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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
During the nineteen-sixties and seventies, Danish doctors inserted intrauterine devices in thousands of Inuit girls and women, often without their consent, allegedly to control Greenland’s birth rate—an effort that Prime Minister Egede has described as an act of genocide. Louise Bokkenheuser, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2025 However, like its neighbors Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, China is likely to see its birth rate continue to decline as shifting social attitudes and economic pressures deter younger generations from having larger families. William Lambers, Newsweek, 9 Mar. 2025 The birth rate fell for decades due to China’s 1980-2015 one-child policy and rapid urbanization. Reuters, NBC News, 10 Feb. 2025 Between 2007 and 2022, the nationwide birth rate fell by nearly 23 percent, according to data from the Centers of Diseases and Control Prevention (CDC). Tom Rogers, Newsweek, 22 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for birth rate

Word History

First Known Use

1856, in the meaning defined above

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

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Cite this Entry

“Birth rate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/birth%20rate. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.

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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