Birth rates are on the rise in the U.S. after mortality rates fell for the first time since before the pandemic. A new report from the U.S. Census Bureau finds that more than half of the U.S. is seeing births outpace deaths. New data shows that across most of the U.S., a natural rebound in birth rates was experienced by July 2023, however, 19 states still saw a decrease, with areas of the South and Northeast seeing more deaths than births. 

Birth rates fell steadily beginning in 2020. This was particularly evident in communities with older populations and areas experiencing low migration. In 2020, the natural birth rate increase was around 1 million people per year. 

Areas like Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and West Virginia were among the states to see the highest number of deaths versus births. This shifted between 2020 and 2020 when half of all states saw a natural decrease. In 2020, the natural increase fell by 27 percent, mostly due to a rise in deaths resulting from COVID-19 and a fall in births by 1.4 percent. 

Natural decreases were seen in areas like New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida and Massachusetts due to the high volume of COVID-19 deaths. 

The report noted, 11 states with natural increases during the first period flipped to natural decreases including Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming. 

As the pandemic continued through 2021, a natural decrease switched to a natural increase in deaths in New York by 28,326. Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts and New Jersey saw similar patterns.

According to Johns Hopkins University and Medicine, globally the U.S. saw the highest number of COVID-19-related deaths at 1,123,836, followed by Brazil at 699,276, and India at 530,779.

The World Health Organization noted that the true numbers may never be known as the percentage of registered deaths ranged from 98 percent in the European region to only 10 percent in the African region.