The latest statistics on adoptions in England and Wales.

The key points from the latest release are:

• There were 4,725 children entered into the Adopted Children Register following court orders made in 2007. This was 40 fewer than in 2006, representing a decrease of 0.8 per cent;
• This is the third successive year that the number of adoptions has decreased;
• The number of adoptions is at its lowest level since 1998.

The full release can be downloaded from National Statistics Online.