The graph illustrates the number of babies born in the United States from 1995 to 2025. The x-axis represents the years, labeled from '95 to '25, while the y-axis shows the annual number of births. Over this 30-year period, birth numbers peaked at 4,316,233 in 2007 and reached a low of 3,596,017 in 2023. The data reveals relatively stable birth rates from 1995 to 2010, with slight fluctuations, followed by a gradual decline starting around 2017. The information is presented in a line graph format, effectively highlighting the long-term downward trend in U.S. birth numbers over the specified timeframe.

US Monthly Birth Data

US Monthly Birth Data by State and County

By data.world's Admin [source]

About this dataset

The data was obtained from multiple sources. Data from 1985-2002 were downloaded from the National Bureau for Economic Research through the National Center for Health Statistics' National Vital Statistics System. Data from 2003-2015 were sourced using aggregators provided by CDC's WONDER tool, utilizing Year, Month, State, and County filters. It is worth noting that geolocation information for individual babies born after 2005 is not released due to privacy concerns; therefore, all data has been aggregated by month.

The spatial applicability of this dataset is limited to the United States at the county level. It covers a temporal range spanning January 1, 1985 - December 31, 2015. Each row in the dataset represents aggregated birth counts within a specific county for a particular month and year.

Additional notes highlight that this dataset expands on data presented in an essay called The Timing of Baby Making published by The Pudding website in May 2017. While only data ranging from1995-2015 were displayed in the essay itself, this dataset includes an extra ten years of birth data. Furthermore, any non-US residents have been excluded from this dataset.

The provided metadata gives a detailed breakdown of the columns in the dataset, including their descriptions and data types. The included variables allow researchers to analyze births at both individual county and state levels over time. Finally, the dataset is available under the MIT License for public use

How to use the dataset

Here is a guide on how to effectively use this dataset:

Step 1: Understanding the Columns

The dataset consists of several columns that provide specific information about each birth record. Let's understand what each column represents:

• State: The state (including District of Columbia) where the mother lives.
• County: The county where the mother lives, coded using the FIPS County Code.
• Month: The month in which the birth took place (1 = January, 2 = February, etc.).
• Year: The four-digit year of the birth.
• countyBirths: The calculated sum of births that occurred to mothers living in a county for a given month. If the sum was less than 9, it is listed as NA as per NCHS reporting guidelines.
• stateBirths: The calculated sum of births that occurred to mothers living in a state for a given month. It includes all birth counts, even those from counties with fewer than 9 births.

Step 2: Exploring Birth Trends by State and County

You can analyze birth trends by focusing on specific states or counties within specific time frames. Here's how you can do it:

• Filter by State or County:

  • Select rows based on your chosen state using the State column. Each number corresponds to a specific state (e.g., 01 = Alabama).
  • Further narrow down your analysis by selecting specific counties using their respective FIPS codes mentioned in the County column.

• Analyze Monthly Variation:

  • Calculate monthly total births within your desired location(s) by grouping data based on the Month column.
  • Compare the number of births between different months to identify any seasonal trends or patterns.

• Visualize Birth Trends:

  • Create line charts or bar plots to visualize how the number of births changes over time.
  • Plot a line or bar for each month across multiple years to identify any significant changes in birth rates.

Step 3: Comparison and Calculation

You can utilize this dataset to compare birth rates between states, counties, and regions. Here are a few techniques you can try:

• State vs. County Comparison:
  • Calculate the total births within each state by aggregating

Research Ideas

• Analyzing birth trends: This dataset can be used to analyze and understand the trends in birth rates across different states and counties over the period of 1985 to 2015. Researchers can study factors that may influence these trends, such as socioeconomic factors, healthcare access, or cultural changes.
• Identifying seasonal variations: The dataset includes information on the month of birth for each entry. This data can be utilized to identify any seasonal variations in births across different locations in the US. Understanding these variations can help in planning resources and healthcare services accordingly.
• Studying geographical patterns: By analyzing the county-level data, researchers can explore geographical patterns of childbirth throughout the United States. They can identify regions with high or low birth rates and...

