Births in 2018 Lowest in 32 years

Only 3,788,235 babies were born in the U.S. in 2018—the fewest births since 1986, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Except for a small increase in 2014, the number of births has fallen in every year since 2007.

Number of births (in 000s)
2018: 3,788
2017: 3,856
2016: 3,946
2015: 3,978 
2014: 3,988
2013: 3,932
2012: 3,953
2011: 3,954
2010: 3,999 
2009: 4,131
2008: 4,248
2007: 4,316 (record high)

Records were broken again and again in 2018. The number of births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 (the general fertility rate) fell to a record low of 59.0 in 2018. The birth rates for women aged 15 to 19, 20 to 24, and 25 to 29 hit new record lows in 2018. The total fertility rate—the number of births a woman can expect in her lifetime given current age-specific fertility rates—fell to a record low of 1.728 in 2018. This is well below the 2.1 replacement level. "The rate has generally been below replacement since 1971 and consistently below replacement for the last decade," notes the NCHS report.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Births: Provisional Data for 2018 (PDF)