Fertility & birth rates in Afghanistan and DR Congo

Fertility rate in Afghanistan vs DR Congo chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Afghanistan was 4.84 children per woman in 2023, compared to 6.05 in the DR Congo in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Afghanistan vs the DR Congo population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Afghanistan	DR Congo
1960	7.28	6.11
1961	7.28	6.12
1962	7.29	6.14
1963	7.3	6.16
1964	7.3	6.19
1965	7.31	6.21
1966	7.32	6.24
1967	7.34	6.27
1968	7.36	6.29
1969	7.39	6.3
1970	7.4	6.33
1971	7.43	6.34
1972	7.45	6.37
1973	7.49	6.39
1974	7.53	6.4
1975	7.54	6.42
1976	7.56	6.44
1977	7.59	6.45
1978	7.6	6.46
1979	7.61	6.48
1980	7.64	6.5
1981	7.62	6.52
1982	7.6	6.54
1983	7.57	6.56
1984	7.55	6.59
1985	7.55	6.61
1986	7.55	6.63
1987	7.55	6.65
1988	7.55	6.66
1989	7.56	6.65
1990	7.58	6.65
1991	7.63	6.65
1992	7.7	6.64
1993	7.76	6.64
1994	7.77	6.64
1995	7.77	6.68
1996	7.76	6.67
1997	7.73	6.69
1998	7.69	6.7
1999	7.64	6.69
2000	7.57	6.7
2001	7.45	6.66
2002	7.32	6.61
2003	7.17	6.55
2004	7.02	6.53
2005	6.86	6.53
2006	6.69	6.55
2007	6.51	6.56
2008	6.39	6.58
2009	6.3	6.59
2010	6.2	6.59
2011	6.09	6.58
2012	5.99	6.56
2013	5.88	6.53
2014	5.77	6.48
2015	5.65	6.44
2016	5.54	6.39
2017	5.43	6.35
2018	5.33	6.3
2019	5.24	6.25
2020	5.15	6.21
2021	5.04	6.16
2022	4.93	6.11
2023	4.84	6.05
2024	4.76	5.98
2025	4.66	5.9
2026	4.56	5.8
2027	4.48	5.71
2028	4.4	5.62
2029	4.3	5.52
2030	4.22	5.42
2031	4.15	5.32
2032	4.07	5.2
2033	4	5.09
2034	3.95	4.99
2035	3.89	4.87
2036	3.82	4.77
2037	3.76	4.64
2038	3.68	4.55
2039	3.61	4.47
2040	3.56	4.38
2041	3.49	4.3
2042	3.44	4.21
2043	3.39	4.14
2044	3.34	4.06
2045	3.3	3.99
2046	3.26	3.92
2047	3.22	3.85
2048	3.18	3.78
2049	3.14	3.72
2050	3.09	3.66

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Afghanistan	DR Congo
1960	41.9%	42.9%
1961	42%	42.8%
1962	42.1%	42.7%
1963	42.2%	42.7%
1964	42.4%	42.7%
1965	42.6%	42.8%
1966	42.9%	42.9%
1967	43.2%	43%
1968	43.4%	43.2%
1969	43.7%	43.3%
1970	43.9%	43.4%
1971	44.2%	43.6%
1972	44.4%	43.8%
1973	44.6%	44%
1974	44.8%	44.2%
1975	45%	44.3%
1976	45.2%	44.5%
1977	45.4%	44.6%
1978	45.6%	44.5%
1979	45.8%	44.3%
1980	46.1%	44.2%
1981	46.3%	44.3%
1982	46.5%	44.3%
1983	46.6%	44.2%
1984	46.8%	44.1%
1985	47%	44.1%
1986	47.2%	44.1%
1987	47.3%	44.2%
1988	47.4%	44.3%
1989	47.5%	44.3%
1990	47.7%	44.4%
1991	47.8%	44.4%
1992	48%	44.5%
1993	48.2%	44.5%
1994	48.5%	44.1%
1995	48.7%	44%
1996	49%	44.7%
1997	49.3%	45.4%
1998	49.6%	45.6%
1999	49.8%	45.6%
2000	50%	45.7%
2001	50.2%	45.7%
2002	50.2%	45.7%
2003	50.2%	45.8%
2004	50.2%	45.9%
2005	50%	45.9%
2006	49.9%	45.9%
2007	49.6%	46%
2008	49.3%	46%
2009	48.9%	46.1%
2010	48.5%	46.1%
2011	48%	46%
2012	47.6%	46%
2013	47.2%	46%
2014	46.7%	46%
2015	46.3%	46%
2016	45.8%	45.9%
2017	45.4%	45.8%
2018	45%	45.9%
2019	44.6%	46%
2020	44.2%	46.1%
2021	43.9%	46.1%
2022	43.6%	46.1%
2023	43.2%	46.1%
2024	42.9%	46%
2025	42.6%	45.9%
2026	42.2%	45.8%
2027	41.9%	45.7%
2028	41.5%	45.5%
2029	41.1%	45.3%
2030	40.7%	45%
2031	40.3%	44.8%
2032	39.8%	44.5%
2033	39.4%	44.2%
2034	39%	43.8%
2035	38.6%	43.4%
2036	38.2%	43%
2037	37.8%	42.6%
2038	37.4%	42.2%
2039	36.9%	41.7%
2040	36.5%	41.3%
2041	36%	40.9%
2042	35.6%	40.4%
2043	35.2%	40%
2044	34.8%	39.6%
2045	34.4%	39.2%
2046	34%	38.8%
2047	33.6%	38.4%
2048	33.3%	38%
2049	32.9%	37.7%
2050	32.5%	37.3%

Children aged 0-14 make up 42.9% of the population in Afghanistan and 46% in the DR Congo in 2024, compared to 47.7% and 44.4% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Afghanistan and the DR Congo compared.