This dataset contains counts of live births for California counties based on information entered on birth certificates. Final counts are derived from static data and include out of state births to California residents, whereas provisional counts are derived from incomplete and dynamic data. Provisional counts are based on the records available when the data was retrieved and may not represent all births that occurred during the time period.

The final data tables include both births that occurred in California regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence) and births to California residents (by residence), whereas the provisional data table only includes births that occurred in California regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence). The data are reported as totals, as well as stratified by parent giving birth's age, parent giving birth's race-ethnicity, and birth place type. See temporal coverage for more information on which strata are available for which years.

US Births by County and State

1985-2015 Aggregated Data

By data.world's Admin [source]

About this dataset

This dataset contains an aggregation of birth data from the United Statesbetween 1985 and 2015. It consists of information on mothers' locations by state (including District of Columbia) and county, as well as information such as the month they gave birth, and aggregates giving the sum of births during that month. This data has been provided by both the National Bureau for Economic Research and National Center for Health Statistics, whose shared mission is to understand how life works in order to aid individuals in making decisions about their health and wellbeing. This dataset provides valuable insight into population trends across time and location - for example, which states have higher or lower birthrates than others? Which counties experience dramatic fluctuations over time? Given its scope, this dataset could be used in a number of contexts--from epidemiology research to population forecasting. Be sure to check out our other datasets related to births while you're here!

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How to use the dataset

This dataset could be used to examine local trends in birth rates over time or analyze births at different geographical locations. In order to maximize your use of this dataset, it is important that you understand what information the various columns contain.

The main columns are: State (including District of Columbia), County (coded using the FIPS county code number), Month (numbering from 1 for January through 12 for December), Year (4-digit year) countyBirths (calculated sum of births that occurred to mothers living in a county for a given month) and stateBirths (calculated sum of births that occurred to mothers living in a state for a given month). These fields should provide enough information for you analyze trends across geographic locations both at monthly and yearly levels. You could also consider combining variables such as Year with State or Year with Month or any other grouping combinations depending on your analysis goal.

In addition, while all data were downloaded on April 5th 2017, it is worth noting that all sources used followed privacy guidelines as laid out by NCHC so individual births occurring after 2005 are not included due to geolocation concerns.
We hope you find this dataset useful and can benefit from its content! With proper understanding of what each field contains, we are confident you will gain valuable insights on birth rates across counties within the United States during this period

Research Ideas

• Establishing county-level trends in birth rates for the US over time.
• Analyzing the relationship between month of birth and health outcomes for US babies after they are born (e.g., infant mortality, neurological development, etc.).
• Comparing state/county-level differences in average numbers of twins born each year

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit the original authors. Data Source

License

See the dataset description for more information.

Columns

File: allBirthData.csv | Column name | Description | |:-----------------|:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | State | The numerical order of the state where the mother lives. (Integer) | | Month | The month in which the birth took place. (Integer) | | Year | The year of the birth. (Integer) | | countyBirths | The calculated sum of births that occurred to mothers living in that county for that particular month. (Integer) | | stateBirths | The aggregate number at the level of entire states for any given month-year combination. (Integer) | | County | The county where the mother lives, coded using FIPS County Code. (Integer) |

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit the original authors. If you use this dataset in your research, please credit data.world's Admin.

This dataset contains counts of live births for California as a whole based on information entered on birth certificates. Final counts are derived from static data and include out of state births to California residents, whereas provisional counts are derived from incomplete and dynamic data. Provisional counts are based on the records available when the data was retrieved and may not represent all births that occurred during the time period.

The final data tables include both births that occurred in California regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence) and births to California residents (by residence), whereas the provisional data table only includes births that occurred in California regardless of the place of residence (by occurrence). The data are reported as totals, as well as stratified by parent giving birth's age, parent giving birth's race-ethnicity, and birth place type. See temporal coverage for more information on which strata are available for which years.

The world population has grown rapidly, particularly over the past century: in 1900, there were fewer than 2 billion people on the planet. The world population is around 8045311488 in 2023.

Two metrics determine the change in the world population: the number of babies born and the number of people dying. How many babies are born each year?

