3,605,201
provisional number of births occurred in the United States in 2020, down 4% from the number in 2019 (3,747,540).
6th
consecutive year was a decline in the number of births after an increase in 2014, down an average of 2% per year, and the lowest number of births since 1979.
3%
for Hispanic women, 4% for non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black women, 6% for non-Hispanic AIAN women, and 8% for non-Hispanic Asian women was the decline in the provisional numbers of births from 2019 to 2020.
9%
to 7% was the decline for the rates for teenagers aged 15 to 17 and 18 to 19 per year, respectively, from 2007 to 2020.
6%
was the decline in the number of births to women in their early 20s from 2019 to 2020.
5%
was the decline in the number of births to women in their late 20s from 2019 to 2020.
31.8%
from 31.7% was the increase in the overall cesarean delivery rate in 2020 from 2019; despite this increase, the rate had generally declined from 2009 (32.9%) to 2019.
10.09%
from 10.23% was the decline in the preterm birth rate in 2020 from 2019, the first decline in this rate since 2014.
Citation: Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Osterman MJK. Births: Provisional data for 2020. Vital Statistics Rapid Release; no 12. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. May 2021. DOI: https:// doi.org/10.15620/cdc:104993, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/vsrr012-508.pdf