The number of Southampton children born to British mothers has tumbled, figures reveal.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 49 per cent of live births in the city in 2023 were to parents where either one or both were born outside the UK.

This is a 22.5 per cent jump from the 40 per cent figure recorded in 2016.

Babies born to British-born mothers dropped from 538,000 in 2008 to 403,000 last year, the lowest on record.

It comes as the total fertility rate across England and Wales dropped to a new record low last year, while the number of live births fell to the lowest in nearly five decades.

Last year, the rate fell to 1.44 children per woman – the lowest since records began in 1938.

Southampton figures

Percentage of live births where either one or both parents are born outside of the UK

  • 2016 – 40
  • 2017 – 40.3
  • 2018 – 41.2
  • 2019 – 42.4
  • 2020 – 42.7
  • 2021 – 44.7
  • 2022 – 46.4
  • 2023 – 49

The figures are based on the date births were registered and the mother’s usual area of residence.

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Meanwhile, the numbers also increased in Eastleigh and the New Forest, with the latter recording 16.3 per cent live births in 2023 to one or both parents born outside of the UK.

This is an increase on the previous year’s 14.4 per cent.

Eastleigh recorded 19.8 per cent in 2023, which is only a slight jump from the 18.4 per cent in 2022.

Across the pond, 39.2 per cent of live births in Portsmouth in 2023 were to one or both parents born outside of the UK, an increase on the 37.4 per cent recorded in 2022.

According to the Office for National Statistics, 31.8 per cent of live births in 2023 were to non-UK born mothers - a slight increase from 30.3 per cent in 2022.

The proportion was also an increase from 26.5 per cent a decade earlier, after passing the quarter mark (25.1 per cent) in 2010.