U.S. Fertility Rate Drops to Another Historic Low

The general fertility rate in the United States decreased by 3% from 2022, reaching a historic low. This marks the second consecutive year of decline, following a brief 1% increase from 2020 to 2021. From 2014 to 2020, the rate consistently decreased by 2% annually.

These statistics and others from provisional 2023 birth data were released by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

The new report, “Births: Provisional Data for 2023,” analyzes data from more than 99% of birth certificates issued during that year. The report shows a 2% decline from 2022, with 3,591,328 births recorded in 2023.

Other findings in the new report:

• 2023 birth rates
  • declined for women ages 20–39 years
  • were unchanged for females aged 10–14 and 40–49.
• The birth rate for teenagers aged 15–19 was down 3% in 2023 to 13.2 births per 1,000 women.
• The birth rate for women ages 20–24 (55.4) reached a record low.
• The cesarean delivery rate increased for the fourth year in a row to 32.4% in 2023; the low-risk cesarean delivery rate increased to 26.6%.
• The preterm birth rate was essentially unchanged at 10.41%.

The report is available on the NCHS website at www.cdc.gov/nchs.