Comparison of the U.S. and USSR birth rates 1970-1989
In 1970, the United States' birth rate was slightly higher than that of the Soviet Union, at 18.2 births per thousand people compared to 17.4 respectively. Over the subsequent two decades, the U.S.' rate would fall below 16 births per thousand people, whereas the USSR's rate would climb to 19.4 births per thousand people in 1985, before falling rather sharply in the late 1980s.