Fertility & birth rates in Cambodia and South Africa

Fertility rate in Cambodia vs South Africa chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Cambodia was 2.58 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 Cambodia 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
	Cambodia	South Africa
1960	6.31	6.11
1961	6.3	6.08
1962	6.3	6.05
1963	6.29	6.01
1964	6.29	5.96
1965	6.27	5.89
1966	6.24	5.91
1967	6.2	5.85
1968	6.17	5.78
1969	6.12	5.72
1970	6.07	5.63
1971	6.01	5.57
1972	5.94	5.49
1973	5.56	5.41
1974	4.8	5.3
1975	4.1	5.19
1976	3.41	5.07
1977	2.72	4.94
1978	3.34	4.85
1979	4.56	4.82
1980	5.77	4.78
1981	6.04	4.71
1982	6.19	4.7
1983	6.3	4.63
1984	6.34	4.57
1985	6.31	4.5
1986	6.23	4.41
1987	6.1	4.35
1988	5.94	4.18
1989	5.68	3.98
1990	5.64	3.72
1991	5.59	3.62
1992	5.49	3.48
1993	5.43	3.37
1994	5.28	3.26
1995	5.08	3.17
1996	4.87	2.99
1997	4.39	2.73
1998	4.13	2.63
1999	3.93	2.56
2000	3.79	2.41
2001	3.69	2.37
2002	3.57	2.32
2003	3.43	2.36
2004	3.31	2.44
2005	3.24	2.51
2006	3.18	2.55
2007	3.13	2.55
2008	3.05	2.68
2009	2.97	2.5
2010	2.86	2.44
2011	2.78	2.44
2012	2.75	2.45
2013	2.74	2.43
2014	2.73	2.42
2015	2.73	2.36
2016	2.73	2.26
2017	2.72	2.28
2018	2.72	2.27
2019	2.73	2.26
2020	2.7	2.26
2021	2.66	2.25
2022	2.62	2.23
2023	2.58	2.22
2024	2.55	2.21
2025	2.51	2.19
2026	2.49	2.17
2027	2.46	2.15
2028	2.43	2.13
2029	2.41	2.12
2030	2.38	2.1
2031	2.36	2.09
2032	2.33	2.07
2033	2.31	2.06
2034	2.29	2.05
2035	2.26	2.04
2036	2.24	2.03
2037	2.22	2.02
2038	2.2	2
2039	2.18	1.99
2040	2.17	1.98
2041	2.15	1.98
2042	2.14	1.97
2043	2.12	1.96
2044	2.11	1.95
2045	2.09	1.94
2046	2.08	1.93
2047	2.07	1.92
2048	2.06	1.91
2049	2.05	1.9
2050	2.03	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Cambodia	South Africa
1960	43.7%	42.1%
1961	43.8%	42.1%
1962	43.9%	42.1%
1963	44%	42.1%
1964	44.1%	42.1%
1965	44.1%	42.1%
1966	44.1%	42.1%
1967	44%	42.2%
1968	44%	42.2%
1969	43.9%	42.2%
1970	44.4%	42.3%
1971	45%	42.2%
1972	45.2%	42.2%
1973	45.2%	42.1%
1974	44.9%	42%
1975	44.8%	41.9%
1976	44.7%	41.8%
1977	44.2%	41.7%
1978	43.8%	41.5%
1979	43%	41.3%
1980	42.5%	40.9%
1981	42.7%	40.5%
1982	42.6%	40.1%
1983	42.5%	39.8%
1984	42.4%	39.5%
1985	42.5%	39.2%
1986	42.5%	38.9%
1987	42.5%	38.7%
1988	42.8%	38.4%
1989	43.2%	38.1%
1990	43.7%	37.7%
1991	44.5%	37.5%
1992	45%	37.6%
1993	45.3%	37.3%
1994	46%	37.2%
1995	46.4%	37.5%
1996	46.2%	37.5%
1997	45.4%	37.2%
1998	44.5%	36.5%
1999	43.6%	35.7%
2000	42.5%	34.9%
2001	41.5%	34%
2002	40.5%	33.2%
2003	39.5%	32.3%
2004	38.5%	31.6%
2005	37.6%	31.1%
2006	36.6%	30.6%
2007	35.6%	30.2%
2008	34.7%	29.9%
2009	33.9%	29.7%
2010	33.3%	29.4%
2011	32.8%	29.1%
2012	32.4%	28.9%
2013	32.2%	28.7%
2014	32%	28.5%
2015	31.9%	28.3%
2016	31.8%	28.3%
2017	31.7%	28.3%
2018	31.5%	27.9%
2019	31.3%	27.4%
2020	31.1%	27%
2021	30.8%	26.6%
2022	30.5%	26.3%
2023	30.1%	26.1%
2024	29.8%	25.9%
2025	29.5%	25.7%
2026	29.2%	25.6%
2027	28.9%	25.4%
2028	28.6%	25.3%
2029	28.3%	25.2%
2030	28%	25.2%
2031	27.6%	25.1%
2032	27.2%	25%
2033	26.9%	24.8%
2034	26.5%	24.5%
2035	26.1%	24.3%
2036	25.7%	23.9%
2037	25.4%	23.6%
2038	25.1%	23.4%
2039	24.8%	23.1%
2040	24.6%	22.9%
2041	24.3%	22.7%
2042	24.1%	22.5%
2043	23.9%	22.4%
2044	23.7%	22.2%
2045	23.6%	22.1%
2046	23.4%	21.9%
2047	23.2%	21.8%
2048	23%	21.7%
2049	22.9%	21.6%
