News Release

November 27, 2019 (Salt Lake City) – The National Center for Health Statistics today released final birth data for 2018. Utah’s total fertility rate, which now stands at 2.026 births per woman, is now below the theoretical “replacement level” of 2.1 births per woman. Utah’s fertility rate has declined for 11 consecutive years and now ranks lower than South Dakota, North Dakota, and Nebraska.

“Utah’s fertility rate began a precipitous decline during the Great Recession and has not recovered despite ten years of economic expansion,” said Pam Perlich, Director of Demographic Research at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute. “As Utah has become more globally interconnected, we are impacted by these larger demographic forces and trends. Our strong economy and wonderful quality of life have brought people from all around the world to Utah. We have become a much larger and more diverse population, with changes concentrated especially in our youth. This continued decline in family size is further evidence of the cumulative impact of these changes and the emergence of the New Utah.”

The total fertility rate measures the number of children who would be born per woman if she/they were to pass through childbearing years bearing children according to current age-specific fertility rates. Demographers view it as the most comprehensive measure of fertility because it adjusts for age and sex characteristics of the population.

The full report from the National Center for Health Statistics can be viewed here.

For data showing U.S. and Utah fertility rates from 1960 to 2018, click here.