Fertility & birth rates in Cameroon and Rwanda

Fertility rate in Cameroon vs Rwanda 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 3.7 in Rwanda in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Cameroon vs Rwanda 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	Rwanda
1960	5.73	8.28
1961	5.73	8.28
1962	5.73	8.27
1963	5.73	8.27
1964	5.74	8.27
1965	5.8	8.25
1966	5.85	8.23
1967	5.95	8.21
1968	6.04	8.19
1969	6.14	8.18
1970	6.2	8.15
1971	6.26	8.09
1972	6.29	8.09
1973	6.33	8.09
1974	6.36	8.1
1975	6.4	8.1
1976	6.45	8.12
1977	6.51	8.14
1978	6.55	8.16
1979	6.58	8.13
1980	6.61	8.12
1981	6.61	8.1
1982	6.59	8.06
1983	6.58	8
1984	6.56	7.91
1985	6.56	7.79
1986	6.57	7.61
1987	6.54	7.43
1988	6.48	7.23
1989	6.41	7.03
1990	6.36	6.8
1991	6.32	6.62
1992	6.26	6.54
1993	6.16	6.48
1994	6.04	6.42
1995	5.92	6.35
1996	5.8	6.29
1997	5.71	6.24
1998	5.66	6.17
1999	5.6	6.06
2000	5.51	5.97
2001	5.44	5.89
2002	5.44	5.82
2003	5.43	5.74
2004	5.44	5.64
2005	5.42	5.5
2006	5.37	5.34
2007	5.34	5.14
2008	5.29	4.92
2009	5.24	4.71
2010	5.15	4.52
2011	5.05	4.33
2012	4.98	4.2
2013	4.91	4.14
2014	4.84	4.12
2015	4.84	4.11
2016	4.84	4.11
2017	4.8	4.08
2018	4.74	4.05
2019	4.65	3.99
2020	4.56	3.91
2021	4.47	3.84
2022	4.4	3.78
2023	4.32	3.7
2024	4.26	3.64
2025	4.19	3.59
2026	4.12	3.54
2027	4.05	3.49
2028	4	3.43
2029	3.93	3.38
2030	3.88	3.33
2031	3.81	3.28
2032	3.76	3.24
2033	3.7	3.19
2034	3.65	3.15
2035	3.58	3.11
2036	3.55	3.07
2037	3.5	3.03
2038	3.44	2.99
2039	3.4	2.95
2040	3.35	2.92
2041	3.31	2.89
2042	3.25	2.85
2043	3.21	2.81
2044	3.17	2.78
2045	3.13	2.75
2046	3.09	2.72
2047	3.06	2.69
2048	3.02	2.67
2049	2.99	2.64
2050	2.96	2.61

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Cameroon	Rwanda
1960	39.5%	49.2%
1961	39.9%	49.7%
1962	40.2%	50.2%
1963	40.4%	50.6%
1964	40.7%	50.8%
1965	40.9%	50.6%
1966	41.1%	50.2%
1967	41.3%	49.7%
1968	41.6%	49.2%
1969	41.8%	48.7%
1970	42%	48.2%
1971	42.3%	47.9%
1972	42.5%	47.5%
1973	42.8%	47.2%
1974	43%	46.9%
1975	43.2%	46.6%
1976	43.5%	46.4%
1977	43.8%	46.4%
1978	44.1%	46.4%
1979	44.4%	46.5%
1980	44.5%	46.8%
1981	44.6%	47.1%
1982	45%	47.4%
1983	45.6%	47.7%
1984	45.7%	48.1%
1985	45.8%	48.3%
1986	45.9%	48.6%
1987	46%	48.8%
1988	46.1%	48.9%
1989	46.1%	48.9%
1990	46.2%	49%
1991	46.2%	48.9%
1992	46.2%	48.7%
1993	46.1%	48.4%
1994	46%	50.1%
1995	45.9%	52.4%
1996	45.7%	51.4%
1997	45.5%	50.5%
1998	45.3%	49.2%
1999	45.1%	47.8%
2000	44.9%	46.4%
2001	44.7%	45.2%
2002	44.5%	44.3%
2003	44.3%	43.7%
2004	44.2%	43.3%
2005	44.1%	43.1%
2006	44%	42.9%
2007	43.9%	42.9%
2008	43.8%	42.8%
2009	43.8%	42.6%
2010	43.7%	42.4%
2011	43.7%	42.2%
2012	43.6%	41.9%
2013	43.5%	41.7%
2014	43.4%	41.4%
2015	43.2%	41.1%
2016	43%	40.9%
2017	43%	40.5%
2018	42.9%	40.1%
2019	42.7%	39.7%
2020	42.5%	39.2%
2021	42.3%	38.6%
2022	42.1%	38.2%
2023	41.8%	37.7%
2024	41.4%	37.4%
2025	41.1%	37%
2026	40.8%	36.7%
2027	40.5%	36.4%
2028	40.1%	36%
2029	39.8%	35.7%
2030	39.5%	35.4%
2031	39.1%	35%
2032	38.7%	34.7%
2033	38.3%	34.4%
2034	37.9%	34.1%
2035	37.5%	33.7%
2036	37.2%	33.4%
2037	36.8%	33.1%
2038	36.5%	32.9%
2039	36.2%	32.6%
2040	35.9%	32.3%
2041	35.6%	32%
2042	35.3%	31.7%
2043	35%	31.4%
2044	34.7%	31.1%
2045	34.4%	30.8%
2046	34.1%	30.5%
2047	33.8%	30.2%
2048	33.5%	29.9%
2049	33.2%	29.7%
2050	32.9%	29.4%

Children aged 0-14 make up 41.4% of the population in Cameroon and 37.4% in Rwanda in 2024, compared to 46.2% and 49% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Cameroon and Rwanda compared.

