Fertility & birth rates in Afghanistan and Lesotho

Fertility rate in Afghanistan vs Lesotho 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 2.69 in Lesotho in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Afghanistan vs Lesotho 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	Lesotho
1960	7.28	5.78
1961	7.28	5.79
1962	7.29	5.79
1963	7.3	5.78
1964	7.3	5.77
1965	7.31	5.77
1966	7.32	5.76
1967	7.34	5.75
1968	7.36	5.73
1969	7.39	5.7
1970	7.4	5.7
1971	7.43	5.7
1972	7.45	5.69
1973	7.49	5.69
1974	7.53	5.75
1975	7.54	5.83
1976	7.56	5.87
1977	7.59	5.85
1978	7.6	5.82
1979	7.61	5.79
1980	7.64	5.75
1981	7.62	5.69
1982	7.6	5.63
1983	7.57	5.56
1984	7.55	5.48
1985	7.55	5.4
1986	7.55	5.32
1987	7.55	5.22
1988	7.55	5.1
1989	7.56	4.96
1990	7.58	4.81
1991	7.63	4.68
1992	7.7	4.54
1993	7.76	4.37
1994	7.77	4.21
1995	7.77	4.13
1996	7.76	4.06
1997	7.73	3.98
1998	7.69	3.82
1999	7.64	3.67
2000	7.57	3.61
2001	7.45	3.63
2002	7.32	3.68
2003	7.17	3.62
2004	7.02	3.51
2005	6.86	3.43
2006	6.69	3.41
2007	6.51	3.44
2008	6.39	3.39
2009	6.3	3.31
2010	6.2	3.25
2011	6.09	3.34
2012	5.99	3.3
2013	5.88	3.28
2014	5.77	3.24
2015	5.65	3.22
2016	5.54	3.18
2017	5.43	3.11
2018	5.33	3.02
2019	5.24	2.92
2020	5.15	2.85
2021	5.04	2.77
2022	4.93	2.72
2023	4.84	2.69
2024	4.76	2.66
2025	4.66	2.64
2026	4.56	2.61
2027	4.48	2.58
2028	4.4	2.55
2029	4.3	2.53
2030	4.22	2.5
2031	4.15	2.47
2032	4.07	2.45
2033	4	2.43
2034	3.95	2.41
2035	3.89	2.38
2036	3.82	2.37
2037	3.76	2.34
2038	3.68	2.32
2039	3.61	2.3
2040	3.56	2.29
2041	3.49	2.27
2042	3.44	2.25
2043	3.39	2.24
2044	3.34	2.22
2045	3.3	2.21
2046	3.26	2.19
2047	3.22	2.18
2048	3.18	2.17
2049	3.14	2.16
2050	3.09	2.14

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Afghanistan	Lesotho
1960	41.9%	45.1%
1961	42%	45.2%
1962	42.1%	45.3%
1963	42.2%	45.2%
1964	42.4%	44.9%
1965	42.6%	44.8%
1966	42.9%	44.9%
1967	43.2%	44.8%
1968	43.4%	44.4%
1969	43.7%	44%
1970	43.9%	43.6%
1971	44.2%	43.1%
1972	44.4%	42.7%
1973	44.6%	42.3%
1974	44.8%	41.9%
1975	45%	41.6%
1976	45.2%	41.4%
1977	45.4%	41.5%
1978	45.6%	41.7%
1979	45.8%	41.9%
1980	46.1%	42.1%
1981	46.3%	42.3%
1982	46.5%	42.5%
1983	46.6%	42.7%
1984	46.8%	42.8%
1985	47%	43%
1986	47.2%	42.7%
1987	47.3%	42.5%
1988	47.4%	42.7%
1989	47.5%	42.8%
1990	47.7%	42.9%
1991	47.8%	42.9%
1992	48%	42.8%
1993	48.2%	42.6%
1994	48.5%	42.3%
1995	48.7%	42%
1996	49%	41.7%
1997	49.3%	41.2%
1998	49.6%	40.7%
1999	49.8%	40.2%
2000	50%	39.6%
2001	50.2%	39.1%
2002	50.2%	38.6%
2003	50.2%	38.1%
2004	50.2%	37.7%
2005	50%	37.4%
2006	49.9%	37.1%
2007	49.6%	36.8%
2008	49.3%	36.7%
2009	48.9%	36.6%
2010	48.5%	36.5%
2011	48%	36.5%
2012	47.6%	36.5%
2013	47.2%	36.5%
2014	46.7%	36.6%
2015	46.3%	36.6%
2016	45.8%	36.6%
2017	45.4%	36.5%
2018	45%	36.3%
2019	44.6%	36.1%
2020	44.2%	35.8%
2021	43.9%	35.6%
2022	43.6%	35.3%
2023	43.2%	34.9%
2024	42.9%	34.5%
2025	42.6%	34.1%
2026	42.2%	33.6%
2027	41.9%	33.1%
2028	41.5%	32.6%
2029	41.1%	32%
2030	40.7%	31.5%
2031	40.3%	31%
2032	39.8%	30.5%
2033	39.4%	30.1%
2034	39%	29.7%
2035	38.6%	29.3%
2036	38.2%	29%
2037	37.8%	28.8%
2038	37.4%	28.5%
2039	36.9%	28.3%
2040	36.5%	28.1%
2041	36%	27.8%
2042	35.6%	27.6%
2043	35.2%	27.4%
2044	34.8%	27.1%
2045	34.4%	26.9%
2046	34%	26.7%
2047	33.6%	26.4%
2048	33.3%	26.2%
2049	32.9%	25.9%
2050	32.5%	25.7%

Children aged 0-14 make up 42.9% of the population in Afghanistan and 34.5% in Lesotho in 2024, compared to 47.7% and 42.9% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Afghanistan and Lesotho compared.

