Every year, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) — the UK's independent fertility regulator — publishes a snapshot of what's actually happening in IVF and donor conception clinics up and down the country. The newest edition, Fertility treatment 2024: trends and figures, was published this June and draws on data from every licensed clinic in the UK. For anyone thinking about treatment, or already partway through it, it's worth pausing on what the numbers actually tell us, because some of the trends have real implications for the choices you'll make.
In 2024, around 21,400 babies were born through IVF in the UK — roughly one in every 31 births, or about one child in every UK classroom. That's more than double the rate from twenty years ago. Just as encouragingly, average birth rates per embryo transferred have climbed steadily, from around 20% in 2014 to 30% in 2024, with patients under 35 seeing rates as high as 38%.
That upward trend reflects genuine progress in lab science, embryo selection and personalised treatment planning, not just more people having treatment. It's also why it's worth checking a clinic's own track record against the national picture before you commit. Across our network, Care Fertility's results have consistently sat above the UK average for both the under-38 and 38-plus age groups — figures that are independently verified and published on the HFEA's own "Choose a Fertility Clinic" tool, so you can check them for yourself rather than taking any clinic's word for it.
One of the starker findings is the continued decline in NHS-funded IVF: down from 35% of all cycles in 2019 to just 28% in 2024. England has the lowest proportion at 25%, while Scotland remains highest at 54%. Within England specifically, funding decisions now sit with local Integrated Care Boards rather than being set nationally, and the gap between regions is wide — from 51% of cycles NHS-funded in the North East to just 20% in the South West and East Midlands.
In practice, this means two people with identical fertility needs can end up with very different funding outcomes simply because of where they live. It's one of the reasons we think it matters that a clinic can offer both pathways under one roof. At Care Fertility, NHS-funded treatment is available to eligible patients at many of our clinics, and where it isn't an option — or where someone has used up their funded cycles — the same clinical team, lab and protocols are there on a private, transparently priced basis. You're not starting again with a new team or a different standard of care; you're simply choosing the funding route that fits your circumstances.
It's easy to focus on birth rates alone, but the data on multiple births is just as important. The UK's multiple birth rate from IVF has fallen from 14.4% in 2014 to a record low of 3.2% in 2024 — among the lowest in the world — driven largely by the increasing use of single embryo transfer, now standard in 84% of cycles. Fewer multiple pregnancies means fewer of the health risks that come with them, for both patients and babies, without birth rates suffering as a result. It's a genuine good-news story buried in the statistics, and a sign of how far clinical practice has matured across the sector as a whole.
The report also points to a shift in how people build families with donor help. Use of donor insemination (DI) is declining, particularly among single patients and female same-sex couples, who are increasingly choosing IVF with donor sperm as their first treatment instead — for higher birth rates per cycle, shorter time to pregnancy and the option to store embryos for the future.
At the same time, the UK's reliance on sperm donors recruited from overseas has grown sharply, now accounting for 57% of new sperm donors in 2024, up from 33% a decade ago. That's often about ethnic-matching and reducing wait times, but importing donor sperm can also mean longer lead times and less choice. It's part of why having our own in-house egg and sperm banks matters to us: Care Fertility recruits and screens donors directly in the UK, including more than 70 active sperm donors across over 25 ethnic backgrounds, so patients have a wider, faster route to a well-matched donor without depending on imports — and the option to reserve samples from the same donor for future siblings.
Not every trend in the report is positive. Birth rates remain around five to six percentage points lower for Black and Asian patients than for White patients and those from a Mixed ethnic background, a disparity the HFEA itself says isn't explained by its data and likely reflects a mix of age, health and social factors that the sector doesn't yet fully understand. This isn't something any single clinic can claim to have solved, and we don't pretend otherwise. What we can do is keep building donor diversity, recruiting consultants and teams that reflect the communities we treat, and pushing for the research that will eventually explain — and close — that gap.
Read in full, the 2024 figures tell a story of genuine progress — higher birth rates, safer treatment, more family types being supported — sitting alongside a funding system that's becoming harder to navigate and outcomes that still aren't equal for everyone. If you're weighing up your own options, it's worth checking the HFEA's clinic search tool for verified, age-banded success rates at any clinic you're considering, asking directly about NHS eligibility in your area, and finding out whether a clinic runs its own donor bank or relies on import.
As the UK's largest fertility group, with 24 clinics across England, Wales and Ireland, Care Fertility's aim is simple: wherever you live, you should be able to reach an accredited clinic with above-average outcomes, real NHS and private options, and our own donor banks, without having to compromise on any of them.
Source: HFEA, Fertility treatment 2024: trends and figures, published June 2026. Clinic-specific success rates can be independently verified via the HFEA's Choose a Fertility Clinic tool; figures vary by age, treatment type and individual circumstances.
Have questions about your fertility options? Get in touch with our team, we're here to help.