Natal stagnation
America’s birth rate stayed relatively steady in 2022, welcoming 3.66m newborns last year, according to preliminary data released on Thursday by the CDC — that’s down only ~3,000 from 2021 when the birth rate rose for the first time since 2014.
Although the effects of the pandemic are still being felt and the mortality rate remains elevated, US deaths fell by nearly 200,000 in 2022, seeing the nation’s natural population grow by ~385,000.
Falling short
Despite that growth in the last 2 years, the nation’s fertility rate still sits at 1.7, some way off the “replacement rate” of 2.1 which (in theory) assures the population maintains its current level. With notable exceptions in 2006 and 2007, the US has remained below the 2.1 figure for over 50 years.
Interestingly, the teenage birth rate hit an all-time low in 2022, with just 13.5 babies born per 1,000 Americans aged 15-19, down 3% from the 2021 figure and a staggering 80% from the peak of US teen pregnancy in 1991.
