Fertility & birth rates in Costa Rica and El Salvador

Fertility rate in Costa Rica vs El Salvador chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Costa Rica was 1.33 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1.78 in El Salvador in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Costa Rica vs El Salvador population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Costa Rica	El Salvador
1960	6.71	6.62
1961	6.65	6.64
1962	6.54	6.68
1963	6.39	6.69
1964	6.19	6.68
1965	5.96	6.64
1966	5.7	6.57
1967	5.42	6.49
1968	5.03	6.39
1969	4.84	6.28
1970	4.59	6.18
1971	4.36	6.13
1972	4.16	6.03
1973	3.99	5.93
1974	3.89	5.82
1975	3.8	5.71
1976	3.75	5.59
1977	3.7	5.47
1978	3.66	5.36
1979	3.65	5.23
1980	3.58	5.11
1981	3.56	4.99
1982	3.54	4.83
1983	3.53	4.65
1984	3.52	4.48
1985	3.51	4.32
1986	3.45	4.19
1987	3.38	4.18
1988	3.31	4.1
1989	3.24	4.03
1990	3.17	3.96
1991	3.08	3.89
1992	3	3.8
1993	2.93	3.69
1994	2.86	3.61
1995	2.78	3.57
1996	2.68	3.48
1997	2.59	3.38
1998	2.53	3.34
1999	2.48	3.22
2000	2.41	3.08
2001	2.31	2.93
2002	2.16	2.78
2003	2.08	2.64
2004	2.03	2.52
2005	2.04	2.44
2006	1.94	2.4
2007	1.95	2.35
2008	1.98	2.29
2009	1.95	2.26
2010	1.83	2.24
2011	1.88	2.22
2012	1.85	2.19
2013	1.78	2.15
2014	1.8	2.13
2015	1.8	2.07
2016	1.75	1.97
2017	1.71	1.9
2018	1.71	1.85
2019	1.6	1.84
2020	1.45	1.82
2021	1.35	1.8
2022	1.34	1.79
2023	1.33	1.78
2024	1.32	1.77
2025	1.31	1.75
2026	1.31	1.74
2027	1.31	1.73
2028	1.3	1.72
2029	1.31	1.72
2030	1.31	1.71
2031	1.31	1.7
2032	1.32	1.7
2033	1.32	1.69
2034	1.32	1.69
2035	1.33	1.68
2036	1.33	1.68
2037	1.34	1.68
2038	1.34	1.67
2039	1.35	1.67
2040	1.35	1.67
2041	1.35	1.67
2042	1.36	1.67
2043	1.36	1.67
2044	1.37	1.66
2045	1.37	1.66
2046	1.37	1.66
2047	1.38	1.66
2048	1.38	1.66
2049	1.38	1.66
2050	1.38	1.65

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Costa Rica	El Salvador
1960	46.4%	45.5%
1961	46.6%	45.7%
1962	46.7%	45.8%
1963	46.7%	46%
1964	46.6%	46.1%
1965	46.5%	46.2%
1966	46.3%	46.3%
1967	45.9%	46.5%
1968	45.5%	46.6%
1969	45%	46.8%
1970	44.4%	46.8%
1971	43.8%	46.7%
1972	43.1%	46.6%
1973	42.3%	46.4%
1974	41.5%	46.2%
1975	40.8%	45.9%
1976	40%	45.6%
1977	39.2%	45.3%
1978	38.6%	44.9%
1979	38%	44.5%
1980	37.5%	44.2%
1981	37.1%	43.9%
1982	36.7%	43.7%
1983	36.5%	43.4%
1984	36.4%	43.1%
1985	36.3%	42.7%
1986	36.3%	42.4%
1987	36.2%	42.1%
1988	36.2%	41.9%
1989	36.1%	41.8%
1990	36%	41.7%
1991	35.7%	41.7%
1992	35.4%	41.5%
1993	35%	41.1%
1994	34.6%	40.5%
1995	34.1%	39.8%
1996	33.6%	39.1%
1997	33%	38.5%
1998	32.4%	38%
1999	31.8%	37.5%
2000	31.1%	37.1%
2001	30.5%	36.7%
2002	29.8%	36.3%
2003	29.1%	35.9%
2004	28.4%	35.4%
2005	27.7%	34.9%
2006	27.1%	34.4%
2007	26.5%	33.9%
2008	25.9%	33.4%
2009	25.4%	32.7%
2010	24.9%	32%
2011	24.3%	31.3%
2012	23.9%	30.6%
2013	23.4%	29.9%
2014	23%	29.2%
2015	22.5%	28.6%
2016	22.1%	28%
2017	21.8%	27.5%
2018	21.4%	27%
2019	21.1%	26.7%
2020	20.7%	26.3%
2021	20.3%	26%
2022	19.8%	25.6%
2023	19.3%	25.2%
2024	18.8%	24.8%
2025	18.3%	24.4%
2026	17.8%	24%
2027	17.3%	23.5%
2028	16.9%	23.1%
2029	16.4%	22.7%
2030	16%	22.3%
2031	15.5%	21.9%
2032	15.1%	21.6%
2033	14.7%	21.4%
2034	14.4%	21.1%
2035	14.1%	20.8%
2036	13.9%	20.6%
2037	13.8%	20.3%
2038	13.7%	20.1%
2039	13.6%	19.8%
2040	13.5%	19.6%
2041	13.4%	19.3%
2042	13.3%	19%
2043	13.2%	18.8%
2044	13.2%	18.5%
2045	13.1%	18.3%
2046	13%	18%
2047	12.9%	17.8%
2048	12.8%	17.6%
2049	12.7%	17.3%
2050	12.6%	17.1%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.8% of the population in Costa Rica and 24.8% in El Salvador in 2024, compared to 36% and 41.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Costa Rica and El Salvador compared.

