Recent British statistics data show that Romanian and Polish women living in the UK have the highest fertility rates among all EU citizens living in the country, but things differ when it comes to the actual number of babies born to Romanians and Poles while in the UK.

Women born in Romania and the Czech Republic living in England and Wales had the highest total fertility rates of any EU country of birth, 2.93 and 2.77 respectively. However, in 2011 these countries of birth accounted for only a relatively small number of births, 3,500 and 1,600 respectively, according to the British Office for National Statistics.

More Polish women had babies while in the UK in 2011 than any other non-UK female group, as they gave birth to 20,500 children during that year.

So while Romanian women have high fertility rates while in UK, the number of babies born to Romanian women is relatively small compared to other groups – only 3,500.

Women born in Greece and Italy had the lowest total fertility rates of any EU country of birth, of 1.20 and 1.11 respectively.

“Women born in Germany had the second largest number of births in 2011, with around 5,100 babies. This is likely to include women who were born in Germany while their UK born parents served in the armed forces, as the UK maintained a substantial military presence in Germany for several decades after World War 2,” according to the statistics office.

All in all, a quarter of the babies born in the UK in 2011 were born to women from outside the country. In 2011, there were 724,000 births in England and Wales, an increase of 22 percent from 2001.

editor@romania-insider.com