As the world prepares to enter the new year, the global population is expected to grow to be just under eight billion when the clock strikes midnight.

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that the world will reach 7.9 billion people on New Year's Day 2023. So far, more than 73 million babies were born across the globe this year alone — a 0.9 percent increase. The U.S. only accounted for 1.5 million of those births.

While birth rates are expected to climb globally, the U.S. is facing a fertility decline like other high-income nations. It is becoming increasingly common among American adults to have smaller families, compared with previous generations, or no children at all.

As the fertility rate has slowed, the population in the country has naturally regressed, potentially posing a problem for economic growth.

However, the Associated Press reports that the U.S. is projected to have a birth every nine seconds and a death every 10 seconds in January 2023. Combining new births with net international migration, the U.S. still expects to add a new citizen every 27 seconds.