CDC: Wyoming’s Birth Rate Dropped 7% In 2020

Wyoming's birth rate continued to decline in 2020, falling by almost 7%, according to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

EF
Ellen Fike

June 23, 20212 min read

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Wyoming’s birth rate continued to decline in 2020, falling by almost 7%, according to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of births in Wyoming declined from 6,565 in 2019 to 6,118 in 2020, according to the CDC report.

“The number of births among Wyoming residents in 2020 continued the significant downward trend that has existed among state residents for several years,” Wyoming Department of Health spokeswoman Kim Deti told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.

The CDC announced in a report on Wednesday that the national birth rate declined by 4% in 2020. The report said the decline was the largest seen since 1973.

In Wyoming, in the last 15 years, Wyoming’s peak number of births occurred in 2008, with 8,022 babies born that year, according to a table provided by Deti. Births have somewhat fluctuated in the last decade, going up and down by a few hundred.

However, births in Wyoming have regularly trended downward since 2015.

While most states saw an overall decline in birth rates in the second half of 2020, Wyoming’s rate stayed relatively steady throughout the year, with a slight increase of births in from July to December, when 3,094 births were recorded. From January to June 2020, the state saw 3,024 births.

Vermont did have fewer births in 2020 than Wyoming, though, with 5,117 babies born in that state last year.

The percentage of women in America having children also declined by 4% in 2020, the report said., the biggest percentage decline the nation has seen in nearly 50 years.

The CDC analyzed all birth certificates registered to U.S. residents in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report authors couldn’t say if the declining birth rate trend was unique to 2020 or if fewer babies would continue to be born in 2021.

Births have generally been on a decline since 2007 at a rate of about 2% per year.

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Ellen Fike

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