Fertility & birth rates in Congo and South Africa

Fertility rate in Congo vs South Africa chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in the Congo was 4.16 children per woman in 2023, compared to 2.22 in South Africa in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check the Congo vs South Africa population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Congo	South Africa
1960	6.09	6.11
1961	6.09	6.08
1962	6.1	6.05
1963	6.15	6.01
1964	6.18	5.96
1965	6.23	5.89
1966	6.27	5.91
1967	6.29	5.85
1968	6.33	5.78
1969	6.35	5.72
1970	6.38	5.63
1971	6.42	5.57
1972	6.44	5.49
1973	6.42	5.41
1974	6.39	5.3
1975	6.36	5.19
1976	6.32	5.07
1977	6.27	4.94
1978	6.21	4.85
1979	6.14	4.82
1980	6.07	4.78
1981	5.98	4.71
1982	5.85	4.7
1983	5.76	4.63
1984	5.66	4.57
1985	5.59	4.5
1986	5.51	4.41
1987	5.46	4.35
1988	5.39	4.18
1989	5.33	3.98
1990	5.27	3.72
1991	5.22	3.62
1992	5.18	3.48
1993	5.13	3.37
1994	5.1	3.26
1995	5.07	3.17
1996	5.03	2.99
1997	5	2.73
1998	4.91	2.63
1999	4.81	2.56
2000	4.72	2.41
2001	4.67	2.37
2002	4.7	2.32
2003	4.7	2.36
2004	4.69	2.44
2005	4.67	2.51
2006	4.65	2.55
2007	4.65	2.55
2008	4.73	2.68
2009	4.81	2.5
2010	4.85	2.44
2011	4.83	2.44
2012	4.79	2.45
2013	4.73	2.43
2014	4.67	2.42
2015	4.61	2.36
2016	4.55	2.26
2017	4.5	2.28
2018	4.44	2.27
2019	4.38	2.26
2020	4.33	2.26
2021	4.28	2.25
2022	4.22	2.23
2023	4.16	2.22
2024	4.11	2.21
2025	4.05	2.19
2026	3.99	2.17
2027	3.93	2.15
2028	3.88	2.13
2029	3.83	2.12
2030	3.78	2.1
2031	3.73	2.09
2032	3.68	2.07
2033	3.64	2.06
2034	3.59	2.05
2035	3.54	2.04
2036	3.5	2.03
2037	3.46	2.02
2038	3.42	2
2039	3.38	1.99
2040	3.35	1.98
2041	3.31	1.98
2042	3.27	1.97
2043	3.24	1.96
2044	3.2	1.95
2045	3.16	1.94
2046	3.13	1.93
2047	3.09	1.92
2048	3.06	1.91
2049	3.03	1.9
2050	3	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Congo	South Africa
1960	42.7%	42.1%
1961	43%	42.1%
1962	43.3%	42.1%
1963	43.5%	42.1%
1964	43.7%	42.1%
1965	43.9%	42.1%
1966	44%	42.1%
1967	44.2%	42.2%
1968	44.3%	42.2%
1969	44.5%	42.2%
1970	44.7%	42.3%
1971	44.8%	42.2%
1972	45%	42.2%
1973	45.2%	42.1%
1974	45.4%	42%
1975	45.5%	41.9%
1976	45.7%	41.8%
1977	45.8%	41.7%
1978	45.8%	41.5%
1979	45.8%	41.3%
1980	45.7%	40.9%
1981	45.6%	40.5%
1982	45.4%	40.1%
1983	45.2%	39.8%
1984	45%	39.5%
1985	44.9%	39.2%
1986	44.7%	38.9%
1987	44.6%	38.7%
1988	44.5%	38.4%
1989	44.3%	38.1%
1990	44.2%	37.7%
1991	44%	37.5%
1992	43.8%	37.6%
1993	43.6%	37.3%
1994	43.4%	37.2%
1995	43.3%	37.5%
1996	43.2%	37.5%
1997	43.3%	37.2%
1998	43.3%	36.5%
1999	43.1%	35.7%
2000	42.5%	34.9%
2001	41.9%	34%
2002	41.9%	33.2%
2003	41.7%	32.3%
2004	41.4%	31.6%
2005	41.1%	31.1%
2006	40.9%	30.6%
2007	40.7%	30.2%
2008	40.7%	29.9%
2009	40.5%	29.7%
2010	40.4%	29.4%
2011	40.6%	29.1%
2012	41%	28.9%
2013	41.3%	28.7%
2014	41.7%	28.5%
2015	41.9%	28.3%
2016	42.1%	28.3%
2017	42.1%	28.3%
2018	42.1%	27.9%
2019	41.9%	27.4%
2020	41.8%	27%
2021	41.5%	26.6%
2022	41.3%	26.3%
2023	40.9%	26.1%
2024	40.4%	25.9%
2025	39.9%	25.7%
2026	39.4%	25.6%
2027	38.9%	25.4%
2028	38.4%	25.3%
2029	38%	25.2%
2030	37.6%	25.2%
2031	37.3%	25.1%
2032	37%	25%
2033	36.8%	24.8%
2034	36.6%	24.5%
2035	36.4%	24.3%
2036	36.2%	23.9%
2037	36%	23.6%
2038	35.8%	23.4%
2039	35.6%	23.1%
2040	35.5%	22.9%
2041	35.3%	22.7%
2042	35.1%	22.5%
2043	34.9%	22.4%
2044	34.7%	22.2%
2045	34.4%	22.1%
2046	34.2%	21.9%
2047	33.9%	21.8%
2048	33.6%	21.7%
2049	33.4%	21.6%
