The number of babies born in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level for any calendar half-year in nearly 50 years [1] when the overall population was much smaller than today.
Figures published Friday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that there were 287,236 live births recorded in the first six months of 2026, a decrease of 2,406 births compared to the first half of 2025, when there were 289,642 live births recorded – and the lowest number for any calendar half-year since 1977.
The decline follows a fall in annual births to 585,396 in 2025, which the ONS identified as the lowest annual number since 1977.
Last week also marked the 59th anniversary of the 1967 Abortion Act which introduced a radically permissive abortion regime.
Since then, 11,256,470 unborn babies have lost their lives to the procedure across the UK – that is one baby every two minutes; or 34 lives ended every hour.
There were 278,740 abortions in England and Wales in 2023, the most recent year for which statistics are available, an increase of 26,618 (10.56%) from 2022.
This was the highest number of abortions ever recorded in England and Wales in a single year.