The FreeBMD database was updated on Friday, 24 July 2026 to contain 296,256,811 unique records, up from 296,061,731 last month.
Years with more than 10,000 additions are: 1994-96 for births, 1995-96 for marriages, and 1996-97 for deaths.
Reviewing the significant
Turn-of-the-Century Birth Peak & Mid-Century Baby Boom: Total births reached an all-time historical peak in 1903 (1,934,153 births) and experienced a prominent mid-century surge peaking in 1964 (954,322 births) before tapering off in the 1970s.
World War I Demographic Impact: Births dropped to a low in 1917 (683,164 births) during WWI, followed by a sharp post-war demographic rebound in 1920 (978,628 births).
World War II & Post-War Marriage and Birth Spikes: Marriages reached an all-time historical peak in 1940 (1,000,178 marriages) at the start of WWII, followed by a post-war birth boom in 1947 (935,118 births).
1918 Flu Pandemic Mortality Peak: Deaths reached an intense local maximum in 1918 (617,529 deaths), reflecting the global Spanish Flu pandemic and late-war mortality.
Lowest Number of Deaths: Remarkably, 8 of the 10 years with the lowest number of deaths were in the 1920s.