There were 133.99 million births in 2022, compared to 92.08 million births in 1950

Number and percentage of live births, by month of birth, 1991 to most recent year.

According to the most recent data, more people died in Spain than were born in 2024, with figures reaching over 439,000 deaths versus 322,034 newborns. From 2006 to 2024, 2008 ranked as the year in which the largest number of children were born, with figures reaching over half a million newborns. The depopulation of a country The population of Spain declined for many years, a negative trend reverted from 2016 onwards, and was projected to grow by nearly two million by 2029 compared to 2024. Despite this expected increase, Spain has one of the lowest fertility rate in the European Union, with barely 1.29 children per woman according to the latest reports. During the last years, the country featured a continuous population density of approximately 94 inhabitants per square kilometer – a figure far from the European average, which stood nearly at nearly 112 inhabitants per square kilometer in 2021. Migration inflow: an essential role in the Spanish population growth One of the key points to balance out the population trend in Spain is immigration – Spain’s immigration figures finally started to pick up in 2015 after a downward trend that presumably initiated after the 2008 financial crisis, which left Spain with one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe.

Key figures on fertility, live and stillborn children and multiple births among inhabitants of The Netherlands.

Available selections: - Live born children by sex; - Live born children by age of the mother (31 December), in groups; - Live born children by birth order from the mother; - Live born children by marital status of the mother; - Live born children by country of birth of the mother and origin country of the mother; - Stillborn children by duration of pregnancy; - Births: single and multiple; - Average number of children per female; - Average number of children per male; - Average age of the mother at childbirth by birth order from the mother; - Average age of the father at childbirth by birth order from the mother; - Net replacement factor.

CBS is in transition towards a new classification of the population by origin. Greater emphasis is now placed on where a person was born, aside from where that person’s parents were born. The term ‘migration background’ is no longer used in this regard. The main categories western/non-western are being replaced by categories based on continents and a few countries that share a specific migration history with the Netherlands. The new classification is being implemented gradually in tables and publications on population by origin.

Data available from: 1950 Most of the data is available as of 1950 with the exception of the live born children by country of birth of the mother and origin country of the mother (from 2021, previous periods will be added at a later time), stillborn children by duration of pregnancy (24+) (from 1991), average number of children per male (from 1996) and the average age of the father at childbirth (from 1996).

Status of the figures: All data recorded in this publication are final data.

Changed on 15 augustus 2025: The 2023 figures on stillbirths and (multiple) births are final. Final figures of 2024 have been added.

When will new figures be published? In the third quarter of 2026 final figures of 2025 will be published in this publication.

About this dataset

This dataset contains US baby names from the Social Security Administration dating back to 1879. With over 150 years of data, this is one of the most comprehensive datasets on baby names in the US. The data includes the name, year of birth, sex, and number of babies with that name for each year. This dataset is a great resource for anyone interested in studying baby naming trends over time

How to use the dataset

How to use the US Baby Names by Year of Birth dataset:

This dataset is a compilation of over 140 years of data from the Social Security Administration. It includes data on baby names, year of birth, and sex. There are also columns for the number of babies with that name born in that year.

This dataset can be used to track changes in baby naming trends over time, or to study how popular names have changed in popularity. It can also be used to study how naming trends differ between sexes, or between different years

Research Ideas

This dataset could be used for a number of things, including: 1. Determining baby name trends over time 2. Finding out what the most popular baby names are in the US 3. Analyzing how baby name popularity has changed over the years

Columns

• index: the index of the dataframe
• YearOfBirth: the year in which the baby was born
• Name: the name of the baby
• Sex: the sex of the baby
• Number: the number of babies with that name and sex

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit @nickgott, @rflprr and the Social Security Administration via Data.gov

Data Source

Birth Statistics (i) Number of Known Births for Different Sexes and Crude Birth Rate for the Period from 1981 to 2024 (ii) Percentage Distribution of Live Births by Birth Weight for the Period from 2012 to 2023

