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Mothers gave birth to 6,551 babies in Wyoming last year, the lowest number in more than 15 years, the Wyoming Department of Health said Tuesday.

The downward trend began in 2015. That year — which coincided with the state’s largest energy bust in decades, mothers gave birth to about 7,700 babies. Wyoming’s population dropped in the first three years following the bust.

Last year’s drop in the number of births occurred at the same time as the number of resident deaths increased, according to the health department. There were 5,069 deaths reported in 2018, up from 4,767 a year earlier, which itself was a a jump from 2016.

“With Wyoming’s aging population, we expect these numbers will likely continue increasing in future years,” Guy Beaudoin, Vital Statistics Services deputy state registrar, said in a statement.