Declines in Births by Month: United States, 2020

NCHS released a report that presents provisional 2020 and final 2019 and 2018 data on changes in the number of U.S. births by race and Hispanic origin of mother and by month of birth and state.

Findings:

• From 2019 to 2020, the number of births for the United States declined for each month, with the largest declines occurring in December (8%), August (7%), and October and November (6%).
• Larger declines in births were seen in the second half of 2020 (down 6%) compared with the first half (down 2%) of 2020.
• The number of births declined in both the first and second 6 months of 2020 compared with 2019 for nearly all race and Hispanic-origin groups, with larger declines in the second half of 2020 compared with the first half of the year.
• Births declined in 20 states in the first half of 2020, and in all states in the second half of 2020 (declines in 7 states were not significant).
• Changes in births by race and Hispanic origin and by state were less pronounced from 2018 to 2019; the number of births declined for 9 months by 1%–3%.