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Sunday, October 25, 2026

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Public health · Sunday, October 25, 2026

U.S. births fell in 2025, and fertility hit a record low

The File desk · Oct. 25, 2026, 6:41 a.m. ET

Confirmed1 primary sources

Status

Confirmed from National Center for Health Statistics Data Brief No. 571, October 2026. The page was last reviewed on Oct. 21, 2026. The figures are final registered births for 2025.
  • Confirmed
    3,612,012 births were registered in 2025, less than 1 percent below 2024.
  • Confirmed
    The general fertility rate fell 1 percent, to 53.2 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, which the center calls a record low.
Fewer babies were born in the United States in 2025, and the fertility rate fell to a record low. The health statistics center counted 3,612,012 registered births, down less than 1 percent from 2024. The page carrying those figures was last reviewed on Oct. 21.1
The general fertility rate was 53.2 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 44. That is a 1 percent drop from 53.8 in 2024. The center says the rate fell 1 percent to a record low. Birth rates for females ages 10 to 29 fell to record lows. Rates for women ages 30 to 44 rose. The rate for women 45 to 49 did not change.1
Why it matters (Estimate). A record-low fertility rate means fewer children, over time, than the country has been having, even though the drop in the raw number of births last year was small. Schools, the labor force, and Social Security all depend on how many people are born. One year does not set that future, but it does say the long slide in the rate did not stop in 2025.
The same brief says the share of mothers who started prenatal care in the first trimester rose to 76.3 percent. The cesarean rate stayed at 32.4 percent, the same as 2024. Those are the center's figures for the year, not a forecast.2
How we know

Notes

  1. 1.National Center for Health Statistics, Data Brief No. 571, October 2026, Brady E. Hamilton and Michelle J.K. Osterman. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db571.htm The page says “Last Reviewed: October 21, 2026.” “In 2025, 3,612,012 births were registered in the United States, a decrease of less than 1% from 2024 (3,628,934).” “The GFR was 53.2 births per 1,000 females ages 15–44, a decrease of 1% from 53.8 in 2024.” “GFR decreased by 1% to a record low.” “The age-specific fertility rates decreased for females ages 10–29 to record lows, increased for women ages 30–44.”
  2. 2.Same brief. Prenatal care beginning in the first trimester increased to 76.3 percent. The cesarean delivery rate did not change from 2024 to 2025 and is given as 32.4 percent. A line in the brief's discussion drops the final “s” in “United States.” The key-findings sentence is the one used for the birth count.

What is still unknown or disputed

  • Why the rate fell. The brief reports the counts and does not give a cause.
  • Births in 2026. Not in this brief.
  • Whether the record low uses the same series all the way back. The brief calls the general fertility rate a record low and cites its own earlier reports.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Births in the United States, 2025, Data Brief No. 571

    National Center for Health Statistics · October 21, 2026

    3,612,012 births were registered in 2025. The general fertility rate fell to 53.2, which the center calls a record low.

    https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db571.htm