This is a publication on maternity activity in English NHS hospitals. This report examines data relating to delivery and birth episodes in 2023-24, and the booking appointments for these deliveries. This annual publication covers the financial year ending March 2024. Data is included from both the Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) data warehouse and the Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS). HES contains records of all admissions, appointments and attendances for patients admitted to NHS hospitals in England. The HES data used in this publication are called 'delivery episodes'. The MSDS collects records of each stage of the maternity service care pathway in NHS-funded maternity services, and includes information not recorded in HES. The MSDS is a maturing, national-level dataset. In April 2019, the MSDS transitioned to a new version of the dataset. This version, MSDS v2.0, is an update that introduced a new structure and content - including clinical terminology, in order to meet current clinical practice and incorporate new requirements. It is designed to meet requirements that resulted from the National Maternity Review, which led to the publication of the Better Births report in February 2016. This is the fifth publication of data from MSDS v2.0 and data from 2019-20 onwards is not directly comparable to data from previous years. This publication shows the number of HES delivery episodes during the period, with a number of breakdowns including by method of onset of labour, delivery method and place of delivery. It also shows the number of MSDS deliveries recorded during the period, with a breakdown for the mother's smoking status at the booking appointment by age group. It also provides counts of live born term babies with breakdowns for the general condition of newborns (via Apgar scores), skin-to-skin contact and baby's first feed type - all immediately after birth. There is also data available in a separate file on breastfeeding at 6 to 8 weeks. For the first time information on 'Smoking at Time of Delivery' has been presented using annual data from the MSDS. This includes national data broken down by maternal age, ethnicity and deprivation. From 2025/2026, MSDS will become the official source of 'Smoking at Time of Delivery' information and will replace the historic 'Smoking at Time of Delivery' data which is to become retired. We are currently undergoing dual collection and reporting on a quarterly basis for 2024/25 to help users compare information from the two sources. We are working with data submitters to help reconcile any discrepancies at a local level before any close down activities begin. A link to the dual reporting in the SATOD publication series can be found in the links below. Information on how all measures are constructed can be found in the HES Metadata and MSDS Metadata files provided below. In this publication we have also included an interactive Power BI dashboard to enable users to explore key NHS Maternity Statistics measures. The purpose of this publication is to inform and support strategic and policy-led processes for the benefit of patient care. This report will also be of interest to researchers, journalists and members of the public interested in NHS hospital activity in England. Any feedback on this publication or dashboard can be provided to enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk, under the subject “NHS Maternity Statistics”.

This dataset includes birth rates for unmarried women by age group, race, and Hispanic origin in the United States since 1970. Methods for collecting information on marital status changed over the reporting period and have been documented in: • Ventura SJ, Bachrach CA. Nonmarital childbearing in the United States, 1940–99. National vital statistics reports; vol 48 no 16. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics. 2000. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr48/nvs48_16.pdf. • National Center for Health Statistics. User guide to the 2013 natality public use file. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics. 2014. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/VitalStatsOnline.htm. National data on births by Hispanics origin exclude data for Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma in 1989; for New Hampshire and Oklahoma in 1990; for New Hampshire in 1991 and 1992. Information on reporting Hispanic origin is detailed in the Technical Appendix for the 1999 public-use natality data file (see (ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Dataset_Documentation/DVS/natality/Nat1999doc.pdf.) All birth data by race before 1980 are based on race of the child. Starting in 1980, birth data by race are based on race of the mother. SOURCES CDC/NCHS, National Vital Statistics System, birth data (see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm); public-use data files (see http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data_access/Vitalstatsonline.htm); and CDC WONDER (see http://wonder.cdc.gov/). REFERENCES Curtin SC, Ventura SJ, Martinez GM. Recent declines in nonmarital childbearing in the United States. NCHS data brief, no 162. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2014. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db162.pdf. Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Osterman MJK, et al. Births: Final data for 2015. National vital statistics reports; vol 66 no 1. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2017. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr66/nvsr66_01.pdf.

Collective data of Japan's birth-related statistics from 1899 to 2022. Some data are missing between the years 1944 and 1946 due to records lost during World War II.

