Fertility & birth rates in Bulgaria and China

Fertility rate in Bulgaria vs China chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Bulgaria was 1.81 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1 in China in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Bulgaria vs China population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Bulgaria	China
1960	2.31	4.45
1961	2.29	3.86
1962	2.24	6.09
1963	2.21	7.51
1964	2.19	6.67
1965	2.09	6.61
1966	2.03	6.31
1967	2.02	5.81
1968	2.27	6.51
1969	2.27	6.18
1970	2.17	6.09
1971	2.1	5.52
1972	2.03	5.11
1973	2.15	4.73
1974	2.29	4.17
1975	2.23	3.57
1976	2.24	3.24
1977	2.21	2.84
1978	2.15	2.72
1979	2.16	2.75
1980	2.05	2.74
1981	2	2.79
1982	2.01	2.97
1983	2.01	2.56
1984	2.01	2.61
1985	1.97	2.63
1986	2.02	2.72
1987	1.96	2.76
1988	1.97	2.54
1989	1.9	2.52
1990	1.82	2.51
1991	1.66	1.93
1992	1.55	1.78
1993	1.46	1.69
1994	1.37	1.63
1995	1.23	1.59
1996	1.23	1.55
1997	1.09	1.53
1998	1.11	1.52
1999	1.23	1.53
2000	1.26	1.63
2001	1.21	1.56
2002	1.23	1.57
2003	1.26	1.57
2004	1.33	1.61
2005	1.37	1.62
2006	1.44	1.64
2007	1.49	1.67
2008	1.56	1.7
2009	1.66	1.71
2010	1.57	1.69
2011	1.51	1.67
2012	1.5	1.8
2013	1.54	1.71
2014	1.62	1.77
2015	1.64	1.67
2016	1.67	1.77
2017	1.71	1.8
2018	1.73	1.54
2019	1.79	1.5
2020	1.77	1.24
2021	1.8	1.12
2022	1.78	1.03
2023	1.81	1
2024	1.81	1.01
2025	1.8	1.02
2026	1.8	1.03
2027	1.8	1.04
2028	1.8	1.05
2029	1.79	1.05
2030	1.79	1.06
2031	1.79	1.07
2032	1.79	1.08
2033	1.79	1.08
2034	1.79	1.09
2035	1.78	1.1
2036	1.78	1.1
2037	1.78	1.11
2038	1.77	1.12
2039	1.77	1.12
2040	1.77	1.13
2041	1.77	1.13
2042	1.77	1.14
2043	1.76	1.15
2044	1.76	1.15
2045	1.76	1.16
2046	1.76	1.16
2047	1.76	1.17
2048	1.76	1.17
2049	1.76	1.18
2050	1.76	1.18

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Bulgaria	China
1960	26.1%	40.3%
1961	25.8%	40%
1962	25.4%	40%
1963	25.1%	40.6%
1964	24.7%	41.2%
1965	24.2%	41.5%
1966	23.8%	41.5%
1967	23.4%	41.3%
1968	23.2%	41%
1969	23%	41%
1970	22.8%	40.8%
1971	22.6%	40.7%
1972	22.4%	40.4%
1973	22.3%	40.1%
1974	22.2%	40.2%
1975	22.3%	40.2%
1976	22.3%	40.3%
1977	22.2%	39.8%
1978	22.2%	38.6%
1979	22.1%	37.2%
1980	22.1%	36.1%
1981	22.1%	35.1%
1982	22.1%	34.3%
1983	22%	33.3%
1984	21.8%	32.2%
1985	21.6%	31.2%
1986	21.4%	30.4%
1987	21.3%	29.8%
1988	21.1%	29.3%
1989	20.8%	28.9%
1990	20.3%	28.8%
1991	19.8%	28.6%
1992	19.3%	28.4%
1993	18.8%	28.2%
1994	18.3%	27.8%
1995	17.9%	27.4%
1996	17.4%	27%
1997	17%	26.3%
1998	16.5%	25.7%
1999	16.1%	25.2%
2000	15.7%	24.5%
2001	15.2%	23.8%
2002	14.8%	22.9%
2003	14.4%	22%
2004	14%	21.2%
2005	13.7%	20.3%
2006	13.5%	19.6%
2007	13.4%	19.2%
2008	13.3%	18.9%
2009	13.4%	18.6%
2010	13.5%	18.5%
2011	13.5%	18.3%
2012	13.6%	18.3%
2013	13.7%	18.3%
2014	13.8%	18.3%
2015	13.9%	18.3%
2016	14%	18.3%
2017	14.2%	18.4%
2018	14.3%	18.3%
2019	14.4%	18.2%
2020	14.4%	18%
2021	14.5%	17.6%
2022	14.5%	17.1%
2023	14.5%	16.6%
2024	14.5%	16%
2025	14.4%	15.4%
2026	14.3%	14.8%
2027	14.3%	14.1%
2028	14.2%	13.5%
2029	14.1%	12.8%
2030	14%	12.1%
2031	14%	11.5%
2032	13.9%	10.8%
2033	13.8%	10.3%
2034	13.8%	9.83%
2035	13.7%	9.53%
2036	13.7%	9.37%
2037	13.7%	9.31%
2038	13.6%	9.31%
2039	13.6%	9.34%
2040	13.6%	9.38%
2041	13.6%	9.43%
2042	13.6%	9.49%
2043	13.6%	9.56%
2044	13.6%	9.63%
2045	13.6%	9.71%
2046	13.7%	9.78%
2047	13.7%	9.85%
2048	13.7%	9.9%
2049	13.8%	9.93%
2050	13.8%	9.94%

Children aged 0-14 make up 14.5% of the population in Bulgaria and 16% in China in 2024, compared to 20.3% and 28.8% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Bulgaria and China compared.

