Births in Alaska are down, along with marriage and divorce, report shows

A new report issued by the Alaska Department of Health and Human Services shows that fewer babies are being born in the state, and less people are getting married.

According to the 2017 Alaska Vital Statistics Report, which was released Oct. 29, Alaska mothers gave birth to 10,447 babies in 2017. In 2016, that number was 11,216, showing a fertility drop of around 7 percent.

The teenage birth rate also declined, from a rate of 25.5 births per 1,000 people in 2016, down to a rate of 21.4 in 2017. Alaska mothers aged 15 to 19 had 486 births last year. The overall fertility rate dropped as well in 2017, the data shows.

And baby-making isn't the only thing seeing a downturn. The report shows that fewer were married and, consequently, fewer divorced last year than in 2016.

2017 saw 5,123 marriage, 79 of which were same sex marriages. In 2016, there were 5,279 marriages, with 81 of those being same sex. The most common age that couples married was between 20 and 24 years old.

The rate of separation in 2017 went down to 3.6 per 1,000 people in the state for a divorce or dissolution.

Additionally, the report included

, with James taking top for boys, and Emma being most common for girls.