Fertility & birth rates in Botswana and Zambia

Fertility rate in Botswana vs Zambia chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Botswana was 2.73 children per woman in 2023, compared to 4.1 in Zambia in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Botswana vs Zambia population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Botswana	Zambia
1960	6.6	6.95
1961	6.56	6.98
1962	6.54	7.01
1963	6.58	7.06
1964	6.61	7.09
1965	6.6	7.12
1966	6.61	7.14
1967	6.6	7.15
1968	6.58	7.18
1969	6.56	7.18
1970	6.55	7.22
1971	6.54	7.26
1972	6.56	7.3
1973	6.59	7.34
1974	6.61	7.36
1975	6.61	7.42
1976	6.6	7.39
1977	6.54	7.35
1978	6.48	7.29
1979	6.4	7.22
1980	6.29	7.14
1981	6.16	7.07
1982	5.97	7.04
1983	5.79	7.01
1984	5.63	6.97
1985	5.48	6.93
1986	5.33	6.87
1987	5.1	6.8
1988	4.88	6.7
1989	4.67	6.64
1990	4.51	6.57
1991	4.37	6.46
1992	4.26	6.35
1993	4.15	6.3
1994	4.02	6.26
1995	3.79	6.23
1996	3.57	6.18
1997	3.43	6.12
1998	3.36	6.07
1999	3.31	6
2000	3.29	5.92
2001	3.25	5.85
2002	3.18	5.77
2003	3.11	5.71
2004	3.06	5.7
2005	3.08	5.7
2006	3.11	5.68
2007	3.13	5.61
2008	3.13	5.53
2009	3.13	5.45
2010	3.14	5.36
2011	3.1	5.26
2012	3.07	5.14
2013	3.05	5.01
2014	3.03	4.89
2015	3.01	4.78
2016	2.99	4.67
2017	2.97	4.57
2018	2.94	4.49
2019	2.91	4.42
2020	2.86	4.32
2021	2.83	4.25
2022	2.79	4.18
2023	2.73	4.1
2024	2.7	4.04
2025	2.66	3.97
2026	2.63	3.91
2027	2.59	3.85
2028	2.56	3.77
2029	2.52	3.72
2030	2.49	3.67
2031	2.46	3.61
2032	2.44	3.56
2033	2.41	3.5
2034	2.38	3.45
2035	2.35	3.4
2036	2.32	3.35
2037	2.3	3.3
2038	2.28	3.25
2039	2.26	3.19
2040	2.23	3.15
2041	2.21	3.11
2042	2.2	3.07
2043	2.18	3.03
2044	2.17	3
2045	2.15	2.96
2046	2.14	2.93
2047	2.12	2.9
2048	2.11	2.87
2049	2.09	2.84
2050	2.08	2.81

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Botswana	Zambia
1960	45.1%	46%
1961	45.6%	46.2%
1962	46.2%	46.3%
1963	46.8%	46.5%
1964	47.2%	46.7%
1965	47.5%	46.9%
1966	47.9%	46.9%
1967	48.2%	47%
1968	48.6%	47.1%
1969	48.9%	47.2%
1970	49.2%	47.4%
1971	49.3%	47.7%
1972	49.1%	48%
1973	48.6%	48.3%
1974	48.2%	48.6%
1975	47.7%	48.8%
1976	47.3%	49.1%
1977	47%	49.2%
1978	46.5%	49.4%
1979	46%	49.5%
1980	46.1%	49.5%
1981	46.2%	49.4%
1982	46.2%	49.3%
1983	46.2%	49.1%
1984	46.2%	49%
1985	46.2%	48.9%
1986	46.1%	48.8%
1987	46%	48.7%
1988	45.8%	48.6%
1989	45.5%	48.5%
1990	45.1%	48.4%
1991	44.7%	48.3%
1992	44.2%	48.2%
1993	43.7%	48.2%
1994	43%	48.2%
1995	42.2%	48.2%
1996	41.4%	48.2%
1997	40.6%	48.2%
1998	39.8%	48.2%
1999	39.1%	48.1%
2000	38.4%	48%
2001	37.7%	47.8%
2002	37.1%	47.6%
2003	36.5%	47.4%
2004	35.9%	47.3%
2005	35.5%	47.1%
2006	35.1%	47%
2007	34.8%	46.8%
2008	34.5%	46.6%
2009	34.2%	46.4%
2010	34.1%	46.3%
2011	34%	46.1%
2012	34.2%	45.9%
2013	34.4%	45.7%
2014	34.4%	45.5%
2015	34.4%	45.2%
2016	34.2%	44.9%
2017	33.9%	44.5%
2018	33.6%	44.1%
2019	33.3%	43.8%
2020	32.9%	43.3%
2021	32.6%	42.9%
2022	32.4%	42.4%
2023	32.3%	42%
2024	32.1%	41.5%
2025	32%	41%
2026	31.8%	40.5%
2027	31.6%	40%
2028	31.4%	39.6%
2029	31.2%	39.2%
2030	30.9%	38.8%
2031	30.6%	38.5%
2032	30.3%	38.1%
2033	30%	37.8%
2034	29.6%	37.5%
2035	29.2%	37.1%
2036	28.7%	36.8%
2037	28.1%	36.5%
2038	27.6%	36.1%
2039	27.2%	35.8%
2040	26.7%	35.4%
2041	26.3%	35.1%
2042	25.9%	34.7%
2043	25.5%	34.4%
2044	25.2%	34%
2045	24.8%	33.7%
2046	24.5%	33.3%
2047	24.2%	33%
2048	24%	32.6%
2049	23.7%	32.3%
2050	23.5%	32%

Children aged 0-14 make up 32.1% of the population in Botswana and 41.5% in Zambia in 2024, compared to 45.1% and 48.4% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Botswana and Zambia compared.

