Scottish births at lowest level since records began in 1855, new data finds

New figures have revealed the number of births in Scotland hit its lowest level since records began more than 170 years ago.

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) has released their annual report charting data on births, deaths, marriages and adoptions for 2025.

The new figures reveal some continuing trends, including the widening gap between births and deaths.

Births in Scotland totalled 45,067 last year, 696 fewer than in 2024, and is the lowest number since records began back in 1855.

However in 1855, the number of births in Scotland was more than double what it is now.

It is also the third consecutive year of a declining birth rate in Scotland.

The top five areas for recorded births were:

Glasgow at 6,106
Edinburgh at 4,226
North Lanarkshire at 3,063
South Lanarkshire at 2,913
Fife at 2,853

In addition, the country’s fertility rate dropped to its lowest level since NRS began collecting data in 1951.

There were 16,659 more deaths than births last year, at 61,726, which is 6.3% lower than expected.

The gap between the two figures continues to increase, after deaths overtook births in 2014.

Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease ‘leading causes of death‘

The NRS also looked into the causes of death, with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease accounting for 10.8% or 6,685.

This is closely followed by ischaemic heart diseases at 10.6%, in a list compiled by the Office for National Statistics.

The NRS noted that cancer deaths are recorded separately, and if grouped together, figures would be “substantially higher” than dementia and Alzheimer’s disease-related deaths.

Areas such as Glasgow have relatively similar numbers for both births (6,106) and deaths (6,220).

However, in some areas the gap between deaths and births is significantly wider, such as Fife (1,459), Dumfries and Galloway (996), and Highland (938).

The NRS also looked at the number of marriages in Scotland, which rose to 27,191 in 2025. Around 4% of marriages were same-sex.

There were 944 civil partnerships registered in 2025, the highest number since 2006, mainly driven by mixed-sex couples, which accounted for 82% of civil partnerships.