How many babies are born each second? UK estimates

Every year, there are an estimated 130 million babies born around the world. It is estimated that there are 0.35 babies born every second in the UK, Europe and Central Asia. This equates to 21 births per minute. Whilst this may seem like a lot, it is actually on the lower end of the scale with as many as 1.2 babies born every second in Sub-Saharan Africa. The variance in the number of births worldwide is usually dictated by when those countries industrialised. Nations such as the UK which had early industrialisation tend to have fewer babies today than those in developing nations. In this article, we’ll look into just how many babies are born in the UK and whether we are unique in our figures.

How many babies are born each second 2023

The NHS claims that there are 1,600 babies born a day, or one birth every 54 seconds in the UK. A baby born in 2023 in the UK can expect to live around 80 years with some variance between genders. That means that a person born today will in all likelihood, live to see the 22nd century. Whilst official statistics for the UK in 2023 are still being collected, it is likely that there will be 134.28 million worldwide births in 2023.

Are there a high number of babies born in the UK?

Relatively speaking no. Whilst 1,600 babies born every day may seem like a lot of babies based on the number. When you consider the size of the UK’s population at 67 million, 1,600 babies born per day is a relatively small amount. Developing nations with higher birth rates tend to have much higher birth rates than those experienced in the UK. There is currently a debate between experts as to whether it is in fact better to have less new births or not. On the one hand, there are some who argue that fewer births means a smaller population in future which is good for the planet. Others however have argued that not enough children are being born to support the elderly in their retirement and to essentially keep the modern world functioning as it is. Which one of these arguments is correct is yet to be established and it may even be the case that both are proved correct.

UK Birth rates

A birth rate is essentially the average number of children each woman in a given location will have during her lifetime. Birth rates in the past were much higher than today, with most countries having enough children to make their populations grow generation after generation. Improvements in medicine, food production and resource access meant infant mortality was also dramatically reduced, leading to massive population growth.

The current birth rate in the UK is sitting around 1.8 births per woman. This is below a replacement level of 2.1 births, however the UK’s birth rate is slightly above the average for developed countries.

The economic challenges of a low birth rate are that there will be more pressures on young people to support the elderly financially, simply due to there being a larger elderly population. This is a very complex issue to solve as immigration may help increase the number of young taxpayers in a country temporarily, however the worldwide trend is moving toward a below-replacement birth rate everywhere. This means the working-age young will need to pay a greater tax burden to support more elderly recipients who are unable to work. The pension schemes that many elderly rely on once retired will also need a steady flow of taxation in order to fund the payments. This would logically imply that either pension payments would need to be cut or that taxation on those able to work be increased.

Overall, it is likely in future that the number of elderly residents will outnumber the young in the UK due to a low birth rate. This is not just an issue the UK will face however as trends point to a global decline in birth rates, the first time that such an event has ever occurred. Many experts believe the global population will peak this century before decreasing, with some saying it could be even sooner. How this issue of supporting a large elderly population without overburdening the youth is yet to be solved.

References:

https://www.ft.com/content/378253f2-a7a6-4c2d-a9e9-aa228f6ad547

https://www.england.nhs.uk/nhsbirthday/about-the-nhs-birthday/nhs-in-numbers-today/