Natural population change in Cameroon vs Rwanda by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.78% in Cameroon and +2.45% in Rwanda. 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	Rwanda
1960	77,948	100,627
1961	82,471	102,051
1962	116,232	102,548
1963	119,784	94,296
1964	123,469	102,562
1965	129,428	103,422
1966	135,927	105,128
1967	144,370	108,053
1968	153,080	111,422
1969	162,603	115,394
1970	170,713	119,273
1971	179,317	122,567
1972	186,521	126,403
1973	193,997	131,021
1974	200,693	135,743
1975	206,986	140,596
1976	214,916	147,665
1977	222,785	155,011
1978	229,958	163,779
1979	238,875	174,477
1980	247,808	184,988
1981	262,076	195,769
1982	274,652	205,147
1983	276,112	212,750
1984	284,110	219,337
1985	296,317	223,794
1986	308,188	225,526
1987	320,134	225,744
1988	328,168	223,759
1989	334,649	217,632
1990	342,901	207,895
1991	350,493	196,431
1992	356,072	188,025
1993	360,785	183,926
1994	364,390	-719,479
1995	367,532	121,137
1996	370,355	140,455
1997	377,138	174,687
1998	388,432	197,185
1999	401,969	210,518
2000	411,633	221,276
2001	422,511	230,845
2002	439,544	239,036
2003	459,422	251,243
2004	478,880	265,273
2005	496,547	275,121
2006	511,366	282,149
2007	526,949	285,791
2008	542,919	287,334
2009	557,841	287,034
2010	569,921	286,848
2011	580,607	282,922
2012	594,029	282,584
2013	606,072	286,331
2014	619,243	292,779
2015	649,190	299,114
2016	677,051	305,549
2017	696,496	310,323
2018	706,188	312,512
2019	714,681	313,525
2020	716,361	312,692
2021	713,806	309,895
2022	734,893	312,145
2023	754,486	312,762

Maternal mortality chart: Cameroon vs Rwanda

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 229 deaths in Rwanda.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Cameroon	Rwanda
1985	572	1,116
1986	579	1,126
1987	557	1,145
1988	559	1,188
1989	564	1,238
1990	570	1,309
1991	584	1,386
1992	595	1,530
1993	606	1,619
1994	628	5,721
1995	641	1,505
1996	648	1,295
1997	652	1,318
1998	666	1,268
1999	672	1,073
2000	678	885
2001	672	769
2002	658	677
2003	645	551
2004	633	460
2005	629	465
2006	615	494
2007	605	494
2008	592	454
2009	579	418
2010	562	393
2011	541	358
2012	500	331
2013	469	317
2014	440	301
2015	417	292
2016	393	278
2017	372	275
2018	354	269
2019	336	261
2020	316	252
2021	342	254
2022	276	234
2023	258	229

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 6.72% in Cameroon and 4% in Rwanda. 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	Rwanda
1960	28%	22.4%
1961	27.4%	21.9%
1962	26.9%	21.5%
1963	26.4%	21.3%
1964	26%	21.1%
1965	25.4%	21.1%
1966	24.7%	21.2%
1967	24%	21.4%
1968	23.1%	21.7%
1969	22.2%	22%
1970	21.3%	22.3%
1971	20.6%	22.6%
1972	20%	23%
1973	19.6%	23.4%
1974	19.3%	24%
1975	19.2%	24.6%
1976	19%	25.1%
1977	18.9%	25.1%
1978	18.7%	24.6%
1979	18.3%	23.4%
1980	17.9%	21.8%
1981	17.4%	20.1%
1982	16.8%	18.6%
1983	16.2%	17.4%
1984	15.5%	16.6%
1985	14.9%	16.1%
1986	14.4%	15.6%
1987	14%	15.2%
1988	13.8%	14.8%
1989	13.6%	14.8%
1990	13.7%	15.1%
1991	13.8%	16%
1992	14%	17.5%
1993	14.3%	19.3%
1994	14.5%	38.9%
1995	14.7%	21.8%
1996	14.8%	22.2%
1997	14.9%	22.2%
1998	14.8%	21.5%
1999	14.7%	20.2%
2000	14.4%	18.5%
2001	14.1%	16.7%
2002	13.8%	14.9%
2003	13.5%	13.3%
2004	13.1%	11.8%
2005	12.8%	10.5%
2006	12.5%	9.37%
2007	12.1%	8.45%
2008	11.8%	7.62%
2009	11.4%	6.92%
2010	11%	6.33%
2011	10.6%	5.81%
2012	10.2%	5.45%
2013	9.73%	5.17%
2014	9.31%	4.96%
2015	8.9%	4.78%
2016	8.56%	4.63%
2017	8.25%	4.52%
2018	7.97%	4.43%
2019	7.72%	4.34%
2020	7.46%	4.25%
2021	7.21%	4.16%
2022	6.95%	4.08%
2023	6.72%	4%