Fertility & birth rates in Barbados and Ghana

Fertility rate in Barbados vs Ghana chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Barbados was 1.71 children per woman in 2023, compared to 3.4 in Ghana in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Barbados vs Ghana population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Barbados	Ghana
1960	4.71	6.89
1961	4.15	6.91
1962	4.3	6.94
1963	4.3	6.94
1964	4.21	6.9
1965	4.18	6.88
1966	4.14	6.86
1967	3.6	6.89
1968	3.57	6.89
1969	3.34	6.95
1970	3.08	6.95
1971	3.2	6.95
1972	3.15	6.92
1973	2.87	6.87
1974	2.65	6.82
1975	2.45	6.76
1976	2.24	6.7
1977	2.2	6.64
1978	1.84	6.56
1979	1.86	6.51
1980	1.78	6.47
1981	1.85	6.42
1982	1.86	6.31
1983	1.86	6.23
1984	1.75	6.15
1985	1.77	6.12
1986	1.69	6.08
1987	1.61	6.02
1988	1.58	5.92
1989	1.64	5.82
1990	1.84	5.74
1991	1.84	5.63
1992	1.8	5.52
1993	1.77	5.41
1994	1.73	5.25
1995	1.7	5.11
1996	1.67	4.96
1997	1.65	4.88
1998	1.62	4.83
1999	1.78	4.82
2000	1.93	4.83
2001	1.96	4.77
2002	1.86	4.69
2003	1.86	4.6
2004	1.8	4.5
2005	1.74	4.5
2006	1.7	4.4
2007	1.76	4.29
2008	1.76	4.22
2009	1.77	4.18
2010	1.79	4.18
2011	1.76	4.18
2012	1.73	4.15
2013	1.73	4.11
2014	1.73	4.03
2015	1.73	3.98
2016	1.72	3.87
2017	1.72	3.72
2018	1.72	3.65
2019	1.72	3.59
2020	1.71	3.54
2021	1.71	3.49
2022	1.71	3.43
2023	1.71	3.4
2024	1.71	3.34
2025	1.7	3.3
2026	1.7	3.26
2027	1.7	3.22
2028	1.7	3.18
2029	1.7	3.14
2030	1.7	3.1
2031	1.69	3.06
2032	1.69	3.03
2033	1.69	2.99
2034	1.69	2.96
2035	1.69	2.93
2036	1.69	2.9
2037	1.69	2.87
2038	1.69	2.84
2039	1.69	2.81
2040	1.68	2.78
2041	1.68	2.76
2042	1.68	2.73
2043	1.68	2.71
2044	1.68	2.68
2045	1.68	2.66
2046	1.68	2.64
2047	1.68	2.62
2048	1.68	2.59
2049	1.68	2.57
2050	1.68	2.55

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Barbados	Ghana
1960	37.2%	45.4%
1961	37.2%	45.9%
1962	37.1%	46.4%
1963	37.1%	46.8%
1964	37.1%	47.1%
1965	37.1%	47.4%
1966	37.1%	47.6%
1967	36.9%	47.8%
1968	36.7%	47.9%
1969	36.4%	48.1%
1970	36%	48.2%
1971	35.7%	48.4%
1972	35.3%	48.4%
1973	34.9%	48.4%
1974	34.4%	48.3%
1975	33.6%	48.2%
1976	32.8%	47.9%
1977	32.1%	47.5%
1978	31.1%	47%
1979	30%	46.5%
1980	29%	46.2%
1981	28%	45.9%
1982	27.2%	45.7%
1983	26.7%	45.4%
1984	26.2%	45.2%
1985	25.8%	45.3%
1986	25.5%	45.4%
1987	25.1%	45.5%
1988	24.8%	45.4%
1989	24.5%	45.4%
1990	24.2%	45.3%
1991	23.9%	45.2%
1992	23.6%	45%
1993	23.4%	44.8%
1994	23.2%	44.5%
1995	23%	44.2%
1996	22.8%	43.9%
1997	22.6%	43.5%
1998	22.3%	43.1%
1999	22.1%	42.7%
2000	21.9%	42.3%
2001	21.7%	41.9%
2002	21.6%	41.5%
2003	21.5%	41.1%
2004	21.3%	40.7%
2005	21%	40.4%
2006	20.7%	40.1%
2007	20.5%	39.8%
2008	20.3%	39.5%
2009	20.2%	39.3%
2010	20.2%	39.1%
2011	20%	39%
2012	19.9%	38.9%
2013	19.7%	38.9%
2014	19.4%	38.8%
2015	19.2%	38.6%
2016	18.9%	38.4%
2017	18.7%	38.1%
2018	18.4%	37.8%
2019	18.2%	37.6%
2020	18.1%	37.2%
2021	17.9%	36.9%
2022	17.7%	36.5%
2023	17.5%	36.2%
2024	17.2%	35.8%
2025	17.1%	35.4%
2026	16.9%	35%
2027	16.8%	34.6%
2028	16.7%	34.1%
2029	16.6%	33.7%
2030	16.5%	33.3%
2031	16.4%	32.8%
2032	16.4%	32.5%
2033	16.3%	32.2%
2034	16.2%	31.9%
2035	16.1%	31.6%
2036	16%	31.4%
2037	15.9%	31.2%
2038	15.8%	30.9%
2039	15.8%	30.7%
2040	15.7%	30.5%
2041	15.6%	30.3%
2042	15.5%	30.1%
2043	15.4%	29.8%
2044	15.3%	29.6%
2045	15.2%	29.4%
2046	15.2%	29.2%
2047	15.1%	29%
2048	15%	28.8%
2049	14.9%	28.5%
2050	14.9%	28.3%

Children aged 0-14 make up 17.2% of the population in Barbados and 35.8% in Ghana in 2024, compared to 24.2% and 45.3% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Barbados and Ghana compared.

