More human twins are being born than ever before, according to a new and comprehensive global study. The UK registers somewhere between 15 to 17 twin deliveries per 1,000 deliveries – which puts it in the mid-range globally. Figure from the research paper shows twin deliveries per 1,000 total deliveries in 2010–2015Percentage change in twin deliveries per 1,000 deliveries between 1980–1985 and 2010–2015The twinning rate in Africa is so high because of the high number of dizygotic twins born there – twins born from two separate eggs. Most of the increase in twinning rates comes from dizygotic twins, while there has been little change in the rate of monozygotic twins (twins from the same egg), which has remained stable at about 4 per 1000 deliveries worldwide. 'Because infant mortality rates among twins have been going down, many more of the twins born in the second period of our study will grow up as twins compared to those born in the early 80s,' he said.

Source: Daily Mail March 12, 2021 00:04 UTC