Utah’s fertility rate has dropped again, according to federal data.
The decline also means Utah’s rank nationally has fallen in comparison to other states. In 2022, only three states had a higher total fertility rate than Utah. The most recently available data, from 2023, ranked Utah 10th.
The total fertility rate is determined by calculating the average number of children a woman will have if she survives all her childbearing years. In 2022, Utah’s total fertility rate was 1.853. The 2023 rate was 1.801 — a drop of 2.8%, according to an analysis of the data released Friday by the University of Utah’s Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute.
The decrease in Utah’s rate, the institute said, was driven mainly by fertility declines among women age 25-29 and 30-34.
Eight age ranges are compiled in the data. The only age ranges that saw increases were the youngest — ages 15 to 17 — and the oldest, from 45 to 49.
Utah’s decline in fertility rates reflects a nationwide trend. The national total fertility rate in 2023 was 1.621, down 2.1% from 2022′s rate of 1.656.
Emily Harris, senior demographer for the Gardner Institute, said that only three states — North Dakota, Mississippi and Tennessee — saw their rate go up or stay level from 2022 to 2023.
“Economic factors such as housing and childcare costs and broader social factors like postponement of marriage and childbearing all influence fertility rate declines,” Harris said in a news release.
The institute’s latest analysis indicates Utah’s total fertility rate has now declined or stayed constant for 15 straight years.
