A woman at a 2023 abortion-rights protest in New York holds a pregnancy test (Kena Betancur/AFP via Getty Images). Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the U.S. teen birth rate in 2025 was 11.7 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19.
The National Center for Health Statistics reported a 7% drop in the teen birth rate in 2025, extending a decades-long decline. The report’s lead author, Brady Hamilton, called a 7% decline ‘really quite extraordinary.’
Nearly 126,000 babies were born to mothers ages 15 to 19 in 2025, according to the provisional analysis. To put that in context, the teen birth rate was 61.8 per 1,000 in 1991, reflecting a steady fall over the past 35 years.
The report also reviewed other U.S. birth trends. The overall birth rate declined about 1% from the prior year. The preterm birth rate held steady, while the cesarean delivery rate rose to 32.5% in 2025 — the highest level since 2013 and part of a modest upward trend.
This year’s provisional release covers fewer topics than some recent provisional reports and does not include an analysis by the mother’s race or ethnicity; the CDC noted those breakdowns remain available through its WONDER online database. The provisional report, issued each spring, is based on more than 99% of registered births for the previous year and provides an early look at figures that the final data — typically published in August — will confirm.
The data on birth certificates show who is giving birth and where, but not why rates are changing. As Brady Hamilton and other analysts note, birth records alone can’t answer the causes behind trends.
Pediatrician and UNC researcher Bianca Allison points to multiple contributors to the long-term decline in teen births: fewer teen pregnancies overall, greater contraceptive use, lower reported sexual activity among young people, and continued access to abortion services. She says the drop in teen births can be seen differently depending on one’s perspective and priorities, and that for those focused on reproductive health access, the decline is a positive sign if it reflects young people’s intentions and choices.
Allison also warns that lower teen birth rates should not be taken as a reason to reduce support for teen parents. Negative assumptions about teen parenthood often reflect gaps in social, educational and institutional support rather than young people’s ability to parent, and continued investment in services for teen parents remains important.