National Records of Scotland

Preserving the past, Recording the present, Informing the future

Vital Events - Births

Vital Events - Births

Births data can also be found in our Quarterly, Preliminary Annual, Weekly and Monthly Data and Vital Events Reference Tables publications in the General Publications section.

The Vital Events Reference Tables include the following statistics about births, (some tables are for the latest year, others provide time-series):

  • numbers and rates (per 1,000 population), for Scotland, Local Authority and NHS Board areas - Tables 1.1 to 1.3
  • numbers by the age-group of the mother, for Scotland - Table 3.1
  • crude birth rate, gross reproduction rate, net reproduction rate, general fertility rate and total fertility rate, for Scotland - Table 3.4
  • various fertility rates by the age (or the age-group) of the mother, for Scotland - Tables 3.5 to 3.7
  • numbers by the country of birth of the mother, for Scotland - Table 3.13
  • numbers by the age of mother, for Scotland, Local Authority and NHS Board areas - Table 3.14
  • fertility rates by the age-group of the mother for Local Authority and NHS Board areas - Table 3.16

Births - Background Information

Babies' First Names (previously Popular Names)
The information that used to be available via the Popular Names page has been moved to a new Names section. The link in the heading immediately above this paragraph will take you to the new Babies’ First Names page.

Birth Time Series data
This page contains datasets in Excel format that may be particularly useful for users who would like the same data for a series of different years rather than just for one year. 

Re-registrations of births are not included in any of the statistics of births. A separate table giving the number of births which were re-registered in each year from 1935 is available from the Birth Time Series data page.

Birth statistics available from other web sites
This page will direct you to some other official web sites which have statistics on births, including some figures for areas within Scotland and for other parts of the UK.

Contact Us

Please get in touch if you need any further information, or have any suggestions for improvement.

E-mail: [email protected]

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All statistical publications