Baby-boom Cardiff helps Wales population to rise

Mar 26 2008 by Katie Bodinger, South Wales Echo

THE population of Wales is on the increase for the first time in more than a decade – helped by a baby boom in the capital.

The latest statistics released by the Office for National Statistics show that across Wales more babies are being born than people are dying for the first time since the mid-1990s.

Cardiff was the local authority with the largest growth in the number of births between 2001 and 2006 at 17.5 per cent.

Wales’ population has increased by an average of 7,100 a year, the figure driven up by the number of people moving here.

The number of deaths recorded in 2006 was 31,083, the lowest annual total recorded during the period 1971-2006, and the number of births in Wales increased from 30,616 in 2001 to 33,628 in 2006.

The document, Wales’ Population 2008, also reveals Cardiff had one of the highest numbers of people moving into the authority from within the UK.

The city also had the highest number of migrants from outside the UK (19,600).

Merthyr Tydfil was the only local authority to see its population decrease in 2006, even though the number of births outweighed the number of deaths. This was as a result of more people moving away.

Wales’ population increased from 2.89 million in 1997 to 2.97 million and is expected to top three million by the end of this year.

Helen Rodgers, director of the Royal College of Midwives in Wales, said they had noticed the birth rate going up.

“One of the main reasons is people are staying in Wales to settle down because it’s a thriving country,” she said.

“We’re also attracting more people to the country and migrant births will have an effect on the birth rate.

“Maternity care is getting better and women have more choice than ever.”

Cultural historian Peter Stead said the figures showed Wales was going in a positive direction at the start of the new century.

“Wales is coming to terms with life in the 21st Century. It’s a lot more sophisticated than before and you get a sense we are becoming citizens of the world.

“The migration figures bode well.

“It shows we are attracting skilled workers and business people to the country who can make a positive contribution.

“Social barriers are being broken down and there’s a sense that the whole of Wales is ours.”

echo.newsdesk@mediawales.co.uk