India became the most common country of origin for foreign mothers in Britain.
Almost a third of new babies registered in England and Wales last year were born to foreign mothers, the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published on Thursday revealed.
A total of 605,479 live births were registered in the countries in 2022, a 3.1 percent drop from the previous year’s total of 624,828 and the lowest number since 2002.
Of the annual figure, 30.3 percent, or 183,309 births were to mothers born outside of the U.K., up from 179,726 in 2021.
The majority of foreign mothers originated outside of the European Union — 58,037 babies were born to EU-born mothers compared to 125,272 born to non-EU-born mothers.