In the previous year, there was a 14.2% rise in the number of babies born to fathers aged over 60 compared to 2023.
Out of 594,677 babies born alive in England and Wales, 1,076 had fathers aged over 60.
This year also marked the first time since 2021 that the overall number of births in England slightly increased, as per BBC.
Additionally, there was an increase in the number of births where at least one parent was born outside the UK, in both England and Wales.
Professor Allan Pacey, who is an expert in male fertility said that men over 40 have about half the fertility of men who are 25 which makes it even more surprising that older men are becoming fathers.
At the same time, the number of babies born to parents under 30 went down last year, following the pattern of people waiting longer to start a family.
As per the Office for National Statistics (ONS), unlike many countries where birth rates are falling, England saw a small increase in the number of babies born. In contrast, Wales saw drop in births.
Greg Ceely, head of population health monitoring at the Office for National Statistics, said in a statement, "Despite this overall rise, the number of births to mothers under 30 fell, as people continue to put off having children until later in life."
"The largest decrease is seen amongst those under 20 years old, which fell by almost 5%," he added.
Most popular day and weekday for births:
In 2024, more babies were born on February 23 than on any other date while among the weekdays, Tuesday had the highest birth rate.
