Getty ImagesThe number of babies born in Scotland fell to a record low last year, official figures show.
National Records of Scotland (NRS) statistics reveal 45,763 live births were registered – down 172 on 2023 – the lowest since records began in 1855.
The country’s total fertility rate also decreased from 1.27 to 1.25.
The NRS said that for a population to replace itself, if there is no migration, the total fertility rate needed to be around 2.1.
It said the overall numbers reflected “long-term changes in our population”.
The report also found the stillbirth rate was 3.5 for every thousand live and still births, the joint lowest recorded.
The infant death rate also fell to 3.5 per thousand live births, down from a recent high of 4.0 in 2023.
Last year there were 16,528 more deaths than births.
The last time Scotland had more births than deaths was in 2014, and the gap has generally widened since then.
The figures also show motherhood is changing across Scotland.
In the 1960s most births were to women in their 20s.
But since 2010 most babies have been born to mothers in the 30 to 34 age group.
Last year more than a third (35.7%) of births were to women in this bracket.
Meanwhile, more than half of babies (51.7%) were born to unmarried parents.
Fertility rates – which represent the average number of children that a group of women would expect to have, per woman – were at their lowest in the major cities.
The City of Edinburgh had the lowest total fertility rate in the country (0.99), followed by Glasgow City (1.05) and Aberdeen City (1.06).
Midlothian (1.66), East Renfrewshire (1.56) and Na h-Eileanan Siar (1.51) had the highest fertility rates.
Adoption figures remained steady across the country, with 369 recorded in total last year.
This was the same number as 2023 but the longer term trend shows the number of adoptions have been decreasing.
Phillipa Haxton, head of vital events statistics for NRS, said: “The annual figures for 2024 show a year of record lows.
“Births, fertility, stillbirth and age-standardised mortality rates are all at their lowest levels since our records began.
“These figures reflect long-term changes in our population.”
Ms Haxton said Scotland has had more deaths than births for over a decade.
He added: “The gap has widened over time but there was a small narrowing in the most recent year due to a static birth rate and fewer deaths.”
