Report - America just had its lowest number of births in 32 years

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America's fertility rate and the number of births nationwide are continuing to decline.

The number of births for the United States last year dropped to its lowest in about three decades, according to provisional data in a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Even though the number of births we've seen in 2018 is the lowest that we've seen in 32 years, the total fertility rate is at a record low," said Brady Hamilton, a natality expert at the center and first author of the report.

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The provisional data -- which will be finalized later in the year -- showed that the total fertility rate for the United States last year was 1,728 births per 1,000 women, a decrease of 2% from 2017 and a record low for the nation.

While birth rate compares the average number of births during a year per 1,000 people in a population, total fertility rate is defined as the expected number of births that a group of 1,000 women would have in their lifetimes, according to what birth rates were by age for that year.

The total fertility rate in 2018 was below what is considered the level needed for a population to replace itself: 2,100 births per 1,000 women, according to the report.

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