United States reports first increase in number of births in seven years

The number of babies born last year rose 1% over the year before, the first increase in seven years, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

In total, the agency found that there were 56.6 births for every 1,000 women in America last year.

The report also found that the pre-term birth rate jumped in 2021, which is up by four percent to 10.48 percent of births – while C-section births now make up nearly one-in-three U.S. births.

The CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics examined almost every birth certificate issued in 2021 and logged 3,659,289 births, up 45,642 from 3,613,647 in 2020, according to a new report, “Births: Provisional Data for 2021.”

The increase did not rise to pre-pandemic levels. The number was still lower than in 2019, when there were 86,000 more births. The 2020 drop had been the largest in almost 50 years, and officials attributed it to uncertainties stemming from the coronavirus pandemic.

Last year the U.S. Census Bureau had marked a similar pandemic decline, with the country’s population growing slower than ever due to a combination of dropping birth rates, higher deaths and limited immigration. The resulting 0.1% population growth was the lowest recorded since the U.S.’s founding in 1776.

While the U.S. is still recording a half-million less births per year than it did at the peak of the mid-2000s, when more than four million Americans were being born every year.

Many expected a possible increase in 2020 due to outside activities being cancelled. People also spent more time at home because of canceled work and school, and many had less commitments after being laid off from their jobs.

New Hampshire showed a seven percent year-over-year birth rate increase, the most of any state in America. Nearby Connecticut (6.5 percent), Vermont (5.2 percent) and New Jersey (5.09 percent) made up the four states with an increase of five percent or more.

Maine and Massachusetts, also in the Northeastern region, each recorded a 4.08 percent jump in births last year. 

The remote state of Alaska was the largest loser in birth rate, recording a two percent decrease from its 2020 figure.

New Mexico recorded a 1.9 percent drop, and a one percent fall was logged in Hawaii. No other state had its birth rate fall by one percent or more from 2020 to 2021.