Ghana in, Germany out of most common countries of birth for non-UK-born mothers

The proportion of babies whose mothers were born outside the UK grew again last year, with Ghana entering but Germany dropping out of the top 10 most common countries for the first time in over a decade.

Almost a third (31.8%) of live births in England and Wales in 2023 were to non-UK-born mothers, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

This was a slight increase from 30.3% in 2022.

The proportion increased from 26.5% a decade earlier after passing the quarter mark (25.1%) in 2010.

ONS records of live births by the mother’s birth country date back to 2008.

India remained number one with Pakistan still in second place on the list of most common countries for non-UK-born mothers.

Ghana entered the top 10 for the first time last year, taking ninth place with 0.6% of live births.

Germany fell out of the top 10, having been there since ONS records began for this measure in 2003.

Albania ranked at number seven, up from eighth in 2022, having entered the top 10 for the first time in 2021.

Afghanistan was at number eight, falling from seventh place in 2022.

Afghanistan’s entry into the top 10 for the first time that year came after the 2021 Taliban takeover of the country, which resulted in the resettlement of many Afghans in the UK through Government schemes, and a rise in arrivals who had crossed the Channel.

Summer 2022 saw a spike in the number of Albanians arriving in the UK on small boats, but after a deal between the governments of both countries to prevent people from making the dangerous journey by boat, there has been a sharp drop between 2022 and last year.

Greg Ceely, head of population health monitoring at the ONS, said the data does not give a picture of a family’s ethnicity or migration history.

While our birth data show us the parents’ country of birth, it doesn’t give us a picture of the family’s ethnicity or migration history, and it’s worth noting that not all women born outside the UK will be recent immigrants

He said: “Almost a third of babies born in 2023 in England and Wales were to non-UK-born women, a slight increase on the percentage in 2022.

“This is a continuation of the long-term trend of the percentage of live births to non-UK-born mothers generally increasing.

“While our birth data show us the parents’ country of birth, it doesn’t give us a picture of the family’s ethnicity or migration history, and it’s worth noting that not all women born outside the UK will be recent immigrants.”

Separate data for the most common countries of birth of non-UK-born fathers showed a similar trend.

India and Pakistan were the top two, with Albania in seventh and Afghanistan in eighth place.

Iraq was the 10th most common nationality for fathers, while the US was in this position for mothers.

Nigeria took third place for the first time in the data for fathers, up from sixth in 2020.

The ONS said London remained the region with the greatest proportion of births to parents where either one or both were born outside the UK, with more than two-thirds (67.4%) of live births).

The lowest proportions were in Wales (17.5%) and the North East of England (20.5%).