Fertility & birth rates in Bulgaria and United States

Fertility rate in Bulgaria vs United States 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 1.62 in the United States in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Bulgaria vs the United States 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	United States
1960	2.31	3.65
1961	2.29	3.62
1962	2.24	3.46
1963	2.21	3.32
1964	2.19	3.19
1965	2.09	2.91
1966	2.03	2.72
1967	2.02	2.56
1968	2.27	2.46
1969	2.27	2.46
1970	2.17	2.48
1971	2.1	2.27
1972	2.03	2.01
1973	2.15	1.88
1974	2.29	1.84
1975	2.23	1.77
1976	2.24	1.74
1977	2.21	1.79
1978	2.15	1.76
1979	2.16	1.81
1980	2.05	1.84
1981	2	1.81
1982	2.01	1.83
1983	2.01	1.8
1984	2.01	1.81
1985	1.97	1.84
1986	2.02	1.84
1987	1.96	1.87
1988	1.97	1.93
1989	1.9	2.01
1990	1.82	2.08
1991	1.66	2.06
1992	1.55	2.05
1993	1.46	2.02
1994	1.37	2
1995	1.23	1.98
1996	1.23	1.98
1997	1.09	1.97
1998	1.11	2
1999	1.23	2.01
2000	1.26	2.06
2001	1.21	2.03
2002	1.23	2.02
2003	1.26	2.05
2004	1.33	2.05
2005	1.37	2.06
2006	1.44	2.11
2007	1.49	2.12
2008	1.56	2.07
2009	1.66	2
2010	1.57	1.93
2011	1.51	1.89
2012	1.5	1.88
2013	1.54	1.86
2014	1.62	1.86
2015	1.64	1.84
2016	1.67	1.82
2017	1.71	1.77
2018	1.73	1.73
2019	1.79	1.71
2020	1.77	1.64
2021	1.8	1.66
2022	1.78	1.66
2023	1.81	1.62
2024	1.81	1.62
2025	1.8	1.62
2026	1.8	1.62
2027	1.8	1.62
2028	1.8	1.62
2029	1.79	1.62
2030	1.79	1.62
2031	1.79	1.62
2032	1.79	1.62
2033	1.79	1.63
2034	1.79	1.62
2035	1.78	1.63
2036	1.78	1.63
2037	1.78	1.63
2038	1.77	1.63
2039	1.77	1.63
2040	1.77	1.63
2041	1.77	1.63
2042	1.77	1.63
2043	1.76	1.63
2044	1.76	1.63
2045	1.76	1.64
2046	1.76	1.64
2047	1.76	1.63
2048	1.76	1.64
2049	1.76	1.63
2050	1.76	1.64

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Bulgaria	United States
1960	26.1%	31.3%
1961	25.8%	31.4%
1962	25.4%	31.3%
1963	25.1%	31.1%
1964	24.7%	30.9%
1965	24.2%	30.7%
1966	23.8%	30.4%
1967	23.4%	30%
1968	23.2%	29.5%
1969	23%	29%
1970	22.8%	28.6%
1971	22.6%	28%
1972	22.4%	27.4%
1973	22.3%	26.6%
1974	22.2%	25.9%
1975	22.3%	25.2%
1976	22.3%	24.4%
1977	22.2%	23.8%
1978	22.2%	23.2%
1979	22.1%	22.8%
1980	22.1%	22.4%
1981	22.1%	22.1%
1982	22.1%	22%
1983	22%	21.8%
1984	21.8%	21.7%
1985	21.6%	21.5%
1986	21.4%	21.3%
1987	21.3%	21.3%
1988	21.1%	21.3%
1989	20.8%	21.5%
1990	20.3%	21.6%
1991	19.8%	21.7%
1992	19.3%	21.8%
1993	18.8%	21.9%
1994	18.3%	21.9%
1995	17.9%	21.8%
1996	17.4%	21.7%
1997	17%	21.5%
1998	16.5%	21.4%
1999	16.1%	21.3%
2000	15.7%	21.2%
2001	15.2%	21%
2002	14.8%	20.9%
2003	14.4%	20.7%
2004	14%	20.5%
2005	13.7%	20.3%
2006	13.5%	20.2%
2007	13.4%	20%
2008	13.3%	19.9%
2009	13.4%	19.8%
2010	13.5%	19.7%
2011	13.5%	19.6%
2012	13.6%	19.5%
2013	13.7%	19.4%
2014	13.8%	19.3%
2015	13.9%	19.2%
2016	14%	19.1%
2017	14.2%	18.9%
2018	14.3%	18.8%
2019	14.4%	18.6%
2020	14.4%	18.4%
2021	14.5%	18.1%
2022	14.5%	17.9%
2023	14.5%	17.6%
2024	14.5%	17.3%
2025	14.4%	17.1%
2026	14.3%	16.9%
2027	14.3%	16.7%
2028	14.2%	16.6%
2029	14.1%	16.4%
2030	14%	16.3%
2031	14%	16.1%
2032	13.9%	16%
2033	13.8%	16%
2034	13.8%	15.9%
2035	13.7%	15.9%
2036	13.7%	15.9%
2037	13.7%	15.9%
2038	13.6%	15.9%
2039	13.6%	15.9%
2040	13.6%	15.9%
2041	13.6%	16%
2042	13.6%	16%
2043	13.6%	16%
2044	13.6%	16%
2045	13.6%	16%
2046	13.7%	16%
2047	13.7%	16%
2048	13.7%	16%
2049	13.8%	15.9%
2050	13.8%	15.9%

Children aged 0-14 make up 14.5% of the population in Bulgaria and 17.3% in the United States in 2024, compared to 20.3% and 21.6% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Bulgaria and the United States compared.

