Births
Births in
Scotland
Last updated: August 2011
The number of births registered in Scotland in 2010 was 58,791: 255 (0.4%) fewer than in the previous year. This was the second annual reduction, following six annual increases: previously, the number of births had risen in each year since 2002, and the total of 60,041 for 2008 was the highest figure since 1995. The number of births registered in 2010 was the third highest since 1997 (the figures for 2008 and 2009 being higher). However, recent years' numbers of births have been well below the most recent peak of over 100,000 per year in the early 1960s, and also below the level of around 65-70,000 per year between the mid-1970s and the early 1990s.
The proportion of births to unmarried parents (including births registered solely in the mother's name) was 50.2% in 2010. The level has hardly changed from the previous two years (50.1% in 2008, and 50.3% in 2009), but is considerably higher than the 43% in 2000 and 27% in 1990.
Since the mid-1970s, there has been a trend towards having children at older ages. The percentage of births to mothers aged under 20 fell from about 11% (on average) between 1976 and 1980, and around 8% in 1991-95, to 6% in 2010. Mothers aged 20-24 accounted for roughly a third of all births in 1976-1980, about 22% in 1991-95, and 18% in 2010. The percentage of births to mothers aged 25-29 has also fallen: from around 35% in 1976-1980, and about 36% in 1991-95, to 27% in 2010. As a result, women aged over 30 accounted for almost half of all births in 2010: 28% were to mothers aged 30-34, 16% were to 35-39 year olds and 4% were to women aged 40 and over - figures which are all above the levels of 15 and 30 years earlier.
86% of births in 2010 were to mothers who had been born in the UK, including 76% to women who were born in Scotland. A further 6% of mothers had been born in other European Union countries, including 4% from the countries which joined the EU in 2004 (like Poland). Commonwealth countries were the birthplace of 4% of mothers, including 2% from the Indian sub-continent.
Live Births in Scotland 1855-2010
Source: National Records of Scotland (NRS) Registration data