The U.S. birth rate dropped to a historic low after experiencing a rise during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on the latest data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday.
The estimated count of births in 2023 was 3,591,328, which is a 2 percent decrease from the 3,667,758 births in the previous year.
“Last year, the difference was very small. This year, it’s something on the order of 74,000 or thereabouts. So it’s fairly large,” remarked CDC report author Brady Hamilton. CBS News.
The birth rate decreased significantly for certain ethnic and racial groups.
The number dropped by five percent for American Indian and Alaska Native women from 2022 to 2023. For Black women, the decline was four percent.
White women had a three percent decrease, Asian women had a two percent decrease, and Hispanic women had a one percent increase in births.
The new data revealed a two percent decline in the total fertility rate from 2022. The birth rates for females aged 15-19 and 35–39 decreased in 2023.
The report found that the cesarean delivery rate increased to 32.4 percent in 2023, slightly up from 32.1 percent in 2022. There was an increase in cesarean delivery among Asian, Hispanic, and White women, but it was highest among Black mothers at 37 percent, a 0.2 increase from the previous year.
