Baby booms in St Paul’s Bay and Mosta ensured the northern district enjoyed 2014’s highest birth rate – despite not being the most populous region.

The Demographic Review released by the National Statistics Office showed that the northern district had the highest crude birth rate at 12.2 births per 1,000 people.

The district, made up of Għargħur, Mellieħa, Mġarr, Mosta, St Paul’s Bay and Naxxar, ranks fourth out of six regions in population size.

Gozo had the lowest regional crude birth rate

St Paul’s Bay, where the primary school has resorted to mobile classrooms as a stop-gap measure until a new school is built, registered the birth of 225 babies in 2014. Mosta came in second, with one fewer baby.

Also, children up to nine years of age make up 10.6 per cent of the Northern region’s population, the highest percentage from all districts.

After Birkirkara, Mosta and St Paul’s Bay are the largest localities. The once-idyllic fishing village at St Paul’s Bay has mushroomed into a cosmopolitan locality that has spread to Xemxija, Buġibba and Qawra.

The second highest crude birth rate was registered in the southeastern district at 9.9 babies per 1,000 people.

Marsascala, another community where a new primary school is required, led the charges in this district, with 146 births in 2014. Next in line came Żejtun and Birżebbuġa, with 116 and 109 babies born there, respectively.

The southeastern region also includes Gudja, Għaxaq, Kirkop, Marsaxlokk, Mqabba, Qrendi, Safi and Żurrieq. This district comes in a close second with children up to age nine making up 10.5 per cent of the population. On the flip side, Gozo had the lowest regional crude birth rate at 8.6, followed by the southern harbour area at 8.9. In Gozo, the largest number of births were registered in Victoria, 53, followed by Xagħra, 33.

Żabbar, in the southern harbour district, witnessed the highest number of babies born in the region with 157 births.