Objectives—This report presents provisional 2016 data on U.S. births. Births are shown by age and race and Hispanic origin of mother. Data on marital status, cesarean delivery, preterm births, and low birthweight are also presented. This report is the first in a new annual series replacing the preliminary report series.
Methods—Data are based on 99.96% of 2016 births. Records for the states with less than 100% of records received are weighted to independent control counts of all births received in state vital statistics offices in
2016. Comparisons are made with final 2015 data and earlier years.Results—The provisional number of births for the United States in 2016 was 3,941,109, down 1% from 2015. The general fertility rate was 62.0 births per 1,000 women aged 15–44, down 1% from 2015 to a record low for the United States. Birth rates declined to record lows for women in all age groups under 30 years in 2016. The birth rate for teenagers aged 15–19 declined 9% in 2016 to 20.3 births per 1,000 women; rates declined for both younger (aged 15–17) and older (aged 18–19) teenagers. The birth rate declined for women in their early 20s to 73.7 births per 1,000 women aged 20–24 in 2016, and for women in their late 20s to 101.9 births per 1,000 women aged 25–29. The rates for women
in their 30s and 40s rose in 2016.
The nonmarital birth rate declined.