US Birthrate Dips Slightly in 2022 After Rebound in Prior Year

The US birth rate declined slightly last year after picking up in 2021 from a multi-decade low in 2020, when the pandemic struck.

US births dipped to 3,661,220 last year from 3,664,292 in 2021, according to provisional 2022 birth data released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

The number of births has declined by an average of 2% per year from 2014 through 2020, including a drop of 4% from 2019 through 2020, when Covid-19 was declared a pandemic. That year saw the lowest birth rate since 1980.

The total fertility ...