Nearly one in 10 births in the UK in 2014 were to citizens from other European Union (EU) countries, according to figures from Eurostat.
In statistics that show the scale of EU immigration into Britain, the country has the highest number of births in the bloc to mothers from other member states.
The figures from the EU’s statistics agency show that one in six births in the EU in 2014 took place in Britain. Overall, 775,908 children were born in the UK, the second highest number after France, which had 820,000.
The Times reports that a total of 73,884 births were to mothers from other EU states in 2014, an increase of over 3,000 on the year before. In comparison, Germany, which is regarded as Europe’s strongest economy, had 43,350.
A further 62,224 births were to mothers from outside the EU, while Germany had 85,316 in 2014, a year before it witness the massive influx of migrants.
Lord Green of Deddington, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said: “This is yet more evidence of the massive impact of immigration on our birth rate and of the growing challenge we face in integrating new arrivals into our society.”
Figures from Britain’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) also show that 900,000 EU nationals have migrated to Britain since 2010, with many of those now starting families. Women born in Romania had the highest average number of children at 2.93.
Simon Ross of campaign group Population Matters said: “These figures show that the impact of migration is not simply in the number of people coming into and out of the UK. The impact is shown by the number of young people entering the UK and then having a family and that affects the birth rate.
“Migrants are predominantly people who are in the age group who want to start a family and that is what they are doing. They are generally in the age bracket when fertility is at its highest.”
“A growing population is having an impact on schools, housing, transport and healthcare. It is putting pressure on resources and affecting the quality of life,” he added.