CDC: 2024 to 2025 Saw Decline in Number of Births, Fertility Rate in U.S.

THURSDAY, April 9, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- The number of births and general fertility rate decreased 1 percent from 2024 to 2025 in the United States, according to an April Vital Statistics Rapid Release report, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Brady E. Hamilton, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues present provisional data for 2025 on U.S. births. Data were based on 99.95 percent of all 2025 birth records received by the National Center for Health Statistics by Feb. 3, 2026.The researchers found that for the United States in 2025, the provisional number of births was 3,606,400, representing a 1 percent decrease from 2024. For females aged 15 to 44 years, the general fertility rate was 53.1 births per 1,000 females, representing a 1 percent decrease from 2024. For teenagers aged 15 to 19 years, there was a 7 percent decrease in the fertility rate in 2025 to 11.7 births per 1,000 females; declines of 11 and 7 percent were seen for younger and older teenagers, respectively (15 to 17 and 18 to 19 years of age, respectively). There was an increase in the cesarean delivery rate, from 32.4 to 32.5 percent from 2024 to 2025; an increase was also seen in the low-risk cesarean delivery rate, from 26.6 to 26.9 percent.No change was seen in the preterm birth rate overall, which remained at 10.41 percent in 2025. The early preterm birth rate decreased 1 percent from 2.72 to 2.69 percent in 2024 to 2025, while no change was seen in the late preterm birth rate (7.69 to 7.72 percent).Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

CDC: 2024 to 2025 Saw Decline in Number of Births, Fertility Rate in U.S.

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