#births

Results—A total of 3,628,934 births occurred in the United States in 2024, an increase of 1% from the record low reported for 2023. The general fertility rate declined 1% from 2023 to 53.8 births per 1,000 females ages 15–44 in 2024. Birth rates declined for females ages 15–34 from 2023 to 2024, rose for women ages 40–44, and were unchanged for females ages 10–14 and women ages 35–39 and 45–49. The total fertility rate declined 1% to 1,599.5 births per 1,000 women in 2024, a record low. Birth rates declined for both unmarried and married women from 2023 to 2024. Prenatal care beginning in the first trimester declined to 75.5% in 2024. The percentage of women who smoked during pregnancy declined to 2.4%. The cesarean delivery rate increased by less than 1% to 32.4%. Private insurance as the source of payment for the delivery increased to 51.8% of births, while Medicaid deliveries declined to 40.2%. The preterm birth rate (10.41%) was unchanged from 2023; low birthweight births declined 1% (8.52%). The twin birth rate declined 2% in 2024 to 30.1 per 1,000 births; the triplet and higher-order multiple birth rate was 71.3 per 100,000 births compared with 73.8 for 2023

In South Korea, births rose for the second year in a row in 2025, reaching about 254,500 babies. The fertility rate also climbed to 0.80, but about 108,900 more people passed away than were born, so the population still kept shrinking naturally.

Today is one of those days when I feel extremely thankful for having moved to the other side of the world

(by Oscar Leo / datacanvas.substack.com)