Fertility & birth rates in Bhutan and DR Congo

Fertility rate in Bhutan vs DR Congo chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Bhutan was 1.46 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 Bhutan 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
	Bhutan	DR Congo
1960	6.7	6.11
1961	6.7	6.12
1962	6.69	6.14
1963	6.69	6.16
1964	6.68	6.19
1965	6.68	6.21
1966	6.67	6.24
1967	6.67	6.27
1968	6.66	6.29
1969	6.66	6.3
1970	6.65	6.33
1971	6.64	6.34
1972	6.64	6.37
1973	6.63	6.39
1974	6.62	6.4
1975	6.62	6.42
1976	6.62	6.44
1977	6.61	6.45
1978	6.58	6.46
1979	6.55	6.48
1980	6.51	6.5
1981	6.46	6.52
1982	6.4	6.54
1983	6.34	6.56
1984	6.26	6.59
1985	6.18	6.61
1986	6.1	6.63
1987	6	6.65
1988	5.88	6.66
1989	5.76	6.65
1990	5.6	6.65
1991	5.45	6.65
1992	5.27	6.64
1993	5.07	6.64
1994	4.87	6.64
1995	4.62	6.68
1996	4.37	6.67
1997	4.09	6.69
1998	3.85	6.7
1999	3.61	6.69
2000	3.38	6.7
2001	3.19	6.66
2002	3.01	6.61
2003	2.87	6.55
2004	2.78	6.53
2005	2.73	6.53
2006	2.66	6.55
2007	2.59	6.56
2008	2.48	6.58
2009	2.36	6.59
2010	2.25	6.59
2011	2.15	6.58
2012	2.07	6.56
2013	2	6.53
2014	1.92	6.48
2015	1.84	6.44
2016	1.74	6.39
2017	1.62	6.35
2018	1.52	6.3
2019	1.45	6.25
2020	1.5	6.21
2021	1.49	6.16
2022	1.48	6.11
2023	1.46	6.05
2024	1.45	5.98
2025	1.44	5.9
2026	1.43	5.8
2027	1.42	5.71
2028	1.42	5.62
2029	1.42	5.52
2030	1.42	5.42
2031	1.42	5.32
2032	1.42	5.2
2033	1.42	5.09
2034	1.42	4.99
2035	1.42	4.87
2036	1.43	4.77
2037	1.43	4.64
2038	1.43	4.55
2039	1.43	4.47
2040	1.43	4.38
2041	1.44	4.3
2042	1.44	4.21
2043	1.44	4.14
2044	1.44	4.06
2045	1.44	3.99
2046	1.45	3.92
2047	1.45	3.85
2048	1.45	3.78
2049	1.46	3.72
2050	1.46	3.66

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Bhutan	DR Congo
1960	42.3%	42.9%
1961	42.1%	42.8%
1962	41.9%	42.7%
1963	41.8%	42.7%
1964	41.8%	42.7%
1965	41.7%	42.8%
1966	41.7%	42.9%
1967	41.7%	43%
1968	41.8%	43.2%
1969	41.8%	43.3%
1970	41.8%	43.4%
1971	41.9%	43.6%
1972	42%	43.8%
1973	42.1%	44%
1974	42.2%	44.2%
1975	42.3%	44.3%
1976	42.4%	44.5%
1977	42.5%	44.6%
1978	42.6%	44.5%
1979	42.7%	44.3%
1980	42.8%	44.2%
1981	42.9%	44.3%
1982	43%	44.3%
1983	43.1%	44.2%
1984	43.1%	44.1%
1985	43.1%	44.1%
1986	43.1%	44.1%
1987	43.1%	44.2%
1988	43%	44.3%
1989	43%	44.3%
1990	42.9%	44.4%
1991	42.8%	44.4%
1992	42.6%	44.5%
1993	42.4%	44.5%
1994	42.1%	44.1%
1995	41.7%	44%
1996	41.3%	44.7%
1997	40.7%	45.4%
1998	40.1%	45.6%
1999	39.4%	45.6%
2000	38.6%	45.7%
2001	37.7%	45.7%
2002	36.6%	45.7%
2003	35.5%	45.8%
2004	34.3%	45.9%
2005	33.2%	45.9%
2006	32.4%	45.9%
2007	31.6%	46%
2008	30.8%	46%
2009	30.1%	46.1%
2010	29.4%	46.1%
2011	28.8%	46%
2012	28.3%	46%
2013	27.8%	46%
2014	27.4%	46%
2015	27%	46%
2016	26.5%	45.9%
2017	25.8%	45.8%
2018	25%	45.9%
2019	24.2%	46%
2020	23.4%	46.1%
2021	22.7%	46.1%
2022	22%	46.1%
2023	21.5%	46.1%
2024	20.9%	46%
2025	20.4%	45.9%
2026	19.8%	45.8%
2027	19.3%	45.7%
2028	18.7%	45.5%
2029	18.3%	45.3%
2030	17.9%	45%
2031	17.6%	44.8%
2032	17.4%	44.5%
2033	17.2%	44.2%
2034	17.1%	43.8%
2035	17%	43.4%
2036	16.9%	43%
2037	16.8%	42.6%
2038	16.6%	42.2%
2039	16.5%	41.7%
2040	16.3%	41.3%
2041	16.2%	40.9%
2042	16%	40.4%
2043	15.9%	40%
2044	15.7%	39.6%
2045	15.6%	39.2%
2046	15.4%	38.8%
2047	15.2%	38.4%
2048	15%	38%
2049	14.8%	37.7%
2050	14.6%	37.3%

Children aged 0-14 make up 20.9% of the population in Bhutan and 46% in the DR Congo in 2024, compared to 42.9% and 44.4% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Bhutan and the DR Congo compared.

