Fertility & birth rates in Costa Rica and United States

Fertility rate in Costa Rica vs United States 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 1.62 in the United States in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Costa Rica vs the United States 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	United States
1960	6.71	3.65
1961	6.65	3.62
1962	6.54	3.46
1963	6.39	3.32
1964	6.19	3.19
1965	5.96	2.91
1966	5.7	2.72
1967	5.42	2.56
1968	5.03	2.46
1969	4.84	2.46
1970	4.59	2.48
1971	4.36	2.27
1972	4.16	2.01
1973	3.99	1.88
1974	3.89	1.84
1975	3.8	1.77
1976	3.75	1.74
1977	3.7	1.79
1978	3.66	1.76
1979	3.65	1.81
1980	3.58	1.84
1981	3.56	1.81
1982	3.54	1.83
1983	3.53	1.8
1984	3.52	1.81
1985	3.51	1.84
1986	3.45	1.84
1987	3.38	1.87
1988	3.31	1.93
1989	3.24	2.01
1990	3.17	2.08
1991	3.08	2.06
1992	3	2.05
1993	2.93	2.02
1994	2.86	2
1995	2.78	1.98
1996	2.68	1.98
1997	2.59	1.97
1998	2.53	2
1999	2.48	2.01
2000	2.41	2.06
2001	2.31	2.03
2002	2.16	2.02
2003	2.08	2.05
2004	2.03	2.05
2005	2.04	2.06
2006	1.94	2.11
2007	1.95	2.12
2008	1.98	2.07
2009	1.95	2
2010	1.83	1.93
2011	1.88	1.89
2012	1.85	1.88
2013	1.78	1.86
2014	1.8	1.86
2015	1.8	1.84
2016	1.75	1.82
2017	1.71	1.77
2018	1.71	1.73
2019	1.6	1.71
2020	1.45	1.64
2021	1.35	1.66
2022	1.34	1.66
2023	1.33	1.62
2024	1.32	1.62
2025	1.31	1.62
2026	1.31	1.62
2027	1.31	1.62
2028	1.3	1.62
2029	1.31	1.62
2030	1.31	1.62
2031	1.31	1.62
2032	1.32	1.62
2033	1.32	1.63
2034	1.32	1.62
2035	1.33	1.63
2036	1.33	1.63
2037	1.34	1.63
2038	1.34	1.63
2039	1.35	1.63
2040	1.35	1.63
2041	1.35	1.63
2042	1.36	1.63
2043	1.36	1.63
2044	1.37	1.63
2045	1.37	1.64
2046	1.37	1.64
2047	1.38	1.63
2048	1.38	1.64
2049	1.38	1.63
2050	1.38	1.64

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Costa Rica	United States
1960	46.4%	31.3%
1961	46.6%	31.4%
1962	46.7%	31.3%
1963	46.7%	31.1%
1964	46.6%	30.9%
1965	46.5%	30.7%
1966	46.3%	30.4%
1967	45.9%	30%
1968	45.5%	29.5%
1969	45%	29%
1970	44.4%	28.6%
1971	43.8%	28%
1972	43.1%	27.4%
1973	42.3%	26.6%
1974	41.5%	25.9%
1975	40.8%	25.2%
1976	40%	24.4%
1977	39.2%	23.8%
1978	38.6%	23.2%
1979	38%	22.8%
1980	37.5%	22.4%
1981	37.1%	22.1%
1982	36.7%	22%
1983	36.5%	21.8%
1984	36.4%	21.7%
1985	36.3%	21.5%
1986	36.3%	21.3%
1987	36.2%	21.3%
1988	36.2%	21.3%
1989	36.1%	21.5%
1990	36%	21.6%
1991	35.7%	21.7%
1992	35.4%	21.8%
1993	35%	21.9%
1994	34.6%	21.9%
1995	34.1%	21.8%
1996	33.6%	21.7%
1997	33%	21.5%
1998	32.4%	21.4%
1999	31.8%	21.3%
2000	31.1%	21.2%
2001	30.5%	21%
2002	29.8%	20.9%
2003	29.1%	20.7%
2004	28.4%	20.5%
2005	27.7%	20.3%
2006	27.1%	20.2%
2007	26.5%	20%
2008	25.9%	19.9%
2009	25.4%	19.8%
2010	24.9%	19.7%
2011	24.3%	19.6%
2012	23.9%	19.5%
2013	23.4%	19.4%
2014	23%	19.3%
2015	22.5%	19.2%
2016	22.1%	19.1%
2017	21.8%	18.9%
2018	21.4%	18.8%
2019	21.1%	18.6%
2020	20.7%	18.4%
2021	20.3%	18.1%
2022	19.8%	17.9%
2023	19.3%	17.6%
2024	18.8%	17.3%
2025	18.3%	17.1%
2026	17.8%	16.9%
2027	17.3%	16.7%
2028	16.9%	16.6%
2029	16.4%	16.4%
2030	16%	16.3%
2031	15.5%	16.1%
2032	15.1%	16%
2033	14.7%	16%
2034	14.4%	15.9%
2035	14.1%	15.9%
2036	13.9%	15.9%
2037	13.8%	15.9%
2038	13.7%	15.9%
2039	13.6%	15.9%
2040	13.5%	15.9%
2041	13.4%	16%
2042	13.3%	16%
2043	13.2%	16%
2044	13.2%	16%
2045	13.1%	16%
2046	13%	16%
2047	12.9%	16%
2048	12.8%	16%
2049	12.7%	15.9%
2050	12.6%	15.9%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.8% of the population in Costa Rica and 17.3% in the United States in 2024, compared to 36% and 21.6% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Costa Rica and the United States compared.

