Natality Trends in the United States, 1909–2013

This storyboard describes natality trends in the United States over the past 104 years. Highlighted here are number of births, birth rates, and general fertility rates by selected demographic characteristics.

NOTES:

† The number of states in the reporting area differs historically. In 1915, 10 states and the District of Columbia reported births; as of 1933, all 50 states and the District of Columbia started reporting births. Reporting area information is detailed in “Vital Statistics of the United States, 1950, Volume I” (see Table 1.03, http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsus/vsus_1950_1.pdf ). Trend lines for 1909–1958 are based on live births adjusted for under registration; beginning with 1959, trend lines are based on registered live births.

‡ 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.

†† National data on births by Hispanic origin exclude data for Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma in 1989; New Hampshire and Oklahoma in 1990; and 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.)
 

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);  CDC WONDER, natality information, live births: (see http://wonder.cdc.gov/natality.html).

Download Datasets:

• Births and General Fertility Rates: United States, 1909-2013
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  Data.CDC.gov (Export to CSV, JSON, XLS, XML)
• Birth Rates, by Age of Mother: United States, 1940-2013
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  Data.CDC.gov (Export to CSV, JSON, XLS, XML)
• Percent Distribution of Births, by Maternal Age: United States, 1933-2013
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  Data.CDC.gov (Export to CSV, JSON, XLS, XML)
• Births, Birth Rates, and Fertility Rates, by Race of Mother: United States, 1960-2013
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  Data.CDC.gov (Export to CSV, JSON, XLS, XML)
• Births, Birth Rates, and Fertility Rates, by Race and Hispanic Origin of Mother: United States, 1989-2013
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  Data.CDC.gov (Export to CSV, JSON, XLS, XML)
• Birth Rates for Women Aged 15-17, 17-18, and 15-19: United States, 1960-2013
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  Data.CDC.gov (Export to CSV, JSON, XLS, XML)
• Birth Rates, by Age and Race and Hispanic Origin: United States, 1989-2013
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  Data.CDC.gov (Export to CSV, JSON, XLS, XML)
• Pregnancy Rates, by Age for Hispanic Women: United States, 1990-2010
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  Data.CDC.gov (Export to CSV, JSON, XLS, XML)

References:

1. National Office of Vital Statistics. Vital Statistics of the United States, 1950, Volume I. 1954. Available from:  http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsus/vsus_1950_1.pdf.
2. National Center for Health Statistics. Vital Statistics of the United States, 1967, Volume I–Natality. 1967. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsus/nat67_1.pdf.
3. Martin JA, Hamilton BE, Osterman MJK, et al. Births: Final data for 2013. National vital statistics reports; vol 64 no 1. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2015. Available from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr64/nvsr64_01.pdf.

Suggested citation:

Lu L, Chong Y, Hamilton BE, Curtin SC, Martin JA, Tejada-Vera B and Sutton PD: Natality trends in the United States, 1909–2013. National Center for Health Statistics. 2015.