Natural population change in Bhutan vs DR Congo by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.74% in Bhutan 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
	Bhutan	DR Congo
1960	4,888	363,517
1961	5,081	368,207
1962	5,297	383,406
1963	5,551	398,972
1964	5,818	406,334
1965	6,109	429,002
1966	6,418	463,397
1967	6,744	479,552
1968	7,085	497,682
1969	7,435	514,800
1970	7,791	533,300
1971	8,161	549,343
1972	8,549	564,495
1973	8,939	578,280
1974	9,324	593,539
1975	9,775	608,655
1976	10,228	624,147
1977	10,679	638,242
1978	11,133	646,411
1979	11,583	691,773
1980	12,016	724,111
1981	12,444	748,371
1982	12,872	774,823
1983	13,284	807,122
1984	13,688	844,956
1985	14,061	885,670
1986	14,516	925,334
1987	14,887	959,875
1988	15,212	995,278
1989	15,516	1,027,238
1990	15,704	1,063,508
1991	15,801	1,114,033
1992	15,594	1,152,781
1993	13,915	1,209,242
1994	13,536	1,259,539
1995	12,938	1,395,440
1996	12,153	1,380,490
1997	11,668	1,392,037
1998	11,320	1,375,130
1999	10,940	1,450,318
2000	10,142	1,549,518
2001	9,904	1,594,999
2002	9,464	1,631,597
2003	9,132	1,679,188
2004	9,056	1,731,022
2005	9,102	1,800,300
2006	9,197	1,889,398
2007	9,322	1,963,738
2008	9,200	2,044,210
2009	8,913	2,126,912
2010	8,598	2,212,255
2011	8,282	2,310,679
2012	7,967	2,405,462
2013	7,689	2,489,378
2014	7,290	2,580,251
2015	6,762	2,665,016
2016	6,164	2,753,687
2017	5,367	2,883,245
2018	4,909	2,993,184
2019	4,643	3,075,538
2020	5,142	3,156,152
2021	5,162	3,227,992
2022	5,204	3,347,664
2023	5,153	3,467,787

Maternal mortality chart: Bhutan vs DR Congo

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 47 deaths per 100,000 live births in Bhutan, compared to 427 deaths in the DR Congo.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Bhutan	DR Congo
1985	969	934
1986	911	902
1987	857	863
1988	798	824
1989	747	791
1990	704	755
1991	671	735
1992	656	709
1993	578	683
1994	544	656
1995	498	644
1996	450	661
1997	415	617
1998	378	605
1999	346	601
2000	324	585
2001	286	588
2002	257	601
2003	229	605
2004	207	607
2005	186	613
2006	167	619
2007	149	631
2008	133	620
2009	121	608
2010	107	601
2011	96	589
2012	86	578
2013	79	567
2014	73	558
2015	68	545
2016	63	526
2017	58	519
2018	55	508
2019	52	493
2020	51	489
2021	50	507
2022	49	456
2023	47	427

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 2.31% in Bhutan 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
	Bhutan	DR Congo
1968	27.4%	-
1969	26.7%	25.1%
1970	26.2%	24.7%
1971	25.5%	24.3%
1972	24.9%	24%
1973	24.3%	23.7%
1974	23.6%	23.4%
1975	22.9%	23%
1976	22.3%	22.6%
1977	21.6%	22.3%
1978	20.9%	21.9%
1979	20.2%	21.5%
1980	19.5%	21.2%
1981	18.7%	20.9%
1982	18%	20.6%
1983	17.3%	20.3%
1984	16.6%	20%
1985	15.9%	19.7%
1986	15.3%	19.5%
1987	14.6%	19.2%
1988	14%	19%
1989	13.4%	18.8%
1990	12.8%	18.5%
1991	12.3%	18.3%
1992	11.8%	18.1%
1993	11.3%	17.9%
1994	10.8%	17.7%
1995	10.3%	17.5%
1996	9.75%	17.3%
1997	9.26%	17%
1998	8.77%	16.7%
1999	8.3%	16.3%
2000	7.85%	15.9%
2001	7.4%	15.5%
2002	6.96%	15%
2003	6.54%	14.6%
2004	6.12%	14.1%
2005	5.71%	13.6%
2006	5.32%	13.1%
2007	4.96%	12.7%
2008	4.62%	12.2%
2009	4.31%	11.8%
2010	4.03%	11.4%
2011	3.77%	11%
2012	3.56%	10.6%
2013	3.38%	10.3%
2014	3.22%	9.9%
2015	3.08%	9.56%
2016	2.96%	9.23%
2017	2.85%	8.93%
2018	2.74%	8.63%
2019	2.65%	8.35%
2020	2.55%	8.07%
2021	2.47%	7.81%
2022	2.39%	7.57%
2023	2.31%	7.32%