Natural population change in Costa Rica vs El Salvador by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.74% in Costa Rica and +0.93% in El Salvador. 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
	Costa Rica	El Salvador
1960	48,857	81,544
1961	50,149	84,614
1962	51,046	88,237
1963	51,403	90,794
1964	51,435	93,328
1965	51,196	95,341
1966	50,755	97,156
1967	50,193	98,424
1968	48,361	98,851
1969	48,790	99,848
1970	48,398	100,499
1971	48,341	104,714
1972	48,417	107,604
1973	48,943	111,546
1974	50,349	113,846
1975	51,979	116,737
1976	54,019	120,511
1977	56,122	121,446
1978	58,327	124,468
1979	60,984	123,838
1980	62,561	111,771
1981	64,632	117,346
1982	66,826	120,938
1983	68,972	121,700
1984	71,062	125,036
1985	72,776	127,248
1986	73,211	130,177
1987	73,188	133,667
1988	72,944	136,230
1989	72,327	139,093
1990	71,727	140,311
1991	70,506	140,691
1992	69,830	139,221
1993	69,016	138,432
1994	68,336	137,974
1995	67,585	138,268
1996	66,094	136,929
1997	64,954	134,448
1998	64,788	134,065
1999	64,922	128,947
2000	64,268	122,315
2001	62,199	114,313
2002	58,388	106,137
2003	56,743	97,849
2004	55,769	90,905
2005	57,139	84,883
2006	54,177	80,887
2007	55,244	76,776
2008	56,491	75,107
2009	55,757	74,908
2010	50,803	75,695
2011	52,884	76,182
2012	52,036	75,495
2013	49,227	73,869
2014	49,559	72,581
2015	49,077	69,263
2016	45,565	63,751
2017	43,471	59,824
2018	42,469	57,509
2019	37,682	56,816
2020	29,164	48,244
2021	20,119	46,530
2022	21,409	53,138
2023	24,109	51,985

Maternal mortality chart: Costa Rica vs El Salvador

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 24 deaths per 100,000 live births in Costa Rica, compared to 39 deaths in El Salvador.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Costa Rica	El Salvador
1985	43	193
1986	42	169
1987	41	178
1988	40	173
1989	40	155
1990	40	145
1991	39	129
1992	39	121
1993	39	114
1994	39	101
1995	39	89
1996	39	78
1997	38	67
1998	37	61
1999	36	53
2000	36	48
2001	35	45
2002	34	40
2003	33	38
2004	33	35
2005	31	34
2006	30	33
2007	30	33
2008	30	33
2009	29	35
2010	29	34
2011	28	35
2012	27	36
2013	27	39
2014	27	41
2015	26	43
2016	27	43
2017	27	44
2018	28	43
2019	26	40
2020	34	48
2021	44	58
2022	27	39
2023	24	39

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.05% in Costa Rica and 1.04% in El Salvador. 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
	Costa Rica	El Salvador
1960	9.62%	18.5%
1961	9.36%	18.1%
1962	9.27%	17.7%
1963	9.25%	17.3%
1964	9.18%	17%
1965	9.02%	16.6%
1966	8.78%	16.3%
1967	8.49%	16%
1968	8.17%	15.6%
1969	7.85%	15.3%
1970	7.48%	15%
1971	7.02%	14.6%
1972	6.45%	14.3%
1973	5.82%	13.9%
1974	5.17%	13.5%
1975	4.54%	13.1%
1976	3.93%	12.6%
1977	3.39%	12.1%
1978	2.96%	11.6%
1979	2.65%	11.1%
1980	2.45%	12.5%
1981	2.33%	10%
1982	2.29%	9.46%
1983	2.27%	8.94%
1984	2.25%	8.42%
1985	2.2%	7.93%
1986	2.12%	7.47%
1987	2.01%	7.04%
1988	1.89%	6.65%
1989	1.78%	6.28%
1990	1.69%	5.94%
1991	1.62%	5.61%
1992	1.57%	5.3%
1993	1.53%	5%
1994	1.51%	4.71%
1995	1.49%	4.42%
1996	1.47%	4.15%
1997	1.45%	3.89%
1998	1.41%	3.65%
1999	1.36%	3.43%
2000	1.31%	3.23%
2001	1.26%	3.04%
2002	1.22%	2.86%
2003	1.18%	2.7%
2004	1.15%	2.55%
2005	1.13%	2.4%
2006	1.12%	2.27%
2007	1.11%	2.15%
2008	1.09%	2.04%
2009	1.07%	1.94%
2010	1.05%	1.84%
2011	1.02%	1.75%
2012	0.98%	1.67%
2013	0.95%	1.59%
2014	0.92%	1.52%
2015	0.9%	1.45%
2016	0.89%	1.39%
2017	0.89%	1.33%
2018	0.89%	1.27%
2019	0.91%	1.22%
2020	0.94%	1.17%
2021	0.97%	1.12%
2022	1.01%	1.08%
2023	1.05%	1.04%