For the first time in state history, Ohio recorded more deaths than births last year, a development experts say was expedited by COVID-19. Roughly 143,661 Ohio residents died in 2020…while 129,313 were born, that’s according to data from the Ohio Department of Health. So far in 2021, Ohio has logged 107,462 deaths and 100,781 births. Ohio’s birthrate has been declining for years while the number of deaths across the state has risen, meaning the two metrics were likely to swap places at some point. But data shows the pandemic rapidly hastened the switch.