birth rate

noun

variants or birthrate
: the ratio between births and individuals in a specified population and time

Examples of birth rate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But lurking over all of them is a demographic reality: The falling US birth rate will produce fewer workers in the years ahead to replace the number of workers retiring. Jeanne Sahadi, CNN, 8 Mar. 2024 The Bank of Korea, in a recent report, suggested that easing population density in Seoul could help improve the country’s low birth rate. Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 16 Feb. 2024 According to Vox, larger factors, including economic woes, could be behind the nation's falling birth rate: Since the Great Recession, Americans have had fewer and fewer children, with the overall rate dropping nearly 23% between 2007 and 2022. Kirsty Hatcher, Peoplemag, 19 Jan. 2024 The city’s birth rate has plummeted to a record low, and Hong Kong, according to experts, appears to be suffering from a mental-health crisis. Timothy McLaughlin, The Atlantic, 9 Feb. 2024 Among unmarried women age 1544, the birth rate fell from 51.8 per 1,000 in 2007 to 37.8 last year. Patrick T. Brown, National Review, 25 Jan. 2024 South Korea is investing in its families to boost a low birth rate — and the United States should do the same. Matt Lamb, Washington Examiner, 8 Jan. 2024 To spur the country’s flagging birth rate, Beijing has been rolling out a raft of measures, such as efforts to increase child care as well as financial incentives, and President Xi Jinping in May presided over a meeting to study the topic. Reuters, NBC News, 13 Oct. 2023 Issues such as access to housing, education, and childcare also concern young people and, when not addressed, work to lower the birth rate. Hou Yu-Ih, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'birth rate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1856, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of birth rate was in 1856

Dictionary Entries Near birth rate

Cite this Entry

“Birth rate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/birth%20rate. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

birthrate

noun
birth·​rate -ˌrāt How to pronounce birthrate (audio)
: the number of births for every hundred or every thousand persons in a given area or group during a given time

Medical Definition

birth rate

noun
variants or birthrate
: the ratio between births and individuals in a specified population and time often expressed as number of live births per hundred or per thousand population per year

called also natality

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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