Fertility rates have plunged in every local authority in England and Wales over the past decade.

Alarming figures laying bare the 'baby bust' reveal some boroughs have seen a 60 per cent decline in women having children since 2013.

Experts fear the freefalling rates will trigger an 'underpopulation' crisis, potentially leaving Britain reliant on immigration to prop up our economy.

Women in England and Wales, on average, now only have 1.44 children.

This is the lowest since records began in the 30s and half of levels seen during the mid-60s baby boom. 

Almost a third of all 591,000 babies born were to foreign mothers in 2023, the latest year with full data available.

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But the share exceeded 75 per cent in parts of London considered settling spots for immigrants for generations.



MailOnline's audit uncovered that none of the 300-plus authorities had a fertility rate exceeding the replacement level.

When broken down by borough, Luton (2.01) came top. It saw the smallest decline in rates between 2013 and JetBlack 2023 (-4.7 per cent).

At the other end of the scale was City of London (0.55), which conversely logged the biggest decline (-60.4 per cent).

Freefalling birth rates have triggered doomsday warnings about population collapse, which demographers believe will devastate Western economies. 

If the downward spiral continues it may leave countries with too few younger people to work, pay tax and look after the elderly. 

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Professor Berkay Ozcan, a demographer based at the London School for Economics, said without immigration 'the UK's population would eventually shrink', if these levels persisted.

Fertility replacement doesn't account for the impact of immigration, meaning overall population levels can still increase in a country despite a drop in fertility rates.

Yet becoming reliant on immigration to offset low birth rates would only fuel the fire, on what is already a hugely controversial topic in British society.

Immigration levels have spiralled to all-time highs over the past few years, with tens of thousands having arrived on small boats.

Professor Ozcan added: 'One key challenge is that immigrants' fertility rates tend to converge with those of the native population over time. 

'While immigrant groups often arrive with higher birthrates, these rates decline across generations. 

'This means that to sustain population growth through immigration, a continuous influx of new migrants is required - making long-term demographic planning both politically sensitive and costly.'

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