Fertility & birth rates in Cameroon and Zimbabwe

Fertility rate in Cameroon vs Zimbabwe 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 3.72 in Zimbabwe in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Cameroon vs Zimbabwe 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	Zimbabwe
1960	5.73	7.2
1961	5.73	7.21
1962	5.73	7.23
1963	5.73	7.23
1964	5.74	7.23
1965	5.8	7.23
1966	5.85	7.2
1967	5.95	7.16
1968	6.04	7.11
1969	6.14	7.04
1970	6.2	6.98
1971	6.26	6.94
1972	6.29	6.94
1973	6.33	6.94
1974	6.36	6.88
1975	6.4	6.83
1976	6.45	6.77
1977	6.51	6.71
1978	6.55	6.66
1979	6.58	6.59
1980	6.61	6.52
1981	6.61	6.45
1982	6.59	6.33
1983	6.58	6.2
1984	6.56	6.04
1985	6.56	5.87
1986	6.57	5.69
1987	6.54	5.5
1988	6.48	5.28
1989	6.41	5.07
1990	6.36	4.88
1991	6.32	4.72
1992	6.26	4.57
1993	6.16	4.39
1994	6.04	4.28
1995	5.92	4.15
1996	5.8	4.11
1997	5.71	4.08
1998	5.66	4.07
1999	5.6	4.06
2000	5.51	4.01
2001	5.44	3.98
2002	5.44	3.93
2003	5.43	3.86
2004	5.44	3.78
2005	5.42	3.69
2006	5.37	3.64
2007	5.34	3.68
2008	5.29	3.78
2009	5.24	3.95
2010	5.15	4.04
2011	5.05	4.13
2012	4.98	4.13
2013	4.91	4.11
2014	4.84	4.01
2015	4.84	3.91
2016	4.84	3.83
2017	4.8	3.77
2018	4.74	3.74
2019	4.65	3.75
2020	4.56	3.75
2021	4.47	3.77
2022	4.4	3.77
2023	4.32	3.72
2024	4.26	3.67
2025	4.19	3.62
2026	4.12	3.57
2027	4.05	3.52
2028	4	3.47
2029	3.93	3.43
2030	3.88	3.38
2031	3.81	3.33
2032	3.76	3.29
2033	3.7	3.25
2034	3.65	3.21
2035	3.58	3.17
2036	3.55	3.13
2037	3.5	3.09
2038	3.44	3.06
2039	3.4	3.02
2040	3.35	2.99
2041	3.31	2.96
2042	3.25	2.93
2043	3.21	2.9
2044	3.17	2.87
2045	3.13	2.84
2046	3.09	2.81
2047	3.06	2.78
2048	3.02	2.75
2049	2.99	2.72
2050	2.96	2.69

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Cameroon	Zimbabwe
1960	39.5%	47.3%
1961	39.9%	47.7%
1962	40.2%	48.1%
1963	40.4%	48.5%
1964	40.7%	48.8%
1965	40.9%	48.7%
1966	41.1%	48.6%
1967	41.3%	48.5%
1968	41.6%	48.5%
1969	41.8%	48.4%
1970	42%	48.3%
1971	42.3%	48.2%
1972	42.5%	48.2%
1973	42.8%	48.1%
1974	43%	48.1%
1975	43.2%	48.1%
1976	43.5%	48.2%
1977	43.8%	48.3%
1978	44.1%	48.5%
1979	44.4%	48.8%
1980	44.5%	48.7%
1981	44.6%	48.4%
1982	45%	48.3%
1983	45.6%	48.2%
1984	45.7%	48.1%
1985	45.8%	48%
1986	45.9%	47.9%
1987	46%	47.9%
1988	46.1%	47.9%
1989	46.1%	47.6%
1990	46.2%	47.1%
1991	46.2%	46.6%
1992	46.2%	46.8%
1993	46.1%	47.1%
1994	46%	46.6%
1995	45.9%	45.9%
1996	45.7%	45%
1997	45.5%	44%
1998	45.3%	43.1%
1999	45.1%	42.4%
2000	44.9%	41.9%
2001	44.7%	41.5%
2002	44.5%	41.4%
2003	44.3%	41.5%
2004	44.2%	41.7%
2005	44.1%	41.9%
2006	44%	42%
2007	43.9%	42.1%
2008	43.8%	42.4%
2009	43.8%	42.7%
2010	43.7%	43%
2011	43.7%	43.4%
2012	43.6%	43.7%
2013	43.5%	43.9%
2014	43.4%	43.9%
2015	43.2%	43.8%
2016	43%	43.6%
2017	43%	43.3%
2018	42.9%	42.9%
2019	42.7%	42.5%
2020	42.5%	42.2%
2021	42.3%	41.9%
2022	42.1%	41.6%
2023	41.8%	41.3%
2024	41.4%	40.9%
2025	41.1%	40.3%
2026	40.8%	39.6%
2027	40.5%	39%
2028	40.1%	38.4%
2029	39.8%	37.8%
2030	39.5%	37.4%
2031	39.1%	37%
2032	38.7%	36.8%
2033	38.3%	36.5%
2034	37.9%	36.3%
2035	37.5%	36.1%
2036	37.2%	35.8%
2037	36.8%	35.6%
2038	36.5%	35.3%
2039	36.2%	35.1%
2040	35.9%	34.8%
2041	35.6%	34.6%
2042	35.3%	34.3%
2043	35%	34.1%
2044	34.7%	33.8%
2045	34.4%	33.5%
2046	34.1%	33.2%
2047	33.8%	32.9%
2048	33.5%	32.6%
2049	33.2%	32.2%
2050	32.9%	31.9%

Children aged 0-14 make up 41.4% of the population in Cameroon and 40.9% in Zimbabwe in 2024, compared to 46.2% and 47.1% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Cameroon and Zimbabwe compared.

