The US general fertility rate fell 1% in 2025 to a record low of 53.2 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, final CDC data show.
By the numbers: The United States registered 3,612,012 births in 2025, down less than 1% from 3,628,934 in 2024. The general fertility rate slipped from 53.8 to 53.2 births per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44, a record low.
Zoom in: The decline sits at the young end. Age-specific fertility rates fell to record lows for females aged 10 to 29, increased for women aged 30 to 44, and held flat for women aged 45 to 49.
- The brief, by Brady E. Hamilton and Michelle J.K. Osterman of the National Center for Health Statistics, draws on birth certificates for every birth registered in the country.
The backstory: These are final 2025 figures rather than the provisional estimate the agency published in April. The agency says the gap between the two reports comes down to the final count of births, since both use the same 2025 population estimates.
Between the lines: Maternal care moved the other way. First trimester prenatal care rose in 2025 for every age group under 40, and the cesarean delivery rate held steady, falling only for mothers aged 20 to 29.
What's next: More detail is coming. The 2025 natality public use file was released alongside the brief, and breakdowns by race and Hispanic origin, gestational age, tobacco use and pregnancy risk factors will follow in the final National Vital Statistics birth report.
Why it matters: Fertility drives Social Security, Medicare, school enrollment and labor force projections decades out. A record low paired with later motherhood changes who pays into those systems and when.