Natural population change in Bulgaria vs China by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been -0.79% in Bulgaria and +0.31% in China. 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
	Bulgaria	China
1960	76,314	-3,048,510
1961	75,460	2,496,047
1962	64,104	17,969,132
1963	66,241	22,742,225
1964	66,783	19,302,532
1965	58,249	20,296,950
1966	54,504	19,282,187
1967	49,861	19,263,662
1968	69,468	21,206,083
1969	63,256	20,760,332
1970	61,125	21,137,076
1971	52,925	19,622,980
1972	47,169	19,102,585
1973	57,760	18,423,727
1974	64,223	15,738,118
1975	54,941	14,378,237
1976	56,055	11,782,472
1977	47,543	11,378,068
1978	44,070	11,473,980
1979	40,599	11,250,148
1980	30,129	11,647,260
1981	29,341	14,461,027
1982	24,077	15,815,318
1983	21,455	13,599,789
1984	20,610	13,561,671
1985	11,649	14,987,830
1986	16,125	16,609,920
1987	8,971	18,005,821
1988	9,879	17,328,640
1989	5,326	16,824,495
1990	-3,487	16,335,313
1991	-14,675	14,937,124
1992	-18,789	13,548,601
1993	-24,569	13,493,138
1994	-32,086	13,360,470
1995	-42,030	12,711,220
1996	-45,159	12,686,872
1997	-58,185	12,374,554
1998	-52,844	11,351,286
1999	-39,411	10,247,372
2000	-41,668	9,570,849
2001	-44,050	8,839,358
2002	-46,240	8,258,580
2003	-44,319	7,743,284
2004	-40,128	7,607,960
2005	-42,124	7,678,911
2006	-39,526	6,922,185
2007	-37,727	6,813,465
2008	-32,967	6,729,247
2009	-26,800	6,483,236
2010	-34,759	6,407,607
2011	-37,477	8,245,065
2012	-40,183	10,075,174
2013	-37,948	8,043,116
2014	-41,027	9,205,180
2015	-44,699	6,788,911
2016	-42,744	9,062,269
2017	-45,583	7,790,880
2018	-46,304	5,302,433
2019	-46,317	4,673,713
2020	-65,507	2,046,095
2021	-90,452	480,203
2022	-62,065	-847,305
2023	-43,837	-2,087,851

Maternal mortality chart: Bulgaria vs China

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 6 deaths per 100,000 live births in Bulgaria, compared to 16 deaths in China.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Bulgaria	China
1985	26	125
1986	25	120
1987	25	114
1988	26	108
1989	25	104
1990	27	102
1991	25	92
1992	25	86
1993	23	80
1994	25	76
1995	23	71
1996	22	67
1997	23	63
1998	20	60
1999	20	58
2000	19	56
2001	17	52
2002	15	50
2003	14	47
2004	14	45
2005	13	42
2006	12	40
2007	11	38
2008	10	38
2009	9	35
2010	9	34
2011	8	33
2012	7	32
2013	7	30
2014	7	28
2015	7	26
2016	7	25
2017	7	24
2018	7	22
2019	6	21
2020	9	20
2021	9	21
2022	10	18
2023	6	16

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.61% in Bulgaria and 0.62% in China. 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
	Bulgaria	China
1960	5.47%	-
1961	4.89%	-
1962	4.43%	-
1963	4.08%	-
1964	3.86%	-
1965	3.75%	-
1966	3.7%	-
1967	3.64%	-
1968	3.54%	-
1969	3.4%	11.9%
1970	3.25%	11.3%
1971	3.11%	10.7%
1972	3.01%	10.2%
1973	2.95%	9.61%
1974	2.91%	9.05%
1975	2.86%	8.5%
1976	2.8%	7.97%
1977	2.72%	7.47%
1978	2.6%	7.01%
1979	2.49%	6.62%
1980	2.38%	6.28%
1981	2.3%	6%
1982	2.22%	5.78%
1983	2.15%	5.61%
1984	2.07%	5.5%
1985	1.97%	5.43%
1986	1.87%	5.4%
1987	1.8%	5.4%
1988	1.78%	5.4%
1989	1.79%	5.39%
1990	1.83%	5.37%
1991	1.89%	5.31%
1992	1.92%	5.22%
1993	1.92%	5.08%
1994	1.91%	4.93%
1995	1.92%	4.75%
1996	1.94%	4.56%
1997	1.93%	4.36%
1998	1.89%	4.14%
1999	1.82%	3.91%
2000	1.75%	3.67%
2001	1.68%	3.42%
2002	1.6%	3.15%
2003	1.51%	2.89%
2004	1.42%	2.64%
2005	1.33%	2.4%
2006	1.24%	2.19%
2007	1.18%	2.01%
2008	1.14%	1.85%
2009	1.12%	1.71%
2010	1.08%	1.58%
2011	1.04%	1.46%
2012	0.99%	1.35%
2013	0.93%	1.25%
2014	0.87%	1.15%
2015	0.82%	1.07%
2016	0.77%	0.99%
2017	0.73%	0.92%
2018	0.7%	0.86%
2019	0.67%	0.8%
2020	0.65%	0.75%
2021	0.63%	0.7%
2022	0.62%	0.66%
2023	0.61%	0.62%