Comparison of the U.S. and USSR rates of natural increase 1970-1989

Between 1970 and 1989, the Soviet Union's population experienced a rate of natural increase that was consistently higher (sometimes by a significant margin) than that of the United States. In 1970, these increases were fairly similar at 9.2 and 8.8 per 1,000 population respectively, however the margin was considerably larger by the middle of the decade.

Although the Soviet Union's birth and death rates were both higher than those of the U.S. in most of these years, the larger disparity in birth rates is the reason for the USSR's higher rate of natural increase. However, while the USSR had a higher rate of natural increase, this did not mean that the Soviet population grew faster than that of the United States; the U.S. had a much higher net migration rate, which brought population growth rates much closer in the 1970s and 1980s.