Number of babies born in Scotland hits record low for third year in a row

Alison Byrne, the Registrar General and chief executive of the National Records of Scotland (NRS), said it was the eleventh year in a row where deaths have outnumbered births and the third in a row to see a new record low for births.

The statistics will add to growing concern about the demographic challenges facing Scotland.

The annual release of data on births, marriages, deaths and other vital events from Scotland’s Registrar General shows there were 45,067 live births registered in 2025. This is 696 fewer than in 2024 and the lowest annual total since records began in 1855.

READ MORE: Why are fewer Scots having babies? The answer is very obvious

There were 61,726 deaths registered in 2025 - the eleventh consecutive year of more deaths than births.

The NRS said this has happened before, with an eleven year period of “negative natural change” between 1995 and 2005.

However, this time the gap is much wider. Back then there were almost 35,000 more deaths than births over the course of the 11-year period. Since 2014 there have been almost 125,000 more deaths than births.

Deaths from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease narrowly overtook Ischaemic heart disease as the leading cause of death in 2025. This is the first time it has been the most common cause of death.

This is based on a methodology which divides cancer into several different causes. If all cancers were grouped together it would be the leading cause of death.

The country’s total fertility rate (TFR) has fallen to 1.23. It would need to be at 2.1 for the population to replace itself without migration.

Scotland last had a TFR above 2.1 in 1973. The latest population estimates from NRS showed that Scotland’s population increased slightly in the year to 30 June 2025, and this was driven by migration.

Ms Byrne said: “This is the eleventh year in a row where deaths have outnumbered births and the third in a row where we have a new record low for the number of births in Scotland.

“Generations of change are captured in these figures. This data will inform debate and decision-making across the public and private sectors, as we consider what this means for our future.”

Elsewhere in the report, there were 188 stillbirths in 2025, a rate of 4.2 for every thousand live and still births. This is the highest stillbirth rate since 2020 though still low historically. There were 150 infant deaths in 2025, a rate of 3.3 for every thousand live births in 2025. This was a decrease from a rate of 3.5 in 2024.

There were 340 adoptions in 2025, down from 369 in 2023 and 2024. A stepparent was the adopter in 44 per cent of cases.

The age-standardised mortality rate, which takes into account the size and age structure of the population, was 1,074 per 100,000 people in 2025, the lowest since the start of our published time series in 1994.

There were 27,191 marriages in Scotland in 2025, 236 more than in 2024. There were 944 civil partnerships registered in 2025, the highest number since 2006 - the first full year where civil partnerships were available. Of these, 82 per cent were for mixed-sex couples.

For the first time the tables include a breakdown for people aged 16 and 17 who got married. Previously these were in an age band for all teenage participants. The figures show there were 20 individuals aged under 18 who got married in 2025.