Natural population change in Botswana vs Zambia by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.88% in Botswana and +2.87% in Zambia. 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
	Botswana	Zambia
1960	15,861	102,335
1961	16,185	106,318
1962	16,507	110,173
1963	17,084	114,555
1964	17,634	117,197
1965	18,045	122,814
1966	18,250	127,164
1967	18,463	131,938
1968	18,725	137,315
1969	19,024	142,660
1970	19,438	149,380
1971	19,926	155,249
1972	21,004	161,648
1973	22,449	168,258
1974	24,160	174,484
1975	25,762	182,258
1976	27,497	186,762
1977	29,009	191,557
1978	30,596	194,933
1979	32,486	197,578
1980	33,934	198,817
1981	34,327	202,822
1982	34,859	207,621
1983	35,142	212,712
1984	35,530	216,695
1985	35,966	221,351
1986	36,203	224,768
1987	35,647	227,813
1988	34,564	230,118
1989	33,756	233,429
1990	33,015	235,835
1991	32,219	237,957
1992	31,995	239,953
1993	31,691	245,917
1994	30,664	252,023
1995	28,478	257,897
1996	26,847	262,468
1997	25,738	268,198
1998	25,397	275,568
1999	25,358	283,297
2000	25,850	293,186
2001	26,112	302,682
2002	26,163	316,041
2003	26,545	331,189
2004	27,481	349,352
2005	29,385	368,756
2006	31,340	387,891
2007	33,832	403,729
2008	35,433	419,560
2009	36,671	434,458
2010	38,101	448,337
2011	38,613	459,743
2012	39,202	469,406
2013	39,404	476,846
2014	40,046	483,663
2015	40,897	491,021
2016	41,993	497,521
2017	43,154	504,630
2018	44,171	515,644
2019	45,110	528,089
2020	45,610	536,484
2021	40,894	535,629
2022	47,400	563,456
2023	47,098	577,660

Maternal mortality chart: Botswana vs Zambia

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 155 deaths per 100,000 live births in Botswana, compared to 85 deaths in Zambia.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Botswana	Zambia
1985	313	596
1986	304	619
1987	302	630
1988	319	635
1989	300	635
1990	296	625
1991	283	611
1992	263	581
1993	230	532
1994	182	507
1995	148	466
1996	130	433
1997	123	403
1998	126	392
1999	131	378
2000	136	340
2001	138	306
2002	140	274
2003	142	250
2004	151	260
2005	166	264
2006	204	262
2007	201	324
2008	199	394
2009	213	406
2010	228	332
2011	269	291
2012	288	256
2013	221	213
2014	212	174
2015	141	154
2016	72	158
2017	46	141
2018	99	117
2019	100	103
2020	98	99
2021	165	140
2022	120	89
2023	155	85

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.96% in Botswana and 4.47% in Zambia. 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
	Botswana	Zambia
1960	16.8%	20.5%
1961	16.3%	20.1%
1962	15.8%	19.8%
1963	15.3%	19.5%
1964	14.9%	19.2%
1965	14.5%	19%
1966	14%	18.9%
1967	13.6%	18.7%
1968	13.2%	18.5%
1969	12.8%	18.3%
1970	12.4%	17.9%
1971	11.9%	17.4%
1972	11.4%	16.9%
1973	10.9%	16.3%
1974	10.4%	15.9%
1975	9.88%	15.5%
1976	9.32%	15.4%
1977	8.77%	15.3%
1978	8.23%	15.3%
1979	7.74%	15.4%
1980	7.29%	15.5%
1981	6.86%	15.6%
1982	6.47%	15.7%
1983	6.12%	15.9%
1984	5.8%	16.2%
1985	5.5%	16.6%
1986	5.22%	17%
1987	5%	17.3%
1988	4.88%	17.7%
1989	4.87%	17.9%
1990	5.01%	18.1%
1991	5.29%	18.1%
1992	5.7%	18.1%
1993	6.2%	17.9%
1994	6.72%	17.7%
1995	6.74%	17.3%
1996	7.1%	17%
1997	7.37%	16.7%
1998	7.57%	16.3%
1999	7.91%	15.9%
2000	8.11%	15.3%
2001	8.12%	14.4%
2002	8%	13.4%
2003	7.85%	12.4%
2004	7.63%	11.4%
2005	7.03%	10.5%
2006	6.43%	9.71%
2007	6.16%	9.14%
2008	6.03%	8.62%
2009	5.78%	8%
2010	5.58%	7.57%
2011	5.68%	7.31%
2012	5.34%	7.04%
2013	5.1%	6.72%
2014	5.11%	6.38%
2015	4.98%	6.15%
2016	4.9%	5.9%
2017	4.65%	5.61%
2018	4.59%	5.52%
2019	4.5%	5.41%
2020	4.39%	5.24%
2021	4.2%	4.92%
2022	4.07%	4.67%
2023	3.96%	4.47%