US Births Fell Last Year to Lowest Total Since 1979, Report Says

US births declined in 2023 to their lowest level in more than 40 years, continuing a two-decade trend of Americans having fewer children.

Total births for the year fell 2% to 3.59 million, according to preliminary data released Thursday from the US National Center for Health Statistics, a level not seen since 1979, when about 3.4 million US babies were born. The rate of US women of child-bearing age having babies is the lowest since the center began compiling statistics, said Brady Hamilton, an NCHS demographer and lead author of the report.

Birth rates in countries around the world ...