US births fall to 35-year low

The number of births in the US has hit its lowest level in 35 years, according to new federal data.

About 3.75 million babies were born in the US in 2019, down 1 per cent from the number in 2018, Xinhua news agency quoted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as saying in a report on Wednesday.

That marked the fifth year that the number of births had declined after the increase in 2014, and the lowest number of births since 1985, according to the report.

The provisional general fertility rate for the nation in 2019 was 58.2 births per 1,000 females aged 15-44, down 2 per cent from the rate in 2018, it added.

( With inputs from IANS )