statistics have revealed.
The opposite is true in the north east of England, where they had the highest under-18 birth rate, but the lowest birth rate for women aged 45 and over, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed.
Across England in 2015, there were 6.3 births per 1,000 women aged under 18. However, in London, this figure was 4.4 births per 1,000 women and in the north east, it was 10.5 births per 1,000 women.
“This continues a trend seen over recent years,” said Nick Stripe, ONS head of life events outputs.
“Social, economic and cultural differences between these areas are likely to be causing these differences.”
The figures come from the ONS annual statistics of births by mother’s area of residence for 2015.
In 2015, the average number of children per woman (the total fertility rate or TFR) was 1.82, which was unchanged from 2014. In Northern Ireland it was 1.96 children per woman, in Wales it was 1.77 and Scotland it was 1.56 children.
The ONS found that in England, the East was the region with the highest TFG, with 1.92 children born per woman, but the north east had the lowest with 1.71.
The highest TFR rate overall was in Barking and Dagenham, with 2.42 children per woman.
View the full report of ‘Births By Mother’s Usual Area Of Residence’.
