Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of people under the age of 18 are in foster care.

At 31 March 2017, there were 72,670 looked after children in England of whom 53,420 children were in foster placements.

The number of children in foster placements can also be expressed as a rate per 10,000 children under 18 years of age using the mid-year population estimates provided by the Office for National Statistics. Figures at 31 March 2017 show there were 45 children per 10,000 of the population aged under 18 who were in foster placements in England.

The Department for Education only holds the information for England. The devolved administrations hold the information for the other constituent countries.