Births European Comparison
Last updated: August 2009
Scotland's overall birth rate was 11.6 per thousand population in 2008.
The Scottish rate is lower than those of other parts of the UK: in 2007, Scotland's rate was 11.2, England's 12.8, Wales's 11.5 and Northern Ireland's 13.9.
The birth rate in Scotland is also below those of some European countries, such as France (13.0 in 2007) and Ireland (15.1 in 2006). However, Scotland's birth rate is higher than those of several other European countries, such as Germany (8.2 in 2006) and Italy (9.5 in 2006).
The chart shows the value of the total fertility rate* for a wide range of European countries. Scotland's figure is higher than those of most of the other countries covered, and is also above the overall EU average.
Total Fertility Rate, Selected European Countries - 2007 (unless indicated otherwise)
Source: GROS and Eurostat.
*The total fertility rate (TFR) is a commonly used summary measure of fertility levels calculated by summing the age-specific rates for a single year. It gives the average number of children that a group of women would expect to have if they experienced the observed age-specific fertility rates in each of their childbearing years. For a population to replace itself, the TFR needs to be around 2.1.