Almost one-in-three babies in England and Wales last year were to women born outside the UK - with Ghana entering the top 10 most common countries for non-UK born mothers but Germany drops out

Almost one-in-three babies born in England and Wales last year were to women born outside the UK.

According to the Office for National Statistics, 31.8 per cent of live births in 2023 were to non-UK born mothers - a slight increase from 30.3 per cent in 2022.

The proportion was also an increase from 26.5 per cent a decade earlier, after passing the quarter mark (25.1 per cent) in 2010.

More than one-third (37.3 per cent) of live births last year were to parents where either one or both were born outside the UK, up from 35.8 per cent in 2022.

India remained the most common country of birth for non-UK-born mothers (3.6 per cent of all live births) and fathers (3.9 per cent) in England and Wales last year, with Pakistan remaining second.

Ghana entered the top 10 most common countries for non-UK born mothers for the first time in 2023, in ninth place with 0.6 per cent of live births.

But 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

This resulted in the resettlement of many Afghans in the UK through Government schemes, and a rise in arrivals who had crossed the Channel.

The summer of 2022 saw a spike in the number of Albanians arriving in the UK on small boats.

But after a deal between both countries to prevent people from making the dangerous journey, 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.

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.'

Last year's figures will have included the third child of Carrie Johnson and Boris Johnson.

The former prime minister was born in New York before spending the bulk of his childhood and adult life in Britain.

The proportion of births to mothers born outside the UK was found to generally increase with the age group of the mother, from 15.8 per cent of live births to mothers aged under 20 years, to 53.9 per cent of live births to mothers aged 45 years and over.

Data for the most common countries of birth of non-UK born fathers showed India and Pakistan were the top two, with Albania in seventh and Afghanistan in eighth.

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.

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 per cent) of live births.

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