Natural population change in Afghanistan vs Lesotho by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +3.04% in Afghanistan and +1.44% in Lesotho. 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	Lesotho
1960	170,257	19,981
1961	179,094	20,581
1962	188,427	21,132
1963	198,035	21,585
1964	207,867	22,116
1965	217,741	22,755
1966	228,786	23,326
1967	239,967	23,911
1968	251,798	24,490
1969	263,823	25,137
1970	275,129	25,935
1971	288,267	26,838
1972	300,633	27,841
1973	315,062	28,859
1974	330,232	30,444
1975	343,850	32,311
1976	357,775	34,117
1977	372,567	35,654
1978	369,101	37,084
1979	361,750	38,440
1980	365,396	39,617
1981	343,468	40,808
1982	263,210	41,941
1983	263,778	42,899
1984	205,262	43,785
1985	228,469	44,575
1986	310,066	45,232
1987	314,361	47,718
1988	358,397	47,158
1989	381,158	46,264
1990	402,433	45,060
1991	409,954	44,026
1992	440,132	42,579
1993	541,257	40,505
1994	609,096	38,629
1995	653,280	37,370
1996	685,005	36,228
1997	709,778	34,637
1998	719,860	30,889
1999	760,727	27,393
2000	782,727	24,786
2001	764,090	23,190
2002	776,048	22,274
2003	826,165	20,133
2004	850,940	17,271
2005	855,112	15,831
2006	875,301	15,234
2007	889,848	17,763
2008	891,246	19,349
2009	920,581	20,335
2010	943,473	21,877
2011	966,743	25,647
2012	1,004,814	27,592
2013	1,033,778	29,789
2014	1,053,788	30,922
2015	1,077,068	32,087
2016	1,090,016	33,390
2017	1,101,218	33,601
2018	1,115,262	33,112
2019	1,138,485	32,279
2020	1,134,407	30,721
2021	1,133,611	27,806
2022	1,219,475	30,803
2023	1,228,719	31,115

Maternal mortality chart: Afghanistan vs Lesotho

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 478 deaths in Lesotho.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Afghanistan	Lesotho
1985	2,232	711
1986	1,857	680
1987	1,821	686
1988	1,572	680
1989	1,520	680
1990	1,550	665
1991	1,534	641
1992	1,443	601
1993	1,347	542
1994	1,396	423
1995	1,414	357
1996	1,389	319
1997	1,376	312
1998	1,464	332
1999	1,346	371
2000	1,372	413
2001	1,311	465
2002	1,263	484
2003	1,201	508
2004	1,166	499
2005	1,108	549
2006	1,069	696
2007	1,032	891
2008	955	1,205
2009	925	1,387
2010	893	1,311
2011	838	1,210
2012	810	1,000
2013	778	855
2014	755	707
2015	741	594
2016	702	518
2017	659	468
2018	629	491
2019	601	467
2020	634	529
2021	660	577
2022	551	477
2023	521	478

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 5.55% in Afghanistan and 5.89% in Lesotho. 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	Lesotho
1960	35.3%	18.6%
1961	34.8%	18.5%
1962	34.2%	18.5%
1963	33.7%	18.6%
1964	33.2%	18.6%
1965	32.7%	18.7%
1966	32.2%	18.6%
1967	31.7%	18.5%
1968	31.2%	18.3%
1969	30.6%	18%
1970	30.2%	17.7%
1971	29.7%	17.3%
1972	29.1%	16.9%
1973	28.6%	16.5%
1974	28.1%	16%
1975	27.5%	15.5%
1976	27%	14.9%
1977	26.4%	14.2%
1978	25.8%	13.6%
1979	25.2%	12.9%
1980	24.6%	12.3%
1981	23.9%	11.7%
1982	28%	11.1%
1983	27.4%	10.6%
1984	30.9%	10.1%
1985	30.1%	9.72%
1986	25.3%	9.36%
1987	24.7%	9.06%
1988	21.8%	8.8%
1989	18.7%	8.6%
1990	18.1%	8.47%
1991	17.4%	8.43%
1992	16.9%	8.51%
1993	16.3%	8.73%
1994	15.8%	9.07%
1995	15.3%	9.45%
1996	14.8%	9.83%
1997	14.4%	10.2%
1998	14%	10.5%
1999	13.6%	10.7%
2000	13.2%	10.9%
2001	12.7%	11.1%
2002	12.3%	11.2%
2003	11.9%	11.4%
2004	11.4%	11.5%
2005	11%	11.6%
2006	10.5%	11.5%
2007	10.1%	11.2%
2008	9.63%	10.9%
2009	9.22%	9.64%
2010	8.83%	9.01%
2011	8.46%	8.59%
2012	8.12%	8.26%
2013	7.8%	8.02%
2014	7.51%	7.82%
2015	7.24%	7.51%
2016	7%	7.18%
2017	6.76%	7.12%
2018	6.54%	6.91%
2019	6.33%	6.87%
2020	6.13%	6.68%
2021	5.93%	6.44%
2022	5.74%	6.15%
2023	5.55%	5.89%