How Many Babies Are Born a Day?

Whether you’re expecting a baby soon, trying to get pregnant or just have babies on the brain, you might have some curiosity around birth dates and birth rates—such as: How many babies are born a day? (Spoiler alert: The answer’s around 370,000 babies each day, although it’s difficult to estimate. In the US, the daily average is around 9,800.)

You might also be wondering what affects a baby’s birth date. “In my work as a [lactation consultant], I’ve seen all kinds of factors,” shares Amber G., an IBCLC and mom of two in North Carolina. “Some moms accidentally share a birthday with their baby. Others schedule around something as personal as wanting a certain astrological sign.”

Interested in digging in deeper? Read ahead to see how many people are born a day in the US (we’ll even break it down into minutes and seconds!), plus learn other factors that affect when babies are born.

Key Takeaways

• Around 370,000 babies are born each day around the world. (That’s four babies every second!)
• In the US, around 9,800 babies are born each day. That’s about 1 every 10 seconds.
• Planned inductions and C-sections play a role in raising the number of babies born on weekdays vs. weekends.
• Globally and in the US, birth rates are declining. Fewer teens and women in their 20s are having babies, while women in their 30s and 40s are becoming more likely to have babies.

Global Births Per Day

Every day, around 370,000 babies are born worldwide. That’s based on the much larger number of average worldwide births per year, reported by Our World in Data to be around 135 million. If you divide 135 million by 365, you get about 370,000.

However, Our World in Data—a UK-based research publication that primarily uses birth rate data from the United Nations (UN) to crunch its numbers—says 135 million is the projected estimate for the annual birth rate per year moving forward. The UN puts the actual number closer to 132 million, based on population census data collected from 237 countries around the world.

If we stick to the estimate of 135 million babies born per year, that means about:

• Four babies are born every second
• 257 babies are born every minute
• More than 11 million babies are born every month

Remember that these numbers will always be estimates: There’s no way to know exactly how many babies are being born.

How Many Babies Are Born in the US Each Day?

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost 3.6 million births were recorded in the US in 2023. On average, that means more than 9,800 babies are born in the US per day—or about one baby every 10 seconds.

In general, birth rates in the US have been trending down. In 1990, the birth rate was almost 17 live births for every 1,000 people; in 2005, it dropped to 14; and in 2022, it was 11. Birth rates have also been declining in certain age groups: Although women in their 30s and 40s are becoming more likely to have babies, fewer teens and women in their 20s are having them. Women ages 30 to 34 have the highest birth rate of all recorded age groups at more than 97 births per 1,000 women.

Births by state

On top of tracking birth data across the country, the CDC also publishes birth data for individual states. As these numbers are released, they’re considered “provisional”; this means they’re estimates, and the exact number could still change. For example, in New York in June 2024, almost 9,200 babies were born, according to the CDC. In California, the estimated number of babies born in June 2024 was more than 32,000.

The most current year for which we have final state-based birth data is 2022. Here’s how some of the numbers of total births by state compare:

• Connecticut: 35,332
• New Jersey: 102,893
• Tennessee: 82,265
• Texas: 389,741
• Rhode Island: 10,269
• New York: 207,774
• California: 419,104

Factors Influencing Daily Births

There are quite a few factors that affect how many babies are born each day (and how those numbers are reported):

How births are counted

In the US, there’s no federal birth registry. Instead, it’s the responsibility of each state to record births and issue birth certificates. Typically, birth certificates are filed with the local registrar’s office 1 to 10 days after baby’s born. Those offices are then required to submit all of their birth certificate data annually to a department in the CDC called the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Between the delay in birth data being submitted to the CDC and the time needed for the NCHS to analyze it, it can take years for birth rates in the US to be updated or reported on.

The role of planned births

Fun fact: More babies are born on Thursdays than on any other day of the week. Some of that is happenstance…babies are nothing if not spontaneous! But the fact that more babies are born on weekdays than weekends isn’t a total coincidence, either: Most birth professionals and the birthing centers or hospitals where they practice prefer not to schedule births on weekends and holidays.

In fact, doctors routinely schedule inductions and C-sections for standard working hours on weekdays to maximize staffing and hospital resources, says Kecia Gaither, MD, MPH, associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine and director of perinatal services at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln.

Translation? Your healthcare provider doesn’t want to plan your induction for Sunday morning or Christmas Eve, when the hospital is already short-staffed. They want to save those slots for emergency cases and preserve their scheduled time off, if they can. (No laboring on Labor Day, please—pun intended.)

Amber G. says she’s seen births timed around a doctor’s Hawaii trip or even a golf tee time. “However it happens, those details stick, and they end up becoming part of the family story forever,” she says. She timed her second child’s birthday too: “My second baby was a scheduled C-section, and I actually chose his birth date—March 14, Pi Day,” she says. “I loved the idea of him having a birthday people instantly recognize, and it’s become this fun, nerdy little twist that makes his story extra memorable.”

To Sum It Up

Worldwide, around 370,000 babies are born every single day. And while that might seem like a lot, the birth rate is actually declining, and some experts worry we’ll be falling short of population-replacement levels as early as 2050. There are a lot of factors influencing daily birth rates, from more young people delaying pregnancy until their 30s and 40s to more planned births (via induction and C-section) tipping the birthday scales in favor of weekdays vs. weekends and holidays. Finally, the odds of giving birth on your exact due date are pretty slim—babies are finicky like that.

Please note: The Bump and the materials and information it contains are not intended to, and do not constitute, medical or other health advice or diagnosis and should not be used as such. You should always consult with a qualified physician or health professional about your specific circumstances.