Natural population change in Cameroon vs Zimbabwe by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.78% in Cameroon and +2.34% in Zimbabwe. 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	Zimbabwe
1960	77,948	126,959
1961	82,471	131,531
1962	116,232	136,317
1963	119,784	140,984
1964	123,469	145,848
1965	129,428	151,164
1966	135,927	156,014
1967	144,370	161,205
1968	153,080	166,865
1969	162,603	172,626
1970	170,713	178,979
1971	179,317	185,427
1972	186,521	193,725
1973	193,997	201,885
1974	200,693	208,806
1975	206,986	216,947
1976	214,916	221,419
1977	222,785	225,139
1978	229,958	222,979
1979	238,875	223,657
1980	247,808	241,179
1981	262,076	271,361
1982	274,652	279,934
1983	276,112	286,545
1984	284,110	290,052
1985	296,317	290,756
1986	308,188	289,894
1987	320,134	286,766
1988	328,168	277,498
1989	334,649	270,838
1990	342,901	265,444
1991	350,493	260,943
1992	356,072	255,291
1993	360,785	228,045
1994	364,390	216,343
1995	367,532	206,695
1996	370,355	205,269
1997	377,138	216,288
1998	388,432	225,614
1999	401,969	232,393
2000	411,633	236,343
2001	422,511	227,909
2002	439,544	244,170
2003	459,422	243,057
2004	478,880	248,307
2005	496,547	248,545
2006	511,366	248,963
2007	526,949	261,805
2008	542,919	280,527
2009	557,841	309,316
2010	569,921	335,570
2011	580,607	359,572
2012	594,029	371,135
2013	606,072	374,757
2014	619,243	366,350
2015	649,190	356,203
2016	677,051	348,772
2017	696,496	344,035
2018	706,188	345,883
2019	714,681	348,798
2020	716,361	354,790
2021	713,806	349,908
2022	734,893	371,243
2023	754,486	372,505

Maternal mortality chart: Cameroon vs Zimbabwe

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 358 deaths in Zimbabwe.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Cameroon	Zimbabwe
1985	572	573
1986	579	525
1987	557	480
1988	559	431
1989	564	382
1990	570	353
1991	584	332
1992	595	333
1993	606	331
1994	628	332
1995	641	332
1996	648	352
1997	652	357
1998	666	368
1999	672	399
2000	678	405
2001	672	467
2002	658	418
2003	645	455
2004	633	451
2005	629	454
2006	615	480
2007	605	519
2008	592	526
2009	579	540
2010	562	567
2011	541	564
2012	500	558
2013	469	525
2014	440	468
2015	417	428
2016	393	411
2017	372	389
2018	354	386
2019	336	388
2020	316	380
2021	342	446
2022	276	368
2023	258	358

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 6.72% in Cameroon and 4.42% in Zimbabwe. 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	Zimbabwe
1960	28%	15.2%
1961	27.4%	14.8%
1962	26.9%	14.4%
1963	26.4%	14%
1964	26%	13.5%
1965	25.4%	13.1%
1966	24.7%	12.7%
1967	24%	12.4%
1968	23.1%	12.1%
1969	22.2%	11.8%
1970	21.3%	11.7%
1971	20.6%	11.5%
1972	20%	11.5%
1973	19.6%	11.4%
1974	19.3%	11.4%
1975	19.2%	11.4%
1976	19%	11.5%
1977	18.9%	11.5%
1978	18.7%	11.5%
1979	18.3%	11.3%
1980	17.9%	11.1%
1981	17.4%	10.7%
1982	16.8%	10.1%
1983	16.2%	9.5%
1984	15.5%	8.87%
1985	14.9%	8.31%
1986	14.4%	7.86%
1987	14%	7.61%
1988	13.8%	7.55%
1989	13.6%	7.69%
1990	13.7%	7.97%
1991	13.8%	8.33%
1992	14%	8.73%
1993	14.3%	9.16%
1994	14.5%	9.52%
1995	14.7%	9.83%
1996	14.8%	10%
1997	14.9%	10.1%
1998	14.8%	10%
1999	14.7%	9.92%
2000	14.4%	9.83%
2001	14.1%	9.79%
2002	13.8%	8.48%
2003	13.5%	8.85%
2004	13.1%	9.17%
2005	12.8%	9.23%
2006	12.5%	9.4%
2007	12.1%	9.47%
2008	11.8%	9.34%
2009	11.4%	9.03%
2010	11%	8.5%
2011	10.6%	7.88%
2012	10.2%	7.14%
2013	9.73%	6.55%
2014	9.31%	6.18%
2015	8.9%	5.98%
2016	8.56%	5.69%
2017	8.25%	5.5%
2018	7.97%	5.23%
2019	7.72%	5.11%
2020	7.46%	5.01%
2021	7.21%	4.76%
2022	6.95%	4.6%
2023	6.72%	4.42%