For use case and analysis reference, please take a look at this notebook Japan Birth Demographics Analysis

Feature Descriptions

• year: The year.
• birth_total: The total number of births.
• birth_male: The total number of male births.
• birth_female: The total number of female births.
• birth_rate: The birth rate. Equation is birth_total / population_total * 1,000
• birth_gender_ratio: The birth gender ratio. Equation is birth_male / birth_female * 1,000
• total_fertility_rate: The average number of children that are born to a woman over her lifetime.
• population_total: The total population.
• population_male: The total male population.
• population_female: The total female population.
• infant_death_total: The total infant deaths.
• infant_death_male: The total male infant deaths.
• infant_death_female: The total female infant deaths.
• infant_death_unknown_gender: The total unknown gender infant deaths.
• infant_death_rate: The infant death rate. Equation is infant_death_total / birth_total * 1,000
• infant_death_gender_ratio: The infant death gender ratio. Equation is infant_death_male / infant_death_female * 1,000
• infant_deaths_in_total_deaths: The infant death ratio among other deaths.
• stillbirth_total: The total number of stillbirths (dead born).
• stillbirth_male: The total number of male stillbirths.
• stillbirth_female: The total number of female stillbirths.
• stillbirth_unknown_gender: The total number of unknown gender stillbirths.
• stillbirth_rate: The stillbirth rate. Equation is stillbirth_total / (birth_total + stillbirth_total) * 1,000
• stillbirth_gender_ratio: The stillbirth gender ratio. Equation is stillbirth_male / stillbirth_female * 1,000
• firstborn: The number of firstborns.
• secondborn: The number of secondborns.
• thirdborn: The number of thirdborns.
• forthborn: The number of forthborns.
• fifthborn_and_above: The number of fifthborns and above.
• weeks_under_28: The number of births occurred under week 28. Early terms.
• weeks_28-31: The number of births occurred between weeks 28 and 31. Early terms.
• weeks_32-36: The number of births occurred between weeks 32 and 36. Early terms.
• weeks_37-41: The number of births occurred between weeks 37 and 41. Full terms.
• weeks_over_42: The number of births occurred over week 42. Late terms.
• mother_age_avg: The mother's average age.
• mother_age_firstborn: The mother's average age of the firstborn.
• mother_age_secondborn: The mother's average age of the secondborn.
• mother_age_thirdborn: The mother's average age of the thirdborn.
• mother_age_under_19: The number of births by mothers under age 19.
• mother_age_20-24: The number of births by mothers between age 20 and 24.
• mother_age_25-29: The number of births by mothers between age 25 and 29.
• mother_age_30-34: The number of births by mothers between age 30 and 34.
• mother_age_35-39: The number of births by mothers between age 35 and 39.
• mother_age_40-44: The number of births by mothers between age 40 and 44.
• mother_age_over_45: The number of births by mothers over 45.
• father_age_avg: The father's average age.
• father_age_firstborn: The father's average age of the firstborn.
• father_age_secondborn: The father's average age of the secondborn.
• father_age_thirdborn: The father's average age of the thirdborn.
• legitimate_child: The Number of births under married parents.
• illegitimate_child: The number of births under non-married parents.

Acknowledgement

E-Stat Demographic Survey

Dataset from Singapore Department of Statistics. For more information, visit https://data.gov.sg/datasets/d_6150f21b0892b3fdde546d2a1af2af82/view

