Fertility & birth rates in China and Netherlands

Fertility rate in China vs Netherlands chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in China was 1 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1.43 in the Netherlands in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check China vs the Netherlands population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	China	Netherlands
1960	4.45	3.12
1961	3.86	3.22
1962	6.09	3.18
1963	7.51	3.19
1964	6.67	3.17
1965	6.61	3.04
1966	6.31	2.9
1967	5.81	2.81
1968	6.51	2.72
1969	6.18	2.75
1970	6.09	2.57
1971	5.52	2.36
1972	5.11	2.15
1973	4.73	1.9
1974	4.17	1.77
1975	3.57	1.66
1976	3.24	1.63
1977	2.84	1.58
1978	2.72	1.58
1979	2.75	1.56
1980	2.74	1.6
1981	2.79	1.56
1982	2.97	1.5
1983	2.56	1.47
1984	2.61	1.49
1985	2.63	1.51
1986	2.72	1.55
1987	2.76	1.56
1988	2.54	1.55
1989	2.52	1.55
1990	2.51	1.62
1991	1.93	1.61
1992	1.78	1.59
1993	1.69	1.57
1994	1.63	1.57
1995	1.59	1.53
1996	1.55	1.53
1997	1.53	1.56
1998	1.52	1.63
1999	1.53	1.65
2000	1.63	1.72
2001	1.56	1.71
2002	1.57	1.73
2003	1.57	1.75
2004	1.61	1.72
2005	1.62	1.71
2006	1.64	1.72
2007	1.67	1.72
2008	1.7	1.77
2009	1.71	1.79
2010	1.69	1.79
2011	1.67	1.76
2012	1.8	1.72
2013	1.71	1.68
2014	1.77	1.71
2015	1.67	1.66
2016	1.77	1.66
2017	1.8	1.62
2018	1.54	1.59
2019	1.5	1.57
2020	1.24	1.54
2021	1.12	1.62
2022	1.03	1.49
2023	1	1.43
2024	1.01	1.43
2025	1.02	1.44
2026	1.03	1.44
2027	1.04	1.45
2028	1.05	1.45
2029	1.05	1.45
2030	1.06	1.46
2031	1.07	1.46
2032	1.08	1.47
2033	1.08	1.47
2034	1.09	1.48
2035	1.1	1.48
2036	1.1	1.48
2037	1.11	1.48
2038	1.12	1.48
2039	1.12	1.49
2040	1.13	1.49
2041	1.13	1.49
2042	1.14	1.5
2043	1.15	1.5
2044	1.15	1.5
2045	1.16	1.5
2046	1.16	1.5
2047	1.17	1.51
2048	1.17	1.51
2049	1.18	1.51
2050	1.18	1.51

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	China	Netherlands
1960	40.3%	30%
1961	40%	29.7%
1962	40%	29.1%
1963	40.6%	28.7%
1964	41.2%	28.5%
1965	41.5%	28.3%
1966	41.5%	28.1%
1967	41.3%	27.8%
1968	41%	27.6%
1969	41%	27.5%
1970	40.8%	27.3%
1971	40.7%	27.1%
1972	40.4%	26.8%
1973	40.1%	26.4%
1974	40.2%	25.9%
1975	40.2%	25.3%
1976	40.3%	24.8%
1977	39.8%	24.2%
1978	38.6%	23.5%
1979	37.2%	22.9%
1980	36.1%	22.3%
1981	35.1%	21.8%
1982	34.3%	21.3%
1983	33.3%	20.7%
1984	32.2%	20.1%
1985	31.2%	19.5%
1986	30.4%	19.1%
1987	29.8%	18.7%
1988	29.3%	18.5%
1989	28.9%	18.4%
1990	28.8%	18.4%
1991	28.6%	18.4%
1992	28.4%	18.5%
1993	28.2%	18.5%
1994	27.8%	18.6%
1995	27.4%	18.6%
1996	27%	18.6%
1997	26.3%	18.6%
1998	25.7%	18.6%
1999	25.2%	18.7%
2000	24.5%	18.8%
2001	23.8%	18.8%
2002	22.9%	18.8%
2003	22%	18.7%
2004	21.2%	18.6%
2005	20.3%	18.5%
2006	19.6%	18.3%
2007	19.2%	18.1%
2008	18.9%	17.9%
2009	18.6%	17.7%
2010	18.5%	17.6%
2011	18.3%	17.4%
2012	18.3%	17.3%
2013	18.3%	17.1%
2014	18.3%	16.9%
2015	18.3%	16.6%
2016	18.3%	16.4%
2017	18.4%	16.2%
2018	18.3%	16%
2019	18.2%	15.8%
2020	18%	15.6%
2021	17.6%	15.5%
2022	17.1%	15.4%
2023	16.6%	15.2%
2024	16%	15%
2025	15.4%	14.9%
2026	14.8%	14.9%
2027	14.1%	14.8%
2028	13.5%	14.8%
2029	12.8%	14.8%
2030	12.1%	14.8%
2031	11.5%	14.8%
2032	10.8%	14.7%
2033	10.3%	14.7%
2034	9.83%	14.7%
2035	9.53%	14.7%
2036	9.37%	14.7%
2037	9.31%	14.6%
2038	9.31%	14.6%
2039	9.34%	14.6%
2040	9.38%	14.5%
2041	9.43%	14.5%
2042	9.49%	14.4%
2043	9.56%	14.4%
2044	9.63%	14.3%
2045	9.71%	14.2%
2046	9.78%	14.1%
2047	9.85%	14.1%
2048	9.9%	14%
2049	9.93%	13.9%
2050	9.94%	13.8%

Children aged 0-14 make up 16% of the population in China and 15% in the Netherlands in 2024, compared to 28.8% and 18.4% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of China and the Netherlands compared.