2050	22.7%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 29.8% of the population in Cambodia and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 43.7% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Cambodia and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in Cambodia vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.67% in Cambodia 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
	Cambodia	South Africa
1960	124,237	421,263
1961	128,259	437,851
1962	132,861	455,634
1963	137,562	473,821
1964	141,216	490,606
1965	144,460	506,632
1966	147,583	534,862
1967	150,046	553,741
1968	153,444	571,841
1969	156,777	590,794
1970	122,832	605,102
1971	113,813	624,761
1972	113,190	638,754
1973	101,304	651,596
1974	73,001	658,438
1975	-383,806	667,862
1976	-408,505	675,011
1977	-416,117	680,929
1978	-357,478	694,341
1979	78,143	716,541
1980	159,157	738,415
1981	166,578	767,833
1982	180,300	807,550
1983	192,849	837,013
1984	207,700	869,011
1985	214,101	893,889
1986	221,684	903,644
1987	235,064	922,330
1988	243,203	909,221
1989	239,211	884,629
1990	249,776	835,421
1991	257,709	827,296
1992	260,673	794,415
1993	282,221	789,220
1994	286,728	698,609
1995	280,168	743,488
1996	274,147	710,868
1997	252,351	667,969
1998	251,076	627,027
1999	245,425	594,643
2000	246,330	526,963
2001	250,726	484,801
2002	251,860	430,926
2003	251,884	415,018
2004	251,650	442,540
2005	256,756	464,464
2006	263,697	487,584
2007	270,745	503,567
2008	272,132	595,332
2009	274,700	554,115
2010	272,266	566,834
2011	272,161	601,708
2012	276,649	643,723
2013	281,013	652,427
2014	283,193	674,754
2015	284,390	668,771
2016	284,130	641,365
2017	282,698	645,975
2018	280,671	648,319
2019	276,870	652,130
2020	268,745	595,873
2021	255,939	456,411
2022	257,269	603,636
2023	250,242	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: Cambodia vs South Africa

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 137 deaths per 100,000 live births in Cambodia, compared to 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Cambodia	South Africa
1985	874	208
1986	824	200
1987	772	192
1988	742	184
1989	702	177
1990	681	170
1991	681	162
1992	667	152
1993	680	145
1994	665	133
1995	642	125
1996	622	150
1997	580	152
1998	557	152
1999	517	151
2000	476	175
2001	437	192
2002	399	225
2003	366	245
2004	344	259
2005	323	279
2006	303	283
2007	290	272
2008	272	272
2009	251	241
2010	234	226
2011	214	202
2012	197	194
2013	182	180
2014	172	162
2015	166	150
2016	159	141
2017	155	134
2018	151	128
2019	149	119
2020	164	118
2021	189	191
2022	159	129
2023	137	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 2.29% in Cambodia 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
	Cambodia	South Africa
1974	-	13.2%
1975	52.5%	12.5%
1976	54.1%	11.8%
1977	52.5%	11.1%
1978	48.5%	10.5%
1979	20.7%	9.88%
1980	18.1%	9.35%
1981	15.9%	8.84%
1982	14.1%	8.39%
1983	13%	7.98%
1984	12.4%	7.6%
1985	12%	7.24%
1986	11.8%	6.89%
1987	11.7%	6.56%
1988	11.6%	6.26%
1989	11.6%	6.01%
1990	11.6%	5.82%
1991	11.6%	5.7%
1992	11.7%	5.66%
1993	11.7%	5.7%
1994	11.9%	5.82%
1995	12%	5.95%
1996	12%	6.11%
1997	11.9%	6.29%
1998	11.7%	6.56%
1999	11.3%	6.85%
2000	10.6%	7.11%
2001	9.65%	7.43%
2002	8.67%	7.69%
2003	7.8%	7.93%
2004	7.08%	8.1%
2005	6.48%	8.03%
2006	5.98%	7.75%
2007	5.54%	7.19%
2008	5.13%	6.42%
2009	4.74%	5.7%
2010	4.37%	5%
2011	4.05%	4.5%
2012	3.77%	4.25%
2013	3.53%	4.1%
2014	3.33%	3.96%
2015	3.16%	3.82%
2016	3.02%	3.68%
2017	2.89%	3.58%
2018	2.77%	3.49%
2019	2.67%	3.45%
2020	2.56%	3.41%
2021	2.47%	3.41%
2022	2.38%	3.44%
2023	2.29%	3.47%