Fertility & birth rates in Barbados and South Africa

Fertility rate in Barbados vs South Africa 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 2.22 in South Africa in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Barbados vs South Africa 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	South Africa
1960	4.71	6.11
1961	4.15	6.08
1962	4.3	6.05
1963	4.3	6.01
1964	4.21	5.96
1965	4.18	5.89
1966	4.14	5.91
1967	3.6	5.85
1968	3.57	5.78
1969	3.34	5.72
1970	3.08	5.63
1971	3.2	5.57
1972	3.15	5.49
1973	2.87	5.41
1974	2.65	5.3
1975	2.45	5.19
1976	2.24	5.07
1977	2.2	4.94
1978	1.84	4.85
1979	1.86	4.82
1980	1.78	4.78
1981	1.85	4.71
1982	1.86	4.7
1983	1.86	4.63
1984	1.75	4.57
1985	1.77	4.5
1986	1.69	4.41
1987	1.61	4.35
1988	1.58	4.18
1989	1.64	3.98
1990	1.84	3.72
1991	1.84	3.62
1992	1.8	3.48
1993	1.77	3.37
1994	1.73	3.26
1995	1.7	3.17
1996	1.67	2.99
1997	1.65	2.73
1998	1.62	2.63
1999	1.78	2.56
2000	1.93	2.41
2001	1.96	2.37
2002	1.86	2.32
2003	1.86	2.36
2004	1.8	2.44
2005	1.74	2.51
2006	1.7	2.55
2007	1.76	2.55
2008	1.76	2.68
2009	1.77	2.5
2010	1.79	2.44
2011	1.76	2.44
2012	1.73	2.45
2013	1.73	2.43
2014	1.73	2.42
2015	1.73	2.36
2016	1.72	2.26
2017	1.72	2.28
2018	1.72	2.27
2019	1.72	2.26
2020	1.71	2.26
2021	1.71	2.25
2022	1.71	2.23
2023	1.71	2.22
2024	1.71	2.21
2025	1.7	2.19
2026	1.7	2.17
2027	1.7	2.15
2028	1.7	2.13
2029	1.7	2.12
2030	1.7	2.1
2031	1.69	2.09
2032	1.69	2.07
2033	1.69	2.06
2034	1.69	2.05
2035	1.69	2.04
2036	1.69	2.03
2037	1.69	2.02
2038	1.69	2
2039	1.69	1.99
2040	1.68	1.98
2041	1.68	1.98
2042	1.68	1.97
2043	1.68	1.96
2044	1.68	1.95
2045	1.68	1.94
2046	1.68	1.93
2047	1.68	1.92
2048	1.68	1.91
2049	1.68	1.9
2050	1.68	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Barbados	South Africa
1960	37.2%	42.1%
1961	37.2%	42.1%
1962	37.1%	42.1%
1963	37.1%	42.1%
1964	37.1%	42.1%
1965	37.1%	42.1%
1966	37.1%	42.1%
1967	36.9%	42.2%
1968	36.7%	42.2%
1969	36.4%	42.2%
1970	36%	42.3%
1971	35.7%	42.2%
1972	35.3%	42.2%
1973	34.9%	42.1%
1974	34.4%	42%
1975	33.6%	41.9%
1976	32.8%	41.8%
1977	32.1%	41.7%
1978	31.1%	41.5%
1979	30%	41.3%
1980	29%	40.9%
1981	28%	40.5%
1982	27.2%	40.1%
1983	26.7%	39.8%
1984	26.2%	39.5%
1985	25.8%	39.2%
1986	25.5%	38.9%
1987	25.1%	38.7%
1988	24.8%	38.4%
1989	24.5%	38.1%
1990	24.2%	37.7%
1991	23.9%	37.5%
1992	23.6%	37.6%
1993	23.4%	37.3%
1994	23.2%	37.2%
1995	23%	37.5%
1996	22.8%	37.5%
1997	22.6%	37.2%
1998	22.3%	36.5%
1999	22.1%	35.7%
2000	21.9%	34.9%
2001	21.7%	34%
2002	21.6%	33.2%
2003	21.5%	32.3%
2004	21.3%	31.6%
2005	21%	31.1%
2006	20.7%	30.6%
2007	20.5%	30.2%
2008	20.3%	29.9%
2009	20.2%	29.7%
2010	20.2%	29.4%
2011	20%	29.1%
2012	19.9%	28.9%
2013	19.7%	28.7%
2014	19.4%	28.5%
2015	19.2%	28.3%
2016	18.9%	28.3%
2017	18.7%	28.3%
2018	18.4%	27.9%
2019	18.2%	27.4%
2020	18.1%	27%
2021	17.9%	26.6%
2022	17.7%	26.3%
2023	17.5%	26.1%
2024	17.2%	25.9%
2025	17.1%	25.7%
2026	16.9%	25.6%
2027	16.8%	25.4%
2028	16.7%	25.3%
2029	16.6%	25.2%
2030	16.5%	25.2%
2031	16.4%	25.1%
2032	16.4%	25%
2033	16.3%	24.8%
2034	16.2%	24.5%
2035	16.1%	24.3%
2036	16%	23.9%
2037	15.9%	23.6%
2038	15.8%	23.4%
2039	15.8%	23.1%
2040	15.7%	22.9%
2041	15.6%	22.7%
2042	15.5%	22.5%
2043	15.4%	22.4%
2044	15.3%	22.2%
2045	15.2%	22.1%
2046	15.2%	21.9%
2047	15.1%	21.8%
2048	15%	21.7%
2049	14.9%	21.6%
