Fertility & birth rates in Cameroon and China

Fertility rate in Cameroon vs China chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Cameroon was 4.32 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 Cameroon 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
	Cameroon	China
1960	5.73	4.45
1961	5.73	3.86
1962	5.73	6.09
1963	5.73	7.51
1964	5.74	6.67
1965	5.8	6.61
1966	5.85	6.31
1967	5.95	5.81
1968	6.04	6.51
1969	6.14	6.18
1970	6.2	6.09
1971	6.26	5.52
1972	6.29	5.11
1973	6.33	4.73
1974	6.36	4.17
1975	6.4	3.57
1976	6.45	3.24
1977	6.51	2.84
1978	6.55	2.72
1979	6.58	2.75
1980	6.61	2.74
1981	6.61	2.79
1982	6.59	2.97
1983	6.58	2.56
1984	6.56	2.61
1985	6.56	2.63
1986	6.57	2.72
1987	6.54	2.76
1988	6.48	2.54
1989	6.41	2.52
1990	6.36	2.51
1991	6.32	1.93
1992	6.26	1.78
1993	6.16	1.69
1994	6.04	1.63
1995	5.92	1.59
1996	5.8	1.55
1997	5.71	1.53
1998	5.66	1.52
1999	5.6	1.53
2000	5.51	1.63
2001	5.44	1.56
2002	5.44	1.57
2003	5.43	1.57
2004	5.44	1.61
2005	5.42	1.62
2006	5.37	1.64
2007	5.34	1.67
2008	5.29	1.7
2009	5.24	1.71
2010	5.15	1.69
2011	5.05	1.67
2012	4.98	1.8
2013	4.91	1.71
2014	4.84	1.77
2015	4.84	1.67
2016	4.84	1.77
2017	4.8	1.8
2018	4.74	1.54
2019	4.65	1.5
2020	4.56	1.24
2021	4.47	1.12
2022	4.4	1.03
2023	4.32	1
2024	4.26	1.01
2025	4.19	1.02
2026	4.12	1.03
2027	4.05	1.04
2028	4	1.05
2029	3.93	1.05
2030	3.88	1.06
2031	3.81	1.07
2032	3.76	1.08
2033	3.7	1.08
2034	3.65	1.09
2035	3.58	1.1
2036	3.55	1.1
2037	3.5	1.11
2038	3.44	1.12
2039	3.4	1.12
2040	3.35	1.13
2041	3.31	1.13
2042	3.25	1.14
2043	3.21	1.15
2044	3.17	1.15
2045	3.13	1.16
2046	3.09	1.16
2047	3.06	1.17
2048	3.02	1.17
2049	2.99	1.18
2050	2.96	1.18

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Cameroon	China
1960	39.5%	40.3%
1961	39.9%	40%
1962	40.2%	40%
1963	40.4%	40.6%
1964	40.7%	41.2%
1965	40.9%	41.5%
1966	41.1%	41.5%
1967	41.3%	41.3%
1968	41.6%	41%
1969	41.8%	41%
1970	42%	40.8%
1971	42.3%	40.7%
1972	42.5%	40.4%
1973	42.8%	40.1%
1974	43%	40.2%
1975	43.2%	40.2%
1976	43.5%	40.3%
1977	43.8%	39.8%
1978	44.1%	38.6%
1979	44.4%	37.2%
1980	44.5%	36.1%
1981	44.6%	35.1%
1982	45%	34.3%
1983	45.6%	33.3%
1984	45.7%	32.2%
1985	45.8%	31.2%
1986	45.9%	30.4%
1987	46%	29.8%
1988	46.1%	29.3%
1989	46.1%	28.9%
1990	46.2%	28.8%
1991	46.2%	28.6%
1992	46.2%	28.4%
1993	46.1%	28.2%
1994	46%	27.8%
1995	45.9%	27.4%
1996	45.7%	27%
1997	45.5%	26.3%
1998	45.3%	25.7%
1999	45.1%	25.2%
2000	44.9%	24.5%
2001	44.7%	23.8%
2002	44.5%	22.9%
2003	44.3%	22%
2004	44.2%	21.2%
2005	44.1%	20.3%
2006	44%	19.6%
2007	43.9%	19.2%
2008	43.8%	18.9%
2009	43.8%	18.6%
2010	43.7%	18.5%
2011	43.7%	18.3%
2012	43.6%	18.3%
2013	43.5%	18.3%
2014	43.4%	18.3%
2015	43.2%	18.3%
2016	43%	18.3%
2017	43%	18.4%
2018	42.9%	18.3%
2019	42.7%	18.2%
2020	42.5%	18%
2021	42.3%	17.6%
2022	42.1%	17.1%
2023	41.8%	16.6%
2024	41.4%	16%
2025	41.1%	15.4%
2026	40.8%	14.8%
2027	40.5%	14.1%
2028	40.1%	13.5%
2029	39.8%	12.8%
2030	39.5%	12.1%
2031	39.1%	11.5%
2032	38.7%	10.8%
2033	38.3%	10.3%
2034	37.9%	9.83%
2035	37.5%	9.53%
2036	37.2%	9.37%
2037	36.8%	9.31%
2038	36.5%	9.31%
2039	36.2%	9.34%
2040	35.9%	9.38%
2041	35.6%	9.43%
2042	35.3%	9.49%
2043	35%	9.56%
2044	34.7%	9.63%
2045	34.4%	9.71%
2046	34.1%	9.78%
2047	33.8%	9.85%
2048	33.5%	9.9%
2049	33.2%	9.93%
2050	32.9%	9.94%

Children aged 0-14 make up 41.4% of the population in Cameroon and 16% in China in 2024, compared to 46.2% and 28.8% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Cameroon and China compared.