This is a publication on maternity activity in English NHS hospitals. This report examines data relating to delivery and birth episodes in 2021-22, and the booking appointments for these deliveries. This annual publication covers the financial year ending March 2022. Data is included from both the Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES) data warehouse and the Maternity Services Data Set (MSDS). HES contains records of all admissions, appointments and attendances for patients admitted to NHS hospitals in England. The HES data used in this publication are called 'delivery episodes'. The MSDS collects records of each stage of the maternity service care pathway in NHS-funded maternity services, and includes information not recorded in HES. The MSDS is a maturing, national-level dataset. In April 2019 the MSDS transitioned to a new version of the dataset. This version, MSDS v2.0, is an update that introduced a new structure and content - including clinical terminology, in order to meet current clinical practice and incorporate new requirements. It is designed to meet requirements that resulted from the National Maternity Review, which led to the publication of the Better Births report in February 2016. This is the third publication of data from MSDS v2.0 and data from 2019-20 onwards is not directly comparable to data from previous years. This publication shows the number of HES delivery episodes during the period, with a number of breakdowns including by method of onset of labour, delivery method and place of delivery. It also shows the number of MSDS deliveries recorded during the period, with breakdowns including the baby's first feed type, birthweight, place of birth, and breastfeeding activity; and the mothers' ethnicity and age at booking. There is also data available in a separate file on breastfeeding at 6 to 8 weeks. The count of Total Babies includes both live and still births, and previous changes to how Total Babies and Total Deliveries were calculated means that comparisons between 2019-20 MSDS data and later years should be made with care. The MethodfDelivery measure counting babies has been replaced by the DeliveryMethodBabyGroup measure which counts deliveries, and the smoking at booking and folic acid status measures have been renamed - these changes have been made to better align this annual publication with the Maternity Services Monthly Statistics publication. Information on how all measures are constructed can be found in the HES Metadata and MSDS Metadata files provided below. In this publication we have also included an interactive Power BI dashboard to enable users to explore key NHS Maternity Statistics measures. The purpose of this publication is to inform and support strategic and policy-led processes for the benefit of patient care. This report will also be of interest to researchers, journalists and members of the public interested in NHS hospital activity in England. Any feedback on this publication or dashboard can be provided to enquiries@nhsdigital.nhs.uk, under the subject “NHS Maternity Statistics”.

This data set contains the first name statistics for newborns in Münster from 2007 to 2021. Two different lists are made available: A first name hit list with the top 30 most commonly used first names, grouped by year of birth and gender. A list of “first name numbers”. This list shows how many babies have been given multiple first names. First name hitlist The table with the first name hitlist contains the following columns: Year = year of birth Rank = Top 30 rank Gender = girl or boy Name = the chosen name Number = Number of children with this name Please note the following additional information: All given first names are taken into account for the calculation of the first name list, i.e. the second and third names. For example, if “Tom” leads the list in a year, that doesn't mean that Tom was the most popular name, but Tom was the most frequently mentioned first name among the total first, second, third and other given names for babies. First name number The table with the first name number contains the following columns: Year = year of birth Children with.. = How many first names Number = number of children The following is an Excel file, which contains both lists in different spreadsheets, as well as two corresponding CSV files.

Introduction

This dataset provides birth rates and related data across the 50 states and DC from 2016 to 2021. The data was sourced from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and includes detailed information such as number of births, gender, birth weight, state, and year of the delivery. A particular emphasis is given to detailed information on the mother's educational level. With this dataset, one can, for example, examine trends and patterns in birth rates across different academic groups and geographic locations.

Important Note

Each row in the dataset is considered a category defined by the state, birth year, baby's gender, and educational level of the mother. Three quantities are given for each category: number of births, mother's average age, and average baby weight. The CDC is sensitive to potentially disclosing personal information, so any category with less than ten births is suppressed. For this reason, you will find 12 rows missing out of an expected 5,508 \( \text{51 states * 6 years * 2 genders * 9 edu levels = 5,508} \) Those missing rows all had the mother's educational level listed as "unknown or not stated" and their absence should not significantly impact studies or conclusions made using the dataset.

Origin

The data in this dataset was obtained using CDC's WONDER retrieval tool on the CDC Natality page

Column Descriptions

• State ➡️ state name in full (includes District of Columbia)
• State Abbreviation ➡️ 2-character state abbreviation
• Year ➡️ 4-digit year
• Gender ➡️ Gender of baby
• Education Level of Mother ➡️ See table below
• Education Level Code ➡️ See table below
• Number of Births ➡️ Number of births for the category
• Average Age of Mother (years) ➡️ Mother's average age in the category
• Average Birth Weight (g) ➡️ Average birth weight in the category
  ## Education levels and codes used in dataset | Code | Mother's Education Level | |:--- |:--- | |1 |8th grade or less | |2 |9th through 12th grade with no diploma | |3 |High school graduate or GED completed | |4 |Some college credit, but not a degree | |5 |Associate degree (AA, AS) | |6 |Bachelor's degree (BA, AB, BS) | |7 |Master's degree (MA, MS, MEng, MEd, MSW, MBA) | |8 |Doctorate (PhD, EdD) or Professional Degree (MD, DDS, DVM, LLB, JD) | |-9 |Unknown or Not Stated |

