birth rate

British

noun

the ratio of live births in a specified area, group, etc, to the population of that area, etc, usually expressed per 1000 population per year

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

birth rate Scientific

The ratio of total live births to total population in a specified community or area over a specified period of time. The birth rate is often expressed as the number of live births per 1,000 of the population per year.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Israel is the only modern industrial nation with a replacement‑level birth rate.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

As journalist Jane Coaston argued on the Hysteria podcast, birth rate panic is rarely sincere.

From Salon • Apr. 20, 2026

Slaathaug and her colleagues have also seen very low calf counts, signalling a low birth rate.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

Overall, the declining birth rate “continues to wreak havoc with the fragile vitality of public schools,” Fuller added.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

In this progressive decline in the birth rate is to be found the greatest of all the factors making for internationalism and peace.

From American World Policies by Weyl, Walter E.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023