Vital Statistics Birth Data at the NBER

The National Vital Statistics System of the National Center for Health Statistics collects vital statistics data for the U.S. Government which can be used by researchers and policymakers to monitor and improve the Nation's health. NBER has a collection of vital statistics birth microdata available for download.

The Birth Data come in a number of different formats; however, in each case, the birth microdata file contains birth certificate data from a given calendar year. Linked Birth/Infant Death data were not collected 1992-1994. However, infant cause of death is included in the Multiple Cause-of-Death Data.

• 1983-1991, 1995-2002 Birth Cohort Linked Birth/Infant Death Data includes all births in a given calendar year occuring within the United States and all deaths for the infants born during that calendar year who died before reaching one year of age. The data from the birth certificates and the death certificates are useful for studying infant mortality. More recent Linked Birth/Infant Death Data are included in the Perinatal Mortality Data File below.
• 1968-2006 Natality Detail Data. includes all births occuring in a given calendar year within the United States. The data are based on information abstracted from birth certificates filed in vital statistics offices of each State and District of Columbia. U.S. Territories (Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Guam) are included on separate data files beginning in 1994.
• 1995-2002 Perinatal Mortality Data. combines the Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data and the Fetal Death Data. Infant deaths and fetal deaths can be distinguished using the variable OUTCOME. The Fetal Death Data File includes all fetal deaths in a given calendar year occuring in the United States and the District of Columbia. U.S. Territories data (Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, and Guam) are included on separate data files. Fetal death registration requirements vary; however, most areas require reporting of fetal deaths of gestations of 20 weeks or more.
• 1995-1998 Matched Multiple Births Data. allows for analysis of characteristics (such as gender combination of the set, outcome of the set, birthweight differences among set mates) of sets of births and fetal deaths in multiple deliveries through a set member identifier.

• Vital Statistics Books has PDFs of pre-1968 vital statistics tables.

SEER provides helpful U.S. Population data for 1969 on.

To report errors, or if you have comments, suggestions, or data from previous years e-mail jroth@nber.org