Scotland breastfeeding rate reaches 70% as gap between richest and poorest areas narrows
Public Health Scotland figures show the biggest gains in the most deprived areas, and the Scottish Government is commissioning a new infant feeding survey.
By Daily Oracles News Team2 min read
Seven in 10 babies born in Scotland are now breastfed at least for a time after birth, the highest level since records began, the Scottish Government said. Public Health Scotland (PHS) found that 70% of babies reviewed in 2025-26 had ever been breastfed, compared with 63% in 2016-17.
The figures come from health visitor reviews at around 10 to 14 days, at six to eight weeks and at 13 to 15 months. PHS said the rise had been driven particularly by younger mothers and families in more deprived areas.
Breastfeeding is still much less common in poorer areas. In the most deprived fifth of Scotland, the share of babies ever breastfed went from 47% in 2016-17 to 60% in 2025-26. In the least deprived fifth it has stayed at around 82%.
Feeding for longer
More mothers are continuing past the first weeks. Of babies who were breastfed at any point, 77% were still receiving breast milk at the six-to-eight week review, against 64% in 2016-17.
Across all babies reviewed in 2025-26, 63% were getting some breast milk at the first health visitor visit, including 41% fed on breast milk alone. By six to eight weeks those shares were 54% and 37%, and by 13 to 15 months 23% and 12%.
Exclusive breastfeeding at the first visit is at its highest level in the series, which starts in 2002-03. Much of the longer-term growth has been in mixed feeding, where babies get both breast milk and formula: at six to eight weeks it covered 17% of babies, up from 11% in 2015-16.
On weaning, 88% of babies were started on solid food at six months or older, and fewer than 1% before four months.
New survey
The Scottish Government said it would run a new infant feeding survey to find out what shapes how newborns are fed, how much support mothers receive, and the part played by maternal nutrition and wider social and economic circumstances. It said the survey would sit alongside the annual statistics. The next PHS release is due in November 2027.
In England, 57.3% of babies were breastfed at six to eight weeks in 2025-26, the highest since those figures began.
