BIRTH numbers in Jersey have fallen to their lowest level in decades, with new figures showing the Island’s fertility rate has dropped to a record low and well below the level needed to sustain the population.
A total of 711 babies were born to Jersey resident mothers in 2025, the lowest annual figure recorded since at least 1995 and slightly down from 720 the previous year. The latest number is 37% lower than the peak of 1,124 births recorded in 2012.
The latest Births and Breastfeeding Profile, published last week by Public Health, also revealed that Jersey’s total fertility rate – the average number of children a woman would have over her lifetime – has fallen to 1.14 births per woman.
This is the lowest since records began in 2001 and well below the replacement level of around 2.1 children per woman needed for a population to remain stable without migration.
Of the 711 babies born in 2025, 52% were boys and 48% were girls, giving a sex ratio of 1,079 males for every 1,000 females, slightly higher than the figure recorded in England and Wales.
The report shows Jersey’s fertility rate is significantly lower than in England and Wales, where the most recent comparable figure is 1.45 births per woman.
Birth rates have been falling for more than a decade. The Island’s crude birth rate – the number of births per 1,000 people – dropped from 11.4 in 2012 to just 6.8 in 2025. This is also well below the rate in England and Wales, which stood at 9.6 in 2024.
The report also found that Jersey’s general fertility rate – the number of births per 1,000 women of childbearing age – stood at 38 in 2025, compared with 49 in England and Wales.
Falling birth rates are also expected to present challenges for the Island’s education system, affecting everything from the number of teachers required to the size and number of schools needed in future.
The decline in births is already beginning to filter through into early years education and is expected to move up through parts of the primary sector in the coming years.
Smaller country schools are likely to feel the effects more acutely, where declining class sizes are less likely to be offset by children whose families have recently moved to the Island.
The JEP understands that education leaders have been closely monitoring the trend and have been developing a strategy to respond to some of the pressures it is expected to create, with further details due to be released imminently.
The latest Births and Breastfeeding Profile also showed demographic changes among mothers. The average age of women giving birth in Jersey is now 33, compared with 31 in England and Wales.
Over the past three decades, the proportion of younger mothers has steadily declined while births to older women have increased.
In the mid-1990s, 42% of births were to women aged 20 to 29. Today, that figure has dropped to 25%.
At the same time, the number of births to women aged 30 to 39 has risen from 51% to 67%, while births to women aged 40 and over have increased from 2% to 7%.
More than a third of mothers – 35% – are now aged 35 or above, a proportion that has doubled since 1995 and is higher than the equivalent figure in England and Wales.
Teenage motherhood remains extremely rare in Jersey. Over the past two decades, births to mothers aged under 18 have consistently accounted for less than 1% of all births.
The report also notes that women aged 30 to 34 have the highest fertility rates of any age group in Jersey, reflecting the broader trend towards having children later in life.
Alongside falling birth numbers, the report highlights a change in how babies are delivered – with nearly half now born by C-section in Jersey.
During the three-year period from 2023 to 2025, around 48% of all births in Jersey were delivered by Caesarean section.
The figure has almost doubled since the early 2000s, when around 27% of births were delivered by Caesarean section.
Jersey’s rate is also higher than in England, where 41% of births were by C-section in 2023-24.
The report explains that Caesarean deliveries can be either emergency procedures or planned operations.
Among first-time mothers in Jersey, 32% gave birth by emergency C-section and 19% by planned C-section during the latest three-year period.
Rates were slightly different for women having their second child, with 20% having an emergency C-section and 28% a planned procedure.
The likelihood of a Caesarean birth also increases with age.
For example, only 13% of mothers aged 25 to 29 had a planned C-section, compared with 32% of mothers aged 35 to 39 and 36% of those aged 40 to 44.
Despite the sharp drop in birth numbers, the report highlights positive trends in infant feeding.
In 2025, 72% of babies received breast milk as their first feed, either from their mother or from donor milk.
Among babies whose feeding method was recorded at discharge from maternity care, 84% were being breastfed.
Almost half of mothers (48%) were exclusively breastfeeding, while a further 19% were combining breast and formula feeding.
Breastfeeding continues for many families beyond the first few weeks, with 71% of babies still being breastfed at six to eight weeks – a substantial rise from 45% in 2010.
This rate is also significantly higher than in England, where 56% of babies were breastfed at the same stage in the most recent data.
Even at a year old, more than a quarter of babies are still receiving breast milk.
During 699 developmental checks for babies aged nine to twelve months in 2025, health visitors recorded that 28% were still being breastfed.
The report also looks at public attitudes to breastfeeding in Jersey, drawing on responses from the latest Jersey Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.
Around one-in-five respondents were not aware that Islanders are allowed to breastfeed in public places.
Public support for breastfeeding in public places has grown over time. The survey found two-thirds of adults strongly agree that women should feel supported to breastfeed in public, while a further 17% agree slightly.
Overall, 80% of adults said they would feel comfortable if a mother breastfed her child near them, up from 65% in 2017.
But practical workplace support remains limited.
Only around one-in-three workers said their employer provides rest breaks for breastfeeding mothers, while 23% reported having access to a private space for breastfeeding at work. Only 46% think there is a supportive environment overall.
The majority of babies – 95% – are born at the Jersey General Hospital, while unplanned home births account for less than 1% of deliveries.
Around one in ten babies (6%) are born pre-term, before 37 weeks of pregnancy.
Most births are first children, accounting for 54% of deliveries, while second children make up 29% and third or later children 17%.
The report also highlights generally positive outcomes for infant health. Only 2% of full-term babies were classified as having a low birth weight, a figure similar to that seen in England.
Infant mortality rates in Jersey remain low, at 1.3 deaths per 1,000 live births, compared with 4.2 per 1,000 in England.
Stillbirth rates are also lower than in England, with 2.2 stillbirths per 1,000 births recorded in Jersey in the latest three-year period.
The report also notes that around 460 children aged four and under are admitted to hospital for emergency medical care each year on average, including around 195 infants under the age of one.