Natural population change in Bulgaria vs United States by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been -0.79% in Bulgaria and +0.25% in the United States. 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	United States
1960	76,314	2,565,530
1961	75,460	2,571,681
1962	64,104	2,406,337
1963	66,241	2,289,826
1964	66,783	2,245,099
1965	58,249	1,943,030
1966	54,504	1,749,387
1967	49,861	1,669,181
1968	69,468	1,565,507
1969	63,256	1,702,487
1970	61,125	1,824,965
1971	52,925	1,640,519
1972	47,169	1,301,355
1973	57,760	1,165,499
1974	64,223	1,218,968
1975	54,941	1,252,644
1976	56,055	1,264,604
1977	47,543	1,431,556
1978	44,070	1,402,283
1979	40,599	1,597,894
1980	30,129	1,608,450
1981	29,341	1,652,153
1982	24,077	1,714,317
1983	21,455	1,636,544
1984	20,610	1,627,192
1985	11,649	1,689,258
1986	16,125	1,656,917
1987	8,971	1,720,252
1988	9,879	1,735,943
1989	5,326	1,875,826
1990	-3,487	2,026,068
1991	-14,675	1,926,543
1992	-18,789	1,875,328
1993	-24,569	1,717,685
1994	-32,086	1,633,302
1995	-42,030	1,546,031
1996	-45,159	1,510,137
1997	-58,185	1,501,014
1998	-52,844	1,573,857
1999	-39,411	1,564,050
2000	-41,668	1,664,758
2001	-44,050	1,595,826
2002	-46,240	1,581,938
2003	-44,319	1,653,615
2004	-40,128	1,698,271
2005	-42,124	1,684,445
2006	-39,526	1,849,955
2007	-37,727	1,897,757
2008	-32,967	1,794,154
2009	-26,800	1,717,920
2010	-34,759	1,548,182
2011	-37,477	1,441,697
2012	-40,183	1,411,822
2013	-37,948	1,322,711
2014	-41,027	1,357,281
2015	-44,699	1,270,126
2016	-42,744	1,197,627
2017	-45,583	1,028,037
2018	-46,304	955,022
2019	-46,317	887,476
2020	-65,507	208,862
2021	-90,452	199,137
2022	-62,065	399,926
2023	-43,837	502,372

Maternal mortality chart: Bulgaria vs United States

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 17 deaths in the United States.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Bulgaria	United States
1985	26	11
1986	25	11
1987	25	11
1988	26	12
1989	25	12
1990	27	12
1991	25	12
1992	25	11
1993	23	12
1994	25	11
1995	23	12
1996	22	11
1997	23	11
1998	20	11
1999	20	12
2000	19	12
2001	17	13
2002	15	13
2003	14	13
2004	14	13
2005	13	13
2006	12	13
2007	11	13
2008	10	14
2009	9	15
2010	9	15
2011	8	15
2012	7	16
2013	7	16
2014	7	17
2015	7	17
2016	7	18
2017	7	18
2018	7	18
2019	6	18
2020	9	22
2021	9	31
2022	10	20
2023	6	17

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.61% in Bulgaria and 0.65% in the United States. 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	United States
1960	5.47%	3.01%
1961	4.89%	2.95%
1962	4.43%	2.89%
1963	4.08%	2.83%
1964	3.86%	2.77%
1965	3.75%	2.71%
1966	3.7%	2.64%
1967	3.64%	2.57%
1968	3.54%	2.49%
1969	3.4%	2.41%
1970	3.25%	2.32%
1971	3.11%	2.24%
1972	3.01%	2.15%
1973	2.95%	2.06%
1974	2.91%	1.97%
1975	2.86%	1.88%
1976	2.8%	1.79%
1977	2.72%	1.71%
1978	2.6%	1.63%
1979	2.49%	1.56%
1980	2.38%	1.5%
1981	2.3%	1.44%
1982	2.22%	1.39%
1983	2.15%	1.34%
1984	2.07%	1.3%
1985	1.97%	1.27%
1986	1.87%	1.24%
1987	1.8%	1.21%
1988	1.78%	1.19%
1989	1.79%	1.16%
1990	1.83%	1.12%
1991	1.89%	1.09%
1992	1.92%	1.05%
1993	1.92%	1.01%
1994	1.91%	0.98%
1995	1.92%	0.95%
1996	1.94%	0.92%
1997	1.93%	0.89%
1998	1.89%	0.87%
1999	1.82%	0.86%
2000	1.75%	0.84%
2001	1.68%	0.83%
2002	1.6%	0.82%
2003	1.51%	0.81%
2004	1.42%	0.81%
2005	1.33%	0.8%
2006	1.24%	0.79%
2007	1.18%	0.77%
2008	1.14%	0.76%
2009	1.12%	0.75%
2010	1.08%	0.73%
2011	1.04%	0.72%
2012	0.99%	0.7%
2013	0.93%	0.69%
2014	0.87%	0.68%
2015	0.82%	0.68%
2016	0.77%	0.67%
2017	0.73%	0.66%
2018	0.7%	0.65%
2019	0.67%	0.65%
2020	0.65%	0.65%
2021	0.63%	0.65%
2022	0.62%	0.65%
2023	0.61%	0.65%