The fertility rate for England and Wales has fallen for the third year in a row to reach a new record low, figures show.
The total fertility rate across both nations, defined as the average number of live children women would expect to have across their childbearing life, stood at 1.41 in 2024.
This is down from 1.42 in 2023 and is the lowest since comparable data began in 1938, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
For a country's population to remain stable over time - discounting any impact from migration - the total fertility rate needs to be around 2.1.
The drop in the rate comes despite the number of births in England and Wales increasing slightly last year from 591,072 to 594,677.
But this was offset by a jump in the size of the overall population, meaning fertility rates fell overall.
The figures come just a day after Scotland's total fertility rate was also confirmed to have dropped to a new record low, falling from 1.27 in 2023 to 1.25 in 2024.
The latest rate for Northern Ireland is due to be published later this year.
Greg Ceely, ONS head of population health monitoring, said: "Fertility rates in England and Wales have been in overall decline since 2010.
"The total number of births increased last year, for the first time since 2021, but this was offset by population growth.
"As a result, fertility rates fell overall, and are now at the lowest rates on record."
The ONS figures show that the West Midlands had the highest regional fertility rate in 2024, at 1.59, while south-west England had the lowest (1.31).
Most regions saw a drop in the total fertility rate, with only two - London and the West Midlands - seeing a year-on-year increase.
At a local authority level, Luton in Bedfordshire had the highest total fertility rate in 2024 (2.00 children per woman), followed by Barking & Dagenham in London (1.99), Slough in Berkshire (1.96) and Sandwell in the West Midlands (1.91).
The City of London had the lowest rate (0.32), followed by Cambridge (0.95), Brighton & Hove in East Sussex (0.97) and Islington in London (0.99).
Newport had the highest local rate in Wales (1.64) while Cardiff had the lowest (1.19).