Natural population change in Costa Rica vs United States by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.74% in Costa Rica and +0.25% in the United States. 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	United States
1960	48,857	2,565,530
1961	50,149	2,571,681
1962	51,046	2,406,337
1963	51,403	2,289,826
1964	51,435	2,245,099
1965	51,196	1,943,030
1966	50,755	1,749,387
1967	50,193	1,669,181
1968	48,361	1,565,507
1969	48,790	1,702,487
1970	48,398	1,824,965
1971	48,341	1,640,519
1972	48,417	1,301,355
1973	48,943	1,165,499
1974	50,349	1,218,968
1975	51,979	1,252,644
1976	54,019	1,264,604
1977	56,122	1,431,556
1978	58,327	1,402,283
1979	60,984	1,597,894
1980	62,561	1,608,450
1981	64,632	1,652,153
1982	66,826	1,714,317
1983	68,972	1,636,544
1984	71,062	1,627,192
1985	72,776	1,689,258
1986	73,211	1,656,917
1987	73,188	1,720,252
1988	72,944	1,735,943
1989	72,327	1,875,826
1990	71,727	2,026,068
1991	70,506	1,926,543
1992	69,830	1,875,328
1993	69,016	1,717,685
1994	68,336	1,633,302
1995	67,585	1,546,031
1996	66,094	1,510,137
1997	64,954	1,501,014
1998	64,788	1,573,857
1999	64,922	1,564,050
2000	64,268	1,664,758
2001	62,199	1,595,826
2002	58,388	1,581,938
2003	56,743	1,653,615
2004	55,769	1,698,271
2005	57,139	1,684,445
2006	54,177	1,849,955
2007	55,244	1,897,757
2008	56,491	1,794,154
2009	55,757	1,717,920
2010	50,803	1,548,182
2011	52,884	1,441,697
2012	52,036	1,411,822
2013	49,227	1,322,711
2014	49,559	1,357,281
2015	49,077	1,270,126
2016	45,565	1,197,627
2017	43,471	1,028,037
2018	42,469	955,022
2019	37,682	887,476
2020	29,164	208,862
2021	20,119	199,137
2022	21,409	399,926
2023	24,109	502,372

Maternal mortality chart: Costa Rica vs United States

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 17 deaths in the United States.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Costa Rica	United States
1985	43	11
1986	42	11
1987	41	11
1988	40	12
1989	40	12
1990	40	12
1991	39	12
1992	39	11
1993	39	12
1994	39	11
1995	39	12
1996	39	11
1997	38	11
1998	37	11
1999	36	12
2000	36	12
2001	35	13
2002	34	13
2003	33	13
2004	33	13
2005	31	13
2006	30	13
2007	30	13
2008	30	14
2009	29	15
2010	29	15
2011	28	15
2012	27	16
2013	27	16
2014	27	17
2015	26	17
2016	27	18
2017	27	18
2018	28	18
2019	26	18
2020	34	22
2021	44	31
2022	27	20
2023	24	17

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.05% in Costa Rica and 0.65% in the United States. 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	United States
1960	9.62%	3.01%
1961	9.36%	2.95%
1962	9.27%	2.89%
1963	9.25%	2.83%
1964	9.18%	2.77%
1965	9.02%	2.71%
1966	8.78%	2.64%
1967	8.49%	2.57%
1968	8.17%	2.49%
1969	7.85%	2.41%
1970	7.48%	2.32%
1971	7.02%	2.24%
1972	6.45%	2.15%
1973	5.82%	2.06%
1974	5.17%	1.97%
1975	4.54%	1.88%
1976	3.93%	1.79%
1977	3.39%	1.71%
1978	2.96%	1.63%
1979	2.65%	1.56%
1980	2.45%	1.5%
1981	2.33%	1.44%
1982	2.29%	1.39%
1983	2.27%	1.34%
1984	2.25%	1.3%
1985	2.2%	1.27%
1986	2.12%	1.24%
1987	2.01%	1.21%
1988	1.89%	1.19%
1989	1.78%	1.16%
1990	1.69%	1.12%
1991	1.62%	1.09%
1992	1.57%	1.05%
1993	1.53%	1.01%
1994	1.51%	0.98%
1995	1.49%	0.95%
1996	1.47%	0.92%
1997	1.45%	0.89%
1998	1.41%	0.87%
1999	1.36%	0.86%
2000	1.31%	0.84%
2001	1.26%	0.83%
2002	1.22%	0.82%
2003	1.18%	0.81%
2004	1.15%	0.81%
2005	1.13%	0.8%
2006	1.12%	0.79%
2007	1.11%	0.77%
2008	1.09%	0.76%
2009	1.07%	0.75%
2010	1.05%	0.73%
2011	1.02%	0.72%
2012	0.98%	0.7%
2013	0.95%	0.69%
2014	0.92%	0.68%
2015	0.9%	0.68%
2016	0.89%	0.67%
2017	0.89%	0.66%
2018	0.89%	0.65%
2019	0.91%	0.65%
2020	0.94%	0.65%
2021	0.97%	0.65%
2022	1.01%	0.65%
2023	1.05%	0.65%