Post-Covid 'baby boom' increased US births in 2021 for 1st time in 7 years: CDC finds

The US birth rate increased slightly during the Covid pandemic, new official figures show reversing a worrying seven-year trend.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, 3,664,292 babies were born in 2021, a one percent jump from the3,613,647 born in 2020.

The small increase was driven by a rise in older moms having children - with increases in birth rates among women aged 30 to 45 significantly rising in recent years.

While the number of children born last year was still lower than the 2019 figure, the year-on-year increase ended a downward trend that began in 2014.

Experts had warned that if the trend was not reversed,America's declining fertilitycould lead to systems like Medicare and social security being overwhelmed.

Women in their 30s fueled the increase in 2021. Births by women between ages 30 and 34 increased three percent, from 94.9 out of 1,000 women in the age group in 2020 to 97.6 in 2021.

For those aged 35 to 39, there was a five percent increase from 51.3 to 53.7 births per 1,000 women.