2050	14.9%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 17.2% of the population in Barbados and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 24.2% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Barbados and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in Barbados vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.18% in Barbados and +1.05% in South Africa. 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	South Africa
1960	5,949	421,263
1961	5,208	437,851
1962	5,589	455,634
1963	5,706	473,821
1964	5,688	490,606
1965	5,762	506,632
1966	5,842	534,862
1967	4,984	553,741
1968	5,035	571,841
1969	4,710	590,794
1970	4,271	605,102
1971	4,530	624,761
1972	4,505	638,754
1973	3,996	651,596
1974	3,644	658,438
1975	3,321	667,862
1976	2,988	675,011
1977	2,988	680,929
1978	2,367	694,341
1979	2,485	716,541
1980	2,393	738,415
1981	2,605	767,833
1982	2,660	807,550
1983	2,656	837,013
1984	2,388	869,011
1985	2,356	893,889
1986	2,111	903,644
1987	1,841	922,330
1988	1,684	909,221
1989	1,719	884,629
1990	2,101	835,421
1991	2,055	827,296
1992	1,912	794,415
1993	1,765	789,220
1994	1,607	698,609
1995	1,467	743,488
1996	1,334	710,868
1997	1,172	667,969
1998	1,093	627,027
1999	1,351	594,643
2000	1,577	526,963
2001	1,578	484,801
2002	1,369	430,926
2003	1,321	415,018
2004	1,204	442,540
2005	1,018	464,464
2006	927	487,584
2007	1,028	503,567
2008	989	595,332
2009	1,000	554,115
2010	981	566,834
2011	897	601,708
2012	815	643,723
2013	772	652,427
2014	730	674,754
2015	690	668,771
2016	655	641,365
2017	616	645,975
2018	584	648,319
2019	542	652,130
2020	503	595,873
2021	415	456,411
2022	43	603,636
2023	158	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: Barbados vs South Africa

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 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Barbados	South Africa
1985	55	208
1986	56	200
1987	57	192
1988	55	184
1989	57	177
1990	59	170
1991	60	162
1992	61	152
1993	55	145
1994	53	133
1995	52	125
1996	51	150
1997	51	152
1998	45	152
1999	44	151
2000	46	175
2001	46	192
2002	43	225
2003	45	245
2004	43	259
2005	44	279
2006	45	283
2007	42	272
2008	42	272
2009	42	241
2010	42	226
2011	41	202
2012	40	194
2013	40	180
2014	39	162
2015	37	150
2016	36	141
2017	37	134
2018	37	128
2019	36	119
2020	39	118
2021	38	191
2022	38	129
2023	35	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1% in Barbados and 3.47% in South Africa. 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	South Africa
1960	8.47%	-
1961	7.86%	-
1962	7.33%	-
1963	6.86%	-
1964	6.45%	-
1965	6.1%	-
1966	5.79%	-
1967	5.52%	-
1968	5.28%	-
1969	5.03%	-
1970	4.79%	-
1971	4.55%	-
1972	4.32%	-
1973	4.08%	-
1974	3.86%	13.2%
1975	3.64%	12.5%
1976	3.43%	11.8%
1977	3.23%	11.1%
1978	3.04%	10.5%
1979	2.86%	9.88%
1980	2.69%	9.35%
1981	2.55%	8.84%
1982	2.44%	8.39%
1983	2.34%	7.98%
1984	2.26%	7.6%
1985	2.19%	7.24%
1986	2.12%	6.89%
1987	2.05%	6.56%
1988	1.97%	6.26%
1989	1.89%	6.01%
1990	1.81%	5.82%
1991	1.73%	5.7%
1992	1.66%	5.66%
1993	1.59%	5.7%
1994	1.53%	5.82%
1995	1.49%	5.95%
1996	1.45%	6.11%
1997	1.43%	6.29%
1998	1.42%	6.56%
1999	1.42%	6.85%
2000	1.44%	7.11%
2001	1.45%	7.43%
2002	1.47%	7.69%
2003	1.48%	7.93%
2004	1.49%	8.1%
2005	1.48%	8.03%
2006	1.47%	7.75%
2007	1.45%	7.19%
2008	1.43%	6.42%
2009	1.41%	5.7%
2010	1.39%	5%
2011	1.37%	4.5%
2012	1.35%	4.25%
2013	1.33%	4.1%
2014	1.31%	3.96%
2015	1.28%	3.82%
2016	1.25%	3.68%
2017	1.21%	3.58%
2018	1.18%	3.49%
2019	1.14%	3.45%
2020	1.11%	3.41%
2021	1.07%	3.41%
2022	1.04%	3.44%
2023	1%	3.47%