KEY FACTS
There were just under 3.6 million babies born in the U.S. in 2023, according to provisional data released by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, a drop of 2% from the year before.
The data, based on more than 99% of birth certificates issued that year, is broadly in line with a general annual decline of roughly 1-2% over the last decade, a steady drop punctuated only by a steep plunge of 4% at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic followed by a modest, expectation-defying pandemic baby bump.â€
The birth rate for women of childbearing age — a category covering females ages 15 to 44 — was 54.4 births per 1,000, the CDC report said, down 3% from 2022.
NCHS demographer Brady Hamilton said the rate is the lowest since the center started compiling data on new births, falling below the previous low of around 56 births per 1,000 in 2020.
Teen births also hit a new record low last year with 13.2 births for every 1,000 teens ages 15 to 19, though the drop of 3% was smaller than the average decline of 7% a year from 2007 through 2022, the report said, without offering an explanation for the fall or the flattening rate, Forbes reported.
The rate of cesarean deliveries, which now account for almost a third of all deliveries (32.4%), also increased for the fourth consecutive year, the CDC report said, the highest rate since 2012 and with rates highest for Black mothers (37%).