OBJECTIVE To examine the impact of changes in birth weight distribution in individual groups and in birth weight-specific fetal death rates on the decline in the crude fetal death rate in the United States. METHODS Data on live births and fetal deaths in the U.S. for the period 1979-1990 were examined by birth weight group and race using Kitagawa's method for analysis of the crude fetal death rate. RESULTS In the period 1979-1990, all racial groups had a decrease in the crude fetal death rate, more so in whites and others (about 22%) than in blacks (10%). In the white population, 73.4% of the total reduction in the crude fetal death rate was attributable to the improvement in birth weight-specific fetal death rates, and the remaining portion of the reduction was due to a favorable change in birth weight distribution. In the black population, the reduction in the crude fetal death rate was entirely attributable to the improvement in the birth weight-specific fetal death rates. However, in other groups, a favorable change in the birth weight distribution was the major determinant. Although black births represented 16.5% of all births in the U.S., they accounted for 26-29% of the crude fetal death rate. Disparity in the crude fetal death rates for blacks and whites is explained almost entirely by differences in birth weight distribution. CONCLUSIONS A further decrease in the crude fetal death rate in the U.S. requires a decrease in low birth weights, particularly in blacks.