Twins and triplets

The 2020 twin birth rate was 31.1 twins per 1,000 births, a 3% decline from the 2019 rate of 32.1 and down 8% from the 2014 high of 33.9. The twinning rate (births in twin deliveries per 1,000 total births) rose 76% from 1980 to 2009 (from 18.9 to 33.2 per 1,000), was generally stable from 2009 to 2012 and then rose for 2013 and 2014 before beginning to decline. The 2020 rate is the lowest in almost two decades (the 2020 rate was 31.1). The triplet and higher-order multiple birth rate (triplet/plus) was 79.6 per 100,000 births for 2020, a 9% decline from 2019 (87.7). The 2020 rate of triplet/plus births is down 59% from the 1998 peak (193.5) and the lowest rate in three decades.