Fewer Alaska babies were born in 2024 than the year prior, continuing a yearslong decline in the state’s births and women’s fertility rates, a new report shows.
There were 8,950 Alaska babies born last year, down from 9,031 in 2023, according to the Alaska Vital Statistics 2024 Annual Report released by the state Department of Health. The number of births has fallen in each of the past five years, the report showed. In 2020, there were 9,486 babies born in Alaska.
Fertility rates — defined as the number of births per 100,000 women aged 15 to 44 — also continued to decline. In 2024, the statewide fertility rate was 61, down from 61.8 the year before and 65.5 in 2020. Fertility rates were highest in Southwest Alaska in 2024, at 86.9, and lowest in Southeast Alaska, at 48.5, the report said.
The most popular names for boys were Oliver and Theodore. For baby girls, the most popular names were Amelia and Olivia, the report said.
At the other end of the life cycle, there were slightly fewer deaths in Alaska last year than in 2023 — 5,525 in 2024, compared to 5,544 the year before, the report said. Alaska’s death total peaked in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when 6,227 residents died, the report said. Death numbers have declined since then, and the 2024 total was similar to the 2020 total of 5,204.
Death statistics revealed that the top three causes in 2024 were the same as they were in most years: cancer, which was responsible for about a fifth of all Alaska deaths; heart disease, with totals for those deaths on the decline since 2021 and 2022; and accidents, a category that includes poisonings and drug overdoses.
COVID-19, which was the No. 3 cause of death in 2021, slipped out of the top 10 in 2023, a year when it was cited as the cause of 56 deaths. Its impact on state demographics was still small in 2024, when it was found to be the cause of 58 Alaska deaths.
Embedded in the vital statistics report were some positive signs.
Life expectancy increased to a statewide average of 77.6 years, continuing an upward trend since the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2021, when life expectancy hit a low of 75.4 years.
The teen birth rate was the lowest since 2020, the report said. That rate, which measures the number of births per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19, was 13.5 in 2024, down from 14.8 the year before.
Use of tobacco by pregnant women has also steadily declined in recent years, according to the report. In 2024, 7% of expectant mothers used tobacco, down from 11% in 2020.
Report shows declines in certain cancersA separate report released by the department detailed cancer statistics through 2022, the year with the last available data.
The Cancer In Alaska 2022 Annual Report showed some positive trends as well.
Cancer incidence overall in Alaska decreased between 1996 and 2022, especially in the years 2009 to 2012, when incidents dropped by an annual average of 3.4%, the report said. Breast cancer remains the most frequent cancer among women, while prostate cancer is the most frequent cancer among men, the report said.
Certain types of cancers have decreased in Alaska since 2016, including leukemia, bladder cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer. There is a caveat, however. “Recent trends have started to show an increase in prostate cancer statewide and nationally,” Shirley Sakaye, a spokesperson for the department, said by email.
Also on the decline in Alaska was colorectal cancer, which ranked fourth on the list of diagnosed cancers in the state in 2022, according to the cancer report.
Colorectal cancer trends are of special concern in Alaska because of a high prevalence among Alaska Natives. Alaska Native people have had the nation’s highest recorded rates of colorectal cancer, according to a recent report by the American Cancer Society. The reasons are not fully understood by health experts, but they may relate to diet, according to the report.
While colorectal cancer numbers have declined in recent years, rates are notably high in one of the most rural regions of the state: the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Western Alaska. The colorectal cancer rate there was 88 per 100,000 people in 2022, compared to the statewide rate of 40.8 per 100,000, according to the report.
Alaska Native tribal health organizations have boosted awareness, and screening has increased over time.
Because of relatively high rates of colorectal cancer among younger adult Alaska Native people, the Alaska Native Medical Center and Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium recommend that screenings start at age 40, compared to the recommendation for most Americans to start screenings at age 45.