Yucatán Now Has Mexico’s 2nd-Lowest Birth Rate

Yucatán now has the second-lowest birth rate in Mexico, and unlike the country as a whole, its rate is still falling.

The state recorded 35.9 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age in 2025, according to INEGI, Mexico’s national statistics agency. Only Mexico City, at 31.1, was lower. The State of Mexico followed Yucatán at 36.1.

The national rate held steady at 47.7, the same as in 2024. Over that same year, Yucatán’s rate fell 2.2 points from 38.1.

4 straight years of decline

The state’s rate has dropped every year since 2021: 43.6, then 43.0, 40.8, 38.1, and now 35.9. That is a decline of 17.7% in four years.

The raw numbers tell the same story. Yucatán registered 23,609 births in 2025, down 1,188 from 2024 and 4,455 fewer than in 2021, a drop of nearly 16%.

The figures come from INEGI’s annual report on registered births, which counts birth certificates filed with the civil registry. Because some families register children late, those counts don’t always match the number of babies born in a given year. In Yucatán, though, late registration is uncommon. In 2025, 95.7% of newborns in the state were registered before their first birthday, compared with 78.5% nationwide. That makes it unlikely the drop is a paperwork effect.

Smaller families, older population

Separate data from INEGI’s 2025 Intercensal Survey point the same way. Yucatecan women age 12 and older have had an average of 1.8 children, down from 2.0 in 2020, 2.2 in 2015, and 2.7 in 1990.

The state is also getting older. Its median age rose from 30 to 32 between 2020 and 2025, even as the population passed 2.5 million.

Across Mexico, the registered birth rate fell from 70.1 in 2015 to 47.7 in 2024 before leveling off. The country recorded 1,678,532 births in 2025, according to national birth figures. Baja California had the highest rate, at 86.6, followed by Chiapas at 83.9 and Durango at 61.0.

How the Peninsula compares

Yucatán also trails its neighbors. Quintana Roo recorded a rate of 39.7 and Campeche 43.5, both below the national average.

Yucatán still had the most births of the three states, with 23,609, ahead of Quintana Roo’s 22,185 and Campeche’s 11,054. The gap with Quintana Roo, a state with a far smaller population, is now only about 1,400 births a year.

Most babies in Yucatán are born to mothers in their 20s. In 2024, 12,831 of the state’s 24,797 registered births were to women ages 20 to 29.

The data show the decline but don’t explain it. No state projections have been released on how fewer births could affect schools, maternity wards, pensions, or health care for an aging population.

Fast Facts

• Yucatán birth rate, 2025: 35.9 per 1,000 women ages 15–49
• National rate: 47.7, unchanged from 2024
• Lowest in Mexico: Mexico City, 31.1
• Highest in Mexico: Baja California, 86.6
• Births registered in Yucatán, 2025: 23,609
• Change since 2021: Rate down 17.7%, births down 15.9%
• Median age in Yucatán: 32, up from 30 in 2020

With reporting from Por Esto! and La Jornada Maya, with data from INEGI