WASHINGTON (CNS) – The archbishop who chairs the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities cheered news that the abortion rate in the United States continues to shrink, as does the number of abortions overall.

“I am gratified that the number of abortions in the United States continues to decline,” said Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, in a Nov. 26 statement.

“The reduction in the number of abortions is due to many factors, from declining rates of sexual activity, especially among teens, to pro-life legislative gains.”

According to a report issued Nov. 21 by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the drop in both abortions overall and the abortion rate has declined each year for a decade.

The CDC said the abortion rate in 2015 – the last year for which statistics are available –is at 11.8 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15-44. The rate has dropped eight of the past nine years since 2006’s rate of 15.9; the rate of 15.6 held steady in 2008.

“The efforts of the staff and volunteers at crisis pregnancy centers, as well as pro-life educational efforts, are to be commended,” Archbishop Naumann said in his statement.

The overall number of abortions also continued to slide. The 2015 number of reported abortions was 638,169, about one-fourth less than the 852,385 reported in 2006. It is down 2 percent from 2014’s figure of 652,639.