2050	33.1%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 40.4% of the population in the Congo and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 44.2% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of the Congo and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in Congo vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.59% in the Congo and +1.05% in South Africa. 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
	Congo	South Africa
1960	27,094	421,263
1961	28,220	437,851
1962	29,342	455,634
1963	30,832	473,821
1964	32,270	490,606
1965	33,865	506,632
1966	35,452	534,862
1967	36,866	553,741
1968	38,786	571,841
1969	40,532	590,794
1970	42,374	605,102
1971	44,431	624,761
1972	46,427	638,754
1973	48,017	651,596
1974	49,563	658,438
1975	51,155	667,862
1976	52,148	675,011
1977	53,179	680,929
1978	53,885	694,341
1979	54,723	716,541
1980	55,550	738,415
1981	56,603	767,833
1982	57,036	807,550
1983	58,120	837,013
1984	59,028	869,011
1985	60,359	893,889
1986	61,669	903,644
1987	63,183	922,330
1988	64,629	909,221
1989	65,944	884,629
1990	67,241	835,421
1991	68,534	827,296
1992	69,973	794,415
1993	71,119	789,220
1994	72,857	698,609
1995	74,189	743,488
1996	75,628	710,868
1997	66,149	667,969
1998	72,450	627,027
1999	76,204	594,643
2000	78,491	526,963
2001	84,876	484,801
2002	88,497	430,926
2003	91,326	415,018
2004	96,577	442,540
2005	101,344	464,464
2006	106,876	487,584
2007	112,459	503,567
2008	120,711	595,332
2009	126,904	554,115
2010	136,908	566,834
2011	140,371	601,708
2012	142,464	643,723
2013	142,080	652,427
2014	141,674	674,754
2015	141,539	668,771
2016	141,358	641,365
2017	141,973	645,975
2018	142,704	648,319
2019	139,513	652,130
2020	143,492	595,873
2021	144,241	456,411
2022	147,076	603,636
2023	150,486	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: Congo vs South Africa

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 241 deaths per 100,000 live births in the Congo, compared to 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Congo	South Africa
1985	546	208
1986	535	200
1987	519	192
1988	510	184
1989	506	177
1990	505	170
1991	514	162
1992	531	152
1993	541	145
1994	551	133
1995	551	125
1996	545	150
1997	650	152
1998	597	152
1999	554	151
2000	509	175
2001	489	192
2002	464	225
2003	436	245
2004	400	259
2005	385	279
2006	394	283
2007	370	272
2008	395	272
2009	414	241
2010	382	226
2011	378	202
2012	374	194
2013	320	180
2014	302	162
2015	284	150
2016	263	141
2017	262	134
2018	259	128
2019	245	119
2020	247	118
2021	301	191
2022	241	129
2023	241	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 4.05% in the Congo and 3.47% in South Africa. 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
	Congo	South Africa
1960	19.4%	-
1961	18.6%	-
1962	18%	-
1963	17.3%	-
1964	16.7%	-
1965	16.1%	-
1966	15.6%	-
1967	15.1%	-
1968	14.6%	-
1969	14.2%	-
1970	13.7%	-
1971	13.4%	-
1972	13%	-
1973	12.6%	-
1974	12.4%	13.2%
1975	12.1%	12.5%
1976	11.8%	11.8%
1977	11.5%	11.1%
1978	11.2%	10.5%
1979	11%	9.88%
1980	10.7%	9.35%
1981	10.5%	8.84%
1982	10.2%	8.39%
1983	9.95%	7.98%
1984	9.68%	7.6%
1985	9.44%	7.24%
1986	9.25%	6.89%
1987	9.11%	6.56%
1988	9.04%	6.26%
1989	9.05%	6.01%
1990	9.15%	5.82%
1991	9.31%	5.7%
1992	9.54%	5.66%
1993	9.84%	5.7%
1994	10.2%	5.82%
1995	10.5%	5.95%
1996	10.9%	6.11%
1997	11.2%	6.29%
1998	11.4%	6.56%
1999	11.5%	6.85%
2000	11.4%	7.11%
2001	11.1%	7.43%
2002	10.6%	7.69%
2003	10%	7.93%
2004	9.35%	8.1%
2005	8.66%	8.03%
2006	8.02%	7.75%
2007	7.43%	7.19%
2008	6.95%	6.42%
2009	6.55%	5.7%
2010	6.25%	5%
2011	6.02%	4.5%
2012	5.82%	4.25%
2013	5.64%	4.1%
2014	5.45%	3.96%
2015	5.27%	3.82%
2016	5.09%	3.68%
2017	4.93%	3.58%
2018	4.77%	3.49%
2019	5.24%	3.45%
2020	4.47%	3.41%
2021	4.33%	3.41%
2022	4.19%	3.44%
2023	4.05%	3.47%