Natural population change in Barbados vs Ghana by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.18% in Barbados and +2.1% in Ghana. 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
	Barbados	Ghana
1960	5,949	217,134
1961	5,208	222,372
1962	5,589	223,842
1963	5,706	225,367
1964	5,688	226,685
1965	5,762	229,061
1966	5,842	231,440
1967	4,984	237,156
1968	5,035	242,821
1969	4,710	251,925
1970	4,271	257,938
1971	4,530	265,442
1972	4,505	275,236
1973	3,996	283,385
1974	3,644	290,796
1975	3,321	298,267
1976	2,988	305,769
1977	2,988	315,429
1978	2,367	324,428
1979	2,485	334,848
1980	2,393	346,816
1981	2,605	359,572
1982	2,660	369,061
1983	2,656	379,846
1984	2,388	392,053
1985	2,356	401,722
1986	2,111	411,191
1987	1,841	419,328
1988	1,684	425,031
1989	1,719	432,541
1990	2,101	442,211
1991	2,055	448,159
1992	1,912	452,156
1993	1,765	454,669
1994	1,607	449,589
1995	1,467	451,748
1996	1,334	450,259
1997	1,172	459,822
1998	1,093	471,313
1999	1,351	487,210
2000	1,577	508,738
2001	1,578	519,382
2002	1,369	528,620
2003	1,321	536,656
2004	1,204	543,339
2005	1,018	563,234
2006	927	569,474
2007	1,028	572,332
2008	989	579,695
2009	1,000	592,825
2010	981	613,133
2011	897	631,501
2012	815	646,595
2013	772	658,638
2014	730	660,829
2015	690	667,729
2016	655	659,910
2017	616	641,218
2018	584	641,551
2019	542	642,403
2020	503	637,469
2021	415	635,805
2022	43	646,441
2023	158	651,094

Maternal mortality chart: Barbados vs Ghana

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 35 deaths per 100,000 live births in Barbados, compared to 234 deaths in Ghana.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Barbados	Ghana
1985	55	943
1986	56	908
1987	57	873
1988	55	834
1989	57	799
1990	59	769
1991	60	745
1992	61	718
1993	55	696
1994	53	670
1995	52	630
1996	51	591
1997	51	553
1998	45	521
1999	44	490
2000	46	472
2001	46	460
2002	43	434
2003	45	410
2004	43	403
2005	44	390
2006	45	385
2007	42	377
2008	42	380
2009	42	369
2010	42	363
2011	41	356
2012	40	351
2013	40	338
2014	39	317
2015	37	310
2016	36	296
2017	37	287
2018	37	276
2019	36	260
2020	39	253
2021	38	264
2022	38	239
2023	35	234

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1% in Barbados and 3.71% in Ghana. 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
	Barbados	Ghana
1960	8.47%	20.9%
1961	7.86%	20.7%
1962	7.33%	20.5%
1963	6.86%	20.4%
1964	6.45%	20.3%
1965	6.1%	20.3%
1966	5.79%	20.3%
1967	5.52%	20.3%
1968	5.28%	20.3%
1969	5.03%	20.3%
1970	4.79%	20.2%
1971	4.55%	20.1%
1972	4.32%	19.9%
1973	4.08%	19.6%
1974	3.86%	19.2%
1975	3.64%	18.7%
1976	3.43%	18.2%
1977	3.23%	17.7%
1978	3.04%	17.2%
1979	2.86%	16.9%
1980	2.69%	16.7%
1981	2.55%	16.6%
1982	2.44%	16.4%
1983	2.34%	16.2%
1984	2.26%	15.9%
1985	2.19%	15.5%
1986	2.12%	15%
1987	2.05%	14.4%
1988	1.97%	13.8%
1989	1.89%	13.3%
1990	1.81%	12.8%
1991	1.73%	12.3%
1992	1.66%	12%
1993	1.59%	11.8%
1994	1.53%	11.6%
1995	1.49%	11.5%
1996	1.45%	11.3%
1997	1.43%	11.1%
1998	1.42%	10.8%
1999	1.42%	10.4%
2000	1.44%	10%
2001	1.45%	9.61%
2002	1.47%	9.21%
2003	1.48%	8.85%
2004	1.49%	8.52%
2005	1.48%	8.22%
2006	1.47%	7.93%
2007	1.45%	7.63%
2008	1.43%	7.31%
2009	1.41%	6.99%
2010	1.39%	6.65%
2011	1.37%	6.33%
2012	1.35%	6.02%
2013	1.33%	5.74%
2014	1.31%	5.48%
2015	1.28%	5.25%
2016	1.25%	5.02%
2017	1.21%	4.81%
2018	1.18%	4.6%
2019	1.14%	4.39%
2020	1.11%	4.2%
2021	1.07%	4.02%
2022	1.04%	3.85%
2023	1%	3.71%