UK birth rate on the up

Concerns about the falling birth rate in the UK may have been overstated as the figures for 2004 show a further increase in births.

New data from the Office for National Statistics suggests that women would expect to have an average of 1.79 children in 2004, an increase of 3.6 per cent on 2003 and the highest level since the 1992 average of 1.8 children.

Deaths have also fallen by 5.4 per cent for males to 7,576 deaths registered per million of the population and by 5.5 per cent for women to 5,279 per million. These are both the lowest ever recorded in England and Wales.