Natural population change in Afghanistan vs DR Congo by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +3.04% in Afghanistan and +3.29% in the DR Congo. The chart below illustrates the comparison of the absolute yearly changes resulting from births and deaths.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	Afghanistan	DR Congo
1960	170,257	363,517
1961	179,094	368,207
1962	188,427	383,406
1963	198,035	398,972
1964	207,867	406,334
1965	217,741	429,002
1966	228,786	463,397
1967	239,967	479,552
1968	251,798	497,682
1969	263,823	514,800
1970	275,129	533,300
1971	288,267	549,343
1972	300,633	564,495
1973	315,062	578,280
1974	330,232	593,539
1975	343,850	608,655
1976	357,775	624,147
1977	372,567	638,242
1978	369,101	646,411
1979	361,750	691,773
1980	365,396	724,111
1981	343,468	748,371
1982	263,210	774,823
1983	263,778	807,122
1984	205,262	844,956
1985	228,469	885,670
1986	310,066	925,334
1987	314,361	959,875
1988	358,397	995,278
1989	381,158	1,027,238
1990	402,433	1,063,508
1991	409,954	1,114,033
1992	440,132	1,152,781
1993	541,257	1,209,242
1994	609,096	1,259,539
1995	653,280	1,395,440
1996	685,005	1,380,490
1997	709,778	1,392,037
1998	719,860	1,375,130
1999	760,727	1,450,318
2000	782,727	1,549,518
2001	764,090	1,594,999
2002	776,048	1,631,597
2003	826,165	1,679,188
2004	850,940	1,731,022
2005	855,112	1,800,300
2006	875,301	1,889,398
2007	889,848	1,963,738
2008	891,246	2,044,210
2009	920,581	2,126,912
2010	943,473	2,212,255
2011	966,743	2,310,679
2012	1,004,814	2,405,462
2013	1,033,778	2,489,378
2014	1,053,788	2,580,251
2015	1,077,068	2,665,016
2016	1,090,016	2,753,687
2017	1,101,218	2,883,245
2018	1,115,262	2,993,184
2019	1,138,485	3,075,538
2020	1,134,407	3,156,152
2021	1,133,611	3,227,992
2022	1,219,475	3,347,664
2023	1,228,719	3,467,787

Maternal mortality chart: Afghanistan vs DR Congo

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 521 deaths per 100,000 live births in Afghanistan, compared to 427 deaths in the DR Congo.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Afghanistan	DR Congo
1985	2,232	934
1986	1,857	902
1987	1,821	863
1988	1,572	824
1989	1,520	791
1990	1,550	755
1991	1,534	735
1992	1,443	709
1993	1,347	683
1994	1,396	656
1995	1,414	644
1996	1,389	661
1997	1,376	617
1998	1,464	605
1999	1,346	601
2000	1,372	585
2001	1,311	588
2002	1,263	601
2003	1,201	605
2004	1,166	607
2005	1,108	613
2006	1,069	619
2007	1,032	631
2008	955	620
2009	925	608
2010	893	601
2011	838	589
2012	810	578
2013	778	567
2014	755	558
2015	741	545
2016	702	526
2017	659	519
2018	629	508
2019	601	493
2020	634	489
2021	660	507
2022	551	456
2023	521	427

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 5.55% in Afghanistan and 7.32% in the DR Congo. Below is the historical data on under-five mortality rates.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	Afghanistan	DR Congo
1960	35.3%	-
1961	34.8%	-
1962	34.2%	-
1963	33.7%	-
1964	33.2%	-
1965	32.7%	-
1966	32.2%	-
1967	31.7%	-
1968	31.2%	-
1969	30.6%	25.1%
1970	30.2%	24.7%
1971	29.7%	24.3%
1972	29.1%	24%
1973	28.6%	23.7%
1974	28.1%	23.4%
1975	27.5%	23%
1976	27%	22.6%
1977	26.4%	22.3%
1978	25.8%	21.9%
1979	25.2%	21.5%
1980	24.6%	21.2%
1981	23.9%	20.9%
1982	28%	20.6%
1983	27.4%	20.3%
1984	30.9%	20%
1985	30.1%	19.7%
1986	25.3%	19.5%
1987	24.7%	19.2%
1988	21.8%	19%
1989	18.7%	18.8%
1990	18.1%	18.5%
1991	17.4%	18.3%
1992	16.9%	18.1%
1993	16.3%	17.9%
1994	15.8%	17.7%
1995	15.3%	17.5%
1996	14.8%	17.3%
1997	14.4%	17%
1998	14%	16.7%
1999	13.6%	16.3%
2000	13.2%	15.9%
2001	12.7%	15.5%
2002	12.3%	15%
2003	11.9%	14.6%
2004	11.4%	14.1%
2005	11%	13.6%
2006	10.5%	13.1%
2007	10.1%	12.7%
2008	9.63%	12.2%
2009	9.22%	11.8%
2010	8.83%	11.4%
2011	8.46%	11%
2012	8.12%	10.6%
2013	7.8%	10.3%
2014	7.51%	9.9%
2015	7.24%	9.56%
2016	7%	9.23%
2017	6.76%	8.93%
2018	6.54%	8.63%
2019	6.33%	8.35%
2020	6.13%	8.07%
2021	5.93%	7.81%
2022	5.74%	7.57%
2023	5.55%	7.32%