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Updated May 17, 2018

U.S. fertility rate lowest in 40 years

Haley Britzky

The U.S. fertility rate hit its lowest point in four decades in 2017, according to the Center for Disease Control's National Center for Health Statistics, and birth rates declined for almost all women under 40 years old.

Data: 1960-2016 – World Bank World Development Indicators, 2017 provisional – CDC National Center for Health Statistics; Chart: Harry Stevens/Axios
Data: 1960-2016 – World Bank World Development Indicators, 2017 provisional – CDC National Center for Health Statistics; Chart: Harry Stevens/Axios

Highlights from the CDC report:

  • The fertility rate between 2016–2017 is the biggest one-year decline since 2010.
  • Birth rates for teenagers between 15 and 19 years old all dropped, while increasing for women in their early 40s.
  • The provisional number of births in the U.S. dropped 2% between 2016–2017, sitting at 3,853,472 births.
  • Births from Hispanic women dropped 2%, and 3% for non-Hispanic white women. The number was "essentially unchanged" for non-Hispanic black women.
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