Conception rates in London are continuing to fall according to new figures released today by the Office for National Statistics.


Popular on LondonNet


In 2013 across the whole of England and Wales there were an estimated 872,849 conceptions to women of all ages, compared with 884,748 in 2012, a decrease of 1.3 per cent. In London there were 170,900 conceptions in 2013, compared to 173,724 in 2012, a drop of 1.6 per cent.

Between 2010 and 2013 the overall conception figure for the capital is down from 178,706, a decrease of 4.6%.

As in previous years the pregnancy figures are higher in outer London (90.8 conception rate per 1,000 women) compared to inner London (78.1). The overall average level of conceptions per thousand women in the capital is 85.2.

Highs and lows

The borough with the highest conception rate in 2013 in London is Barking and Dagenham (111.8), while the lowest figure recorded was in Camden (61.1).

Conceptions for those Londoners under the age of 16 has dropped to 5.7 per 1,000 women, down from 6.4 in 2010. The shift has continued toward London women becoming pregnant at older ages with an anuual increase of 1.4 per cent of conceptions in the over-40s.

Capital Conceptions (numbers and rates),
2009-2013

Number (Per 1,000 women)

LONDON 170,900 (85.2)

Inner London 69,363 (78.1)

Camden 3,714 (61.1)
Hackney & City of London 6,075 (83.0)
Hammersmith and Fulham 3,468 (71.2)
Haringey 5,508 (84.2)
Islington 4,010 (65.5)
Kensington and Chelsea 2,496 (68.5)
Lambeth 6,581 (76.0)
Lewisham 6,584 (92.9)
Newham 7,883 (100.7)
Southwark 6,825 (83.9)
Tower Hamlets 6,077 (76.8)
Wandsworth 6,600 (72.5)
Westminster 3,542 (63.8)

Outer London 101,537 (90.8)

Barking and Dagenham 4,967 (111.8)
Barnet 6,815 (83.4)
Bexley 4,002 (84.0)
Brent 7,022 (95.9)
Bromley 5,198 (82.9)
Croydon 7,691 (95.4)
Ealing 7,280 (92.9)
Enfield 6,451 (91.4)
Greenwich 6,045 (96.7)
Harrow 4,595 (90.4)
Havering 4,053 (86.1)
Hillingdon 5,778 (91.8)
Hounslow 5,846 (96.5)
Kingston upon Thames 2,775 (71.5)
Merton 4,232 (89.0)
Redbridge 6,142 (95.5)
Richmond upon Thames 3,176 (78.6)
Sutton 3,389 (82.5)
Waltham Forest 6,080 (97.1)

Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence.

Photo: Nicolas Raymond licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. NB Image has been re-sized and cropped to fit.