North East London boroughs continue to record some of the highest numbers of live births in the capital, according to Office for National Statistics data.
Newham, Tower Hamlets, Redbridge and Waltham Forest all ranked among London’s leading boroughs for births in 2025, maintaining a pattern that’s persisted over the past decade.
Despite the overall gradual decline in the number of births since 2016, these boroughs are consistently among London’s highest-ranking areas for live births.
Newham, recorded more births than any other London borough, with ONS data showing it had topped the capital’s rankings every year since at least 2008.
By contrast, south west London boroughs ranked the lowest for births.
Dr Sarah Christison is a research fellow in Geography and Sustainable development and part of the population and health research group at University of St Andrews.
She said there are several reasons for the difference in higher births compared to other places like Kensington and Chelsea or Westminster.
Christison said: “Different demographics live in different areas. Potentially in the inner city and more affluent areas, young professionals may delay having children until later in life and when they do, they might move out of London to raise children which makes the fertility rate lower in those inner-city areas.”
She added the higher boroughs often have more established communities where people are settling down and having children partly due to less expensive housing compared to inner city London.
The boroughs also have a higher proportion of ethnic minorities particularly from South Asian backgrounds compared to other parts of the UK.
This is especially the case in Tower Hamlets, Newham and Redbridge which the ONS 2021 census supports.
Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian account for at least 40% of births according to East London NHS Foundation Trust assessment.
Dr Christison added this is in part due to the capital being more diverse and some of these are established communities who have settled there.
Another factor helping to explain higher birth numbers particularly in boroughs such as Tower Hamlets and Newham is the historical link between home ownership and parenthood.
However, Dr Christison noted the relationship between home ownership and parenthood has weakened in recent years as housing affordability has become an increasing challenge.
As a result, more people are choosing to start families while living in either private rented accommodation or social housing rather than waiting until they own a home.
Research suggests that ethnic minority groups are even more likely to have children while in private rented accommodation, a factor that may help explain birth patterns in parts of North East London.
Dr Christison said housing tenure can also influence fertility levels.
Areas with larger stocks of social housing such as Tower Hamlets and Newham have historically been associated with higher fertility because housing is often more stable and secure than in the private rental sector.
However, she noted the picture is more complex than housing alone.
Research shows fertility patterns among migrant and ethnic minority women are often more influenced by social and cultural environments in which they were born and raised.
She added that the timing of childbirth could play a role.
Women who have children at younger ages may be more likely to have larger families over their lifetime than those who delay parenthood.
Over time, however, those differences tend to narrow. She said research shows fertility patterns among second, and later generations typically move closer to wider UK trends reflecting the changing social and economic circumstances.
Looking at the line graph above, the lower numbers of birth can partly be explained by difference in population structure, said Dr Christison.
Boroughs like Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Richmond and Kingston tend to have more affluent and older populations than north east boroughs where a larger proportion of residents are in their childbearing years.
This can mean in these wealthier boroughs there’s also less people having children compared to these North East London boroughs as evidenced in the graph above.
For some residents living in these boroughs the data reflects everyday life in growing communities – one where the tangible strain on local services is felt by them.
Mary Abigail Andrews-Szikszai, a mother of two living in Waltham Forest said: “The borough’s popularity is due to its good schools, safety, green spaces, family friendly facilities, good transport links and housing affordability which continues to attract families.”
She said “it takes a village,” to raise a child, describing how support from family members and other parents had helped with school runs, babysitting and offsetting childcare costs.
Health professionals said the sustained high number of births in these boroughs located in North East London is being felt across maternity services.
Shereen Nimmo, group director of midwifery at Barts Health NHS Trust said: “The higher-than-average birth rate across North East London reflects a growing and increasingly complex population, which is placing sustained demand on our maternity services at Barts Health.”
She said more women are accessing care with additional clinical and social needs, increasing pressure across the maternity pathway from antenatal services through to labour wards and neonatal care.
She acknowledged, while delivering full continuity for all can be challenging at scale, they hope to expand this approach to everyone.
She added: “Our focus is on continuing to adapt services to meet rising demand through workforce investment, service redesign and strengthening community-based care, so that every woman and baby receives safe, personalised and equitable care.”
Despite the fall in births across London and even in these four North East London boroughs over the past decade, they continue to remain among the capital’s main areas for live births.
The data points to a combination of younger population, housing patterns and established communities driving the sustained concentration in boroughs such as Newham, Tower Hamlets, Redbridge and Waltham Forest.
While this brings continued demand for local services from healthcare to schools, midwifery teams say they are working to manage the rising and increasingly complex maternity needs.
The figures suggest a divide across London between where families are most concentrated and how far services can keep up.
Featured Image: Marcel Fagin via Unsplash
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