Fertility & birth rates in Cameroon and Lesotho

Fertility rate in Cameroon vs Lesotho 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 2.69 in Lesotho in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Cameroon vs Lesotho 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	Lesotho
1960	5.73	5.78
1961	5.73	5.79
1962	5.73	5.79
1963	5.73	5.78
1964	5.74	5.77
1965	5.8	5.77
1966	5.85	5.76
1967	5.95	5.75
1968	6.04	5.73
1969	6.14	5.7
1970	6.2	5.7
1971	6.26	5.7
1972	6.29	5.69
1973	6.33	5.69
1974	6.36	5.75
1975	6.4	5.83
1976	6.45	5.87
1977	6.51	5.85
1978	6.55	5.82
1979	6.58	5.79
1980	6.61	5.75
1981	6.61	5.69
1982	6.59	5.63
1983	6.58	5.56
1984	6.56	5.48
1985	6.56	5.4
1986	6.57	5.32
1987	6.54	5.22
1988	6.48	5.1
1989	6.41	4.96
1990	6.36	4.81
1991	6.32	4.68
1992	6.26	4.54
1993	6.16	4.37
1994	6.04	4.21
1995	5.92	4.13
1996	5.8	4.06
1997	5.71	3.98
1998	5.66	3.82
1999	5.6	3.67
2000	5.51	3.61
2001	5.44	3.63
2002	5.44	3.68
2003	5.43	3.62
2004	5.44	3.51
2005	5.42	3.43
2006	5.37	3.41
2007	5.34	3.44
2008	5.29	3.39
2009	5.24	3.31
2010	5.15	3.25
2011	5.05	3.34
2012	4.98	3.3
2013	4.91	3.28
2014	4.84	3.24
2015	4.84	3.22
2016	4.84	3.18
2017	4.8	3.11
2018	4.74	3.02
2019	4.65	2.92
2020	4.56	2.85
2021	4.47	2.77
2022	4.4	2.72
2023	4.32	2.69
2024	4.26	2.66
2025	4.19	2.64
2026	4.12	2.61
2027	4.05	2.58
2028	4	2.55
2029	3.93	2.53
2030	3.88	2.5
2031	3.81	2.47
2032	3.76	2.45
2033	3.7	2.43
2034	3.65	2.41
2035	3.58	2.38
2036	3.55	2.37
2037	3.5	2.34
2038	3.44	2.32
2039	3.4	2.3
2040	3.35	2.29
2041	3.31	2.27
2042	3.25	2.25
2043	3.21	2.24
2044	3.17	2.22
2045	3.13	2.21
2046	3.09	2.19
2047	3.06	2.18
2048	3.02	2.17
2049	2.99	2.16
2050	2.96	2.14

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Cameroon	Lesotho
1960	39.5%	45.1%
1961	39.9%	45.2%
1962	40.2%	45.3%
1963	40.4%	45.2%
1964	40.7%	44.9%
1965	40.9%	44.8%
1966	41.1%	44.9%
1967	41.3%	44.8%
1968	41.6%	44.4%
1969	41.8%	44%
1970	42%	43.6%
1971	42.3%	43.1%
1972	42.5%	42.7%
1973	42.8%	42.3%
1974	43%	41.9%
1975	43.2%	41.6%
1976	43.5%	41.4%
1977	43.8%	41.5%
1978	44.1%	41.7%
1979	44.4%	41.9%
1980	44.5%	42.1%
1981	44.6%	42.3%
1982	45%	42.5%
1983	45.6%	42.7%
1984	45.7%	42.8%
1985	45.8%	43%
1986	45.9%	42.7%
1987	46%	42.5%
1988	46.1%	42.7%
1989	46.1%	42.8%
1990	46.2%	42.9%
1991	46.2%	42.9%
1992	46.2%	42.8%
1993	46.1%	42.6%
1994	46%	42.3%
1995	45.9%	42%
1996	45.7%	41.7%
1997	45.5%	41.2%
1998	45.3%	40.7%
1999	45.1%	40.2%
2000	44.9%	39.6%
2001	44.7%	39.1%
2002	44.5%	38.6%
2003	44.3%	38.1%
2004	44.2%	37.7%
2005	44.1%	37.4%
2006	44%	37.1%
2007	43.9%	36.8%
2008	43.8%	36.7%
2009	43.8%	36.6%
2010	43.7%	36.5%
2011	43.7%	36.5%
2012	43.6%	36.5%
2013	43.5%	36.5%
2014	43.4%	36.6%
2015	43.2%	36.6%
2016	43%	36.6%
2017	43%	36.5%
2018	42.9%	36.3%
2019	42.7%	36.1%
2020	42.5%	35.8%
2021	42.3%	35.6%
2022	42.1%	35.3%
2023	41.8%	34.9%
2024	41.4%	34.5%
2025	41.1%	34.1%
2026	40.8%	33.6%
2027	40.5%	33.1%
2028	40.1%	32.6%
2029	39.8%	32%
2030	39.5%	31.5%
2031	39.1%	31%
2032	38.7%	30.5%
2033	38.3%	30.1%
2034	37.9%	29.7%
2035	37.5%	29.3%
2036	37.2%	29%
2037	36.8%	28.8%
2038	36.5%	28.5%
2039	36.2%	28.3%
2040	35.9%	28.1%
2041	35.6%	27.8%
2042	35.3%	27.6%
2043	35%	27.4%
2044	34.7%	27.1%
2045	34.4%	26.9%
2046	34.1%	26.7%
2047	33.8%	26.4%
2048	33.5%	26.2%
2049	33.2%	25.9%
2050	32.9%	25.7%

Children aged 0-14 make up 41.4% of the population in Cameroon and 34.5% in Lesotho in 2024, compared to 46.2% and 42.9% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Cameroon and Lesotho compared.