Natural population change in China vs Netherlands by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.31% in China and +0.08% in the Netherlands. 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
	China	Netherlands
1960	-3,048,510	151,623
1961	2,496,047	159,450
1962	17,969,132	153,474
1963	22,742,225	154,361
1964	19,302,532	157,653
1965	20,296,950	146,308
1966	19,282,187	138,265
1967	19,263,662	138,580
1968	21,206,083	132,389
1969	20,760,332	139,082
1970	21,137,076	129,082
1971	19,622,980	116,112
1972	19,102,585	101,297
1973	18,423,727	84,668
1974	15,738,118	75,853
1975	14,378,237	64,232
1976	11,782,472	63,361
1977	11,378,068	63,739
1978	11,473,980	61,344
1979	11,250,148	63,172
1980	11,647,260	66,504
1981	14,461,027	62,688
1982	15,815,318	54,388
1983	13,599,789	51,722
1984	13,561,671	54,812
1985	14,987,830	55,069
1986	16,609,920	59,746
1987	18,005,821	64,526
1988	17,328,640	61,993
1989	16,824,495	59,396
1990	16,335,313	68,777
1991	14,937,124	69,321
1992	13,548,601	66,811
1993	13,493,138	58,103
1994	13,360,470	61,532
1995	12,711,220	54,106
1996	12,686,872	51,251
1997	12,374,554	56,198
1998	11,351,286	61,258
1999	10,247,372	60,086
2000	9,570,849	66,887
2001	8,839,358	62,580
2002	8,258,580	59,751
2003	7,743,284	58,411
2004	7,607,960	56,987
2005	7,678,911	50,592
2006	6,922,185	49,038
2007	6,813,465	49,145
2008	6,729,247	49,337
2009	6,483,236	51,244
2010	6,407,607	48,184
2011	8,245,065	45,072
2012	10,075,174	35,186
2013	8,043,116	30,248
2014	9,205,180	35,417
2015	6,788,911	23,716
2016	9,062,269	23,843
2017	7,790,880	18,844
2018	5,302,433	15,508
2019	4,673,713	17,345
2020	2,046,095	0
2021	480,203	7,014
2022	-847,305	-1,770
2023	-2,087,851	-5,363

Maternal mortality chart: China vs Netherlands

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 16 deaths per 100,000 live births in China, compared to 4 deaths in the Netherlands.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	China	Netherlands
1985	125	12
1986	120	12
1987	114	12
1988	108	12
1989	104	12
1990	102	12
1991	92	12
1992	86	12
1993	80	12
1994	76	12
1995	71	12
1996	67	12
1997	63	13
1998	60	12
1999	58	13
2000	56	13
2001	52	13
2002	50	13
2003	47	12
2004	45	11
2005	42	10
2006	40	9
2007	38	8
2008	38	8
2009	35	7
2010	34	6
2011	33	7
2012	32	6
2013	30	6
2014	28	5
2015	26	5
2016	25	5
2017	24	5
2018	22	5
2019	21	5
2020	20	4
2021	21	5
2022	18	4
2023	16	4

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.62% in China and 0.4% in the Netherlands. 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
	China	Netherlands
1960	-	2.08%
1961	-	2.03%
1962	-	1.97%
1963	-	1.92%
1964	-	1.88%
1965	-	1.83%
1966	-	1.79%
1967	-	1.74%
1968	-	1.69%
1969	11.9%	1.64%
1970	11.3%	1.58%
1971	10.7%	1.53%
1972	10.2%	1.47%
1973	9.61%	1.41%
1974	9.05%	1.36%
1975	8.5%	1.31%
1976	7.97%	1.26%
1977	7.47%	1.21%
1978	7.01%	1.16%
1979	6.62%	1.12%
1980	6.28%	1.09%
1981	6%	1.06%
1982	5.78%	1.04%
1983	5.61%	1.02%
1984	5.5%	0.99%
1985	5.43%	0.97%
1986	5.4%	0.95%
1987	5.4%	0.92%
1988	5.4%	0.89%
1989	5.39%	0.86%
1990	5.37%	0.83%
1991	5.31%	0.8%
1992	5.22%	0.77%
1993	5.08%	0.74%
1994	4.93%	0.71%
1995	4.75%	0.69%
1996	4.56%	0.67%
1997	4.36%	0.66%
1998	4.14%	0.64%
1999	3.91%	0.63%
2000	3.67%	0.62%
2001	3.42%	0.61%
2002	3.15%	0.59%
2003	2.89%	0.57%
2004	2.64%	0.55%
2005	2.4%	0.53%
2006	2.19%	0.51%
2007	2.01%	0.49%
2008	1.85%	0.47%
2009	1.71%	0.46%
2010	1.58%	0.44%
2011	1.46%	0.43%
2012	1.35%	0.42%
2013	1.25%	0.42%
2014	1.15%	0.41%
2015	1.07%	0.41%
2016	0.99%	0.41%
2017	0.92%	0.4%
2018	0.86%	0.4%
2019	0.8%	0.4%
2020	0.75%	0.4%
2021	0.7%	0.4%
2022	0.66%	0.4%
2023	0.62%	0.4%