Natural population change in Cameroon vs China by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.78% in Cameroon 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
	Cameroon	China
1960	77,948	-3,048,510
1961	82,471	2,496,047
1962	116,232	17,969,132
1963	119,784	22,742,225
1964	123,469	19,302,532
1965	129,428	20,296,950
1966	135,927	19,282,187
1967	144,370	19,263,662
1968	153,080	21,206,083
1969	162,603	20,760,332
1970	170,713	21,137,076
1971	179,317	19,622,980
1972	186,521	19,102,585
1973	193,997	18,423,727
1974	200,693	15,738,118
1975	206,986	14,378,237
1976	214,916	11,782,472
1977	222,785	11,378,068
1978	229,958	11,473,980
1979	238,875	11,250,148
1980	247,808	11,647,260
1981	262,076	14,461,027
1982	274,652	15,815,318
1983	276,112	13,599,789
1984	284,110	13,561,671
1985	296,317	14,987,830
1986	308,188	16,609,920
1987	320,134	18,005,821
1988	328,168	17,328,640
1989	334,649	16,824,495
1990	342,901	16,335,313
1991	350,493	14,937,124
1992	356,072	13,548,601
1993	360,785	13,493,138
1994	364,390	13,360,470
1995	367,532	12,711,220
1996	370,355	12,686,872
1997	377,138	12,374,554
1998	388,432	11,351,286
1999	401,969	10,247,372
2000	411,633	9,570,849
2001	422,511	8,839,358
2002	439,544	8,258,580
2003	459,422	7,743,284
2004	478,880	7,607,960
2005	496,547	7,678,911
2006	511,366	6,922,185
2007	526,949	6,813,465
2008	542,919	6,729,247
2009	557,841	6,483,236
2010	569,921	6,407,607
2011	580,607	8,245,065
2012	594,029	10,075,174
2013	606,072	8,043,116
2014	619,243	9,205,180
2015	649,190	6,788,911
2016	677,051	9,062,269
2017	696,496	7,790,880
2018	706,188	5,302,433
2019	714,681	4,673,713
2020	716,361	2,046,095
2021	713,806	480,203
2022	734,893	-847,305
2023	754,486	-2,087,851

Maternal mortality chart: Cameroon vs China

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 258 deaths per 100,000 live births in Cameroon, compared to 16 deaths in China.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Cameroon	China
1985	572	125
1986	579	120
1987	557	114
1988	559	108
1989	564	104
1990	570	102
1991	584	92
1992	595	86
1993	606	80
1994	628	76
1995	641	71
1996	648	67
1997	652	63
1998	666	60
1999	672	58
2000	678	56
2001	672	52
2002	658	50
2003	645	47
2004	633	45
2005	629	42
2006	615	40
2007	605	38
2008	592	38
2009	579	35
2010	562	34
2011	541	33
2012	500	32
2013	469	30
2014	440	28
2015	417	26
2016	393	25
2017	372	24
2018	354	22
2019	336	21
2020	316	20
2021	342	21
2022	276	18
2023	258	16

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 6.72% in Cameroon 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
	Cameroon	China
1960	28%	-
1961	27.4%	-
1962	26.9%	-
1963	26.4%	-
1964	26%	-
1965	25.4%	-
1966	24.7%	-
1967	24%	-
1968	23.1%	-
1969	22.2%	11.9%
1970	21.3%	11.3%
1971	20.6%	10.7%
1972	20%	10.2%
1973	19.6%	9.61%
1974	19.3%	9.05%
1975	19.2%	8.5%
1976	19%	7.97%
1977	18.9%	7.47%
1978	18.7%	7.01%
1979	18.3%	6.62%
1980	17.9%	6.28%
1981	17.4%	6%
1982	16.8%	5.78%
1983	16.2%	5.61%
1984	15.5%	5.5%
1985	14.9%	5.43%
1986	14.4%	5.4%
1987	14%	5.4%
1988	13.8%	5.4%
1989	13.6%	5.39%
1990	13.7%	5.37%
1991	13.8%	5.31%
1992	14%	5.22%
1993	14.3%	5.08%
1994	14.5%	4.93%
1995	14.7%	4.75%
1996	14.8%	4.56%
1997	14.9%	4.36%
1998	14.8%	4.14%
1999	14.7%	3.91%
2000	14.4%	3.67%
2001	14.1%	3.42%
2002	13.8%	3.15%
2003	13.5%	2.89%
2004	13.1%	2.64%
2005	12.8%	2.4%
2006	12.5%	2.19%
2007	12.1%	2.01%
2008	11.8%	1.85%
2009	11.4%	1.71%
2010	11%	1.58%
2011	10.6%	1.46%
2012	10.2%	1.35%
2013	9.73%	1.25%
2014	9.31%	1.15%
2015	8.9%	1.07%
2016	8.56%	0.99%
2017	8.25%	0.92%
2018	7.97%	0.86%
2019	7.72%	0.8%
2020	7.46%	0.75%
2021	7.21%	0.7%
2022	6.95%	0.66%
2023	6.72%	0.62%