Acknowledgement

Image by Sarah Richter from Pixabay

Eurostat’s annual data collections on demographic and migration statistics are structured as follows:

• NOWCAST: Annual data collection on provisional monthly data on live births and deaths covering at least six months of the reference year (Article 4.3 of the Commission implementing regulation (EU) No 205/2014).
• DEMOBAL (Demographic balance): Annual data collection on provisional data on population, total live births and total deaths at national level (Article 4.1 of the Commission implementing regulation (EU) No 205/2014).
• POPSTAT (Population statistics): The most in-depth annual national and regional demographic and migration data collection. The data relate to populations, births, deaths, immigrants, emigrants, marriages and divorces, and is broken down into several categories (Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 and Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 862/2007).

The aim is to collect annual mandatory and voluntary demographic data from the national statistical institutes. Mandatory data are those defined by the legislation listed under ‘6.1. Institutional mandate - legal acts and other agreements’.

The completeness of the demographic data collected on a voluntary basis depends on the availability and completeness of information provided by the national statistical institutes. For more information on mandatory/voluntary data collection, see 6.1. Institutional mandate - legal acts and other agreements’.

The following statistics on live births are collected from the National Statistical Institutes:

• Live births by month of occurrence;
• Live births by mother's age, year of birth and by:
  • region (NUTS 2) of residence
  • region (NUTS 3) of residence
  • mother's country of birth
  • mother's country of citizenship
  • live-birth order
  • sex of the new-born
  • mother's legal marital status
  • employment status of the mother
  • mother's educational attainment (ISCED 2011);
• Live births by birth weight and duration of gestation;
• Legally induced abortions by mother's age and parity;
• Late fœtal deaths by mother's age.

Statistics on fertility: based on the different breakdowns of data on live births and on legally induced abortions received, Eurostat produces the following:

• Statistics available in the online table Population change - Demographic balance and crude rates at national level (demo_gind):
  • natural change of the population, crude birth rate;
• Statistics available in the online table Fertility indicators (demo_find):
  • the proportion of live births outside marriage
  • total fertility rate
  • the mean age of women at childbirth
  • the mean age of women at the birth of first / second / third / fourth and higher child
  • the median age of women at childbirth
  • the percentage of first / second / third / fourth and higher live births Fertility rates by age (demo_frate);
• Fertility rates by age and NUTS 2 region (demo_r_frate2);
• Total fertility rate by NUTS 3 region (demo_r_frate3);
• Statistics available in the online table Abortion indicators (demo_fabortind):
  • abortion rate
  • abortion ratio

While the standard image of the nuclear family with two parents and 2.5 children has persisted in the American imagination, the number of births in the U.S. has steadily been decreasing since 1990, with about 3.6 million babies born in 2023. In 1990, this figure was 4.16 million. Birth and replacement rates A country’s birth rate is defined as the number of live births per 1,000 inhabitants, and it is this particularly important number that has been decreasing over the past few decades. The declining birth rate is not solely an American problem, with EU member states showing comparable rates to the U.S. Additionally, each country has what is called a “replacement rate.” The replacement rate is the rate of fertility needed to keep a population stable when compared with the death rate. In the U.S., the fertility rate needed to keep the population stable is around 2.1 children per woman, but this figure was at 1.67 in 2022. Falling birth rates Currently, there is much discussion as to what exactly is causing the birth rate to decrease in the United States. There seem to be several factors in play, including longer life expectancies, financial concerns (such as the economic crisis of 2008), and an increased focus on careers, all of which are causing people to wait longer to start a family. How international governments will handle falling populations remains to be seen, but what is clear is that the declining birth rate is a multifaceted problem without an easy solution.