Natural population change in Cameroon vs Lesotho by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.78% in Cameroon and +1.44% in Lesotho. 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	Lesotho
1960	77,948	19,981
1961	82,471	20,581
1962	116,232	21,132
1963	119,784	21,585
1964	123,469	22,116
1965	129,428	22,755
1966	135,927	23,326
1967	144,370	23,911
1968	153,080	24,490
1969	162,603	25,137
1970	170,713	25,935
1971	179,317	26,838
1972	186,521	27,841
1973	193,997	28,859
1974	200,693	30,444
1975	206,986	32,311
1976	214,916	34,117
1977	222,785	35,654
1978	229,958	37,084
1979	238,875	38,440
1980	247,808	39,617
1981	262,076	40,808
1982	274,652	41,941
1983	276,112	42,899
1984	284,110	43,785
1985	296,317	44,575
1986	308,188	45,232
1987	320,134	47,718
1988	328,168	47,158
1989	334,649	46,264
1990	342,901	45,060
1991	350,493	44,026
1992	356,072	42,579
1993	360,785	40,505
1994	364,390	38,629
1995	367,532	37,370
1996	370,355	36,228
1997	377,138	34,637
1998	388,432	30,889
1999	401,969	27,393
2000	411,633	24,786
2001	422,511	23,190
2002	439,544	22,274
2003	459,422	20,133
2004	478,880	17,271
2005	496,547	15,831
2006	511,366	15,234
2007	526,949	17,763
2008	542,919	19,349
2009	557,841	20,335
2010	569,921	21,877
2011	580,607	25,647
2012	594,029	27,592
2013	606,072	29,789
2014	619,243	30,922
2015	649,190	32,087
2016	677,051	33,390
2017	696,496	33,601
2018	706,188	33,112
2019	714,681	32,279
2020	716,361	30,721
2021	713,806	27,806
2022	734,893	30,803
2023	754,486	31,115

Maternal mortality chart: Cameroon vs Lesotho

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 478 deaths in Lesotho.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Cameroon	Lesotho
1985	572	711
1986	579	680
1987	557	686
1988	559	680
1989	564	680
1990	570	665
1991	584	641
1992	595	601
1993	606	542
1994	628	423
1995	641	357
1996	648	319
1997	652	312
1998	666	332
1999	672	371
2000	678	413
2001	672	465
2002	658	484
2003	645	508
2004	633	499
2005	629	549
2006	615	696
2007	605	891
2008	592	1,205
2009	579	1,387
2010	562	1,311
2011	541	1,210
2012	500	1,000
2013	469	855
2014	440	707
2015	417	594
2016	393	518
2017	372	468
2018	354	491
2019	336	467
2020	316	529
2021	342	577
2022	276	477
2023	258	478

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 6.72% in Cameroon and 5.89% in Lesotho. 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	Lesotho
1960	28%	18.6%
1961	27.4%	18.5%
1962	26.9%	18.5%
1963	26.4%	18.6%
1964	26%	18.6%
1965	25.4%	18.7%
1966	24.7%	18.6%
1967	24%	18.5%
1968	23.1%	18.3%
1969	22.2%	18%
1970	21.3%	17.7%
1971	20.6%	17.3%
1972	20%	16.9%
1973	19.6%	16.5%
1974	19.3%	16%
1975	19.2%	15.5%
1976	19%	14.9%
1977	18.9%	14.2%
1978	18.7%	13.6%
1979	18.3%	12.9%
1980	17.9%	12.3%
1981	17.4%	11.7%
1982	16.8%	11.1%
1983	16.2%	10.6%
1984	15.5%	10.1%
1985	14.9%	9.72%
1986	14.4%	9.36%
1987	14%	9.06%
1988	13.8%	8.8%
1989	13.6%	8.6%
1990	13.7%	8.47%
1991	13.8%	8.43%
1992	14%	8.51%
1993	14.3%	8.73%
1994	14.5%	9.07%
1995	14.7%	9.45%
1996	14.8%	9.83%
1997	14.9%	10.2%
1998	14.8%	10.5%
1999	14.7%	10.7%
2000	14.4%	10.9%
2001	14.1%	11.1%
2002	13.8%	11.2%
2003	13.5%	11.4%
2004	13.1%	11.5%
2005	12.8%	11.6%
2006	12.5%	11.5%
2007	12.1%	11.2%
2008	11.8%	10.9%
2009	11.4%	9.64%
2010	11%	9.01%
2011	10.6%	8.59%
2012	10.2%	8.26%
2013	9.73%	8.02%
2014	9.31%	7.82%
2015	8.9%	7.51%
2016	8.56%	7.18%
2017	8.25%	7.12%
2018	7.97%	6.91%
2019	7.72%	6.87%
2020	7.46%	6.68%
2021	7.21%	6.44%
2022	6.95%	6.15%
2023	6.72%	5.89%