Fertility & birth rates in Costa Rica and Uruguay

Fertility rate in Costa Rica vs Uruguay 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 1.41 in Uruguay in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Costa Rica vs Uruguay 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	Uruguay
1960	6.71	2.83
1961	6.65	2.85
1962	6.54	2.87
1963	6.39	2.88
1964	6.19	2.86
1965	5.96	2.84
1966	5.7	2.82
1967	5.42	2.78
1968	5.03	2.77
1969	4.84	2.77
1970	4.59	2.77
1971	4.36	2.77
1972	4.16	2.78
1973	3.99	2.86
1974	3.89	2.96
1975	3.8	3.02
1976	3.75	3.01
1977	3.7	2.9
1978	3.66	2.83
1979	3.65	2.71
1980	3.58	2.59
1981	3.56	2.53
1982	3.54	2.51
1983	3.53	2.49
1984	3.52	2.47
1985	3.51	2.47
1986	3.45	2.47
1987	3.38	2.49
1988	3.31	2.5
1989	3.24	2.5
1990	3.17	2.48
1991	3.08	2.45
1992	3	2.43
1993	2.93	2.41
1994	2.86	2.42
1995	2.78	2.4
1996	2.68	2.36
1997	2.59	2.33
1998	2.53	2.27
1999	2.48	2.25
2000	2.41	2.2
2001	2.31	2.16
2002	2.16	2.16
2003	2.08	2.12
2004	2.03	2.09
2005	2.04	2.1
2006	1.94	2.07
2007	1.95	2.05
2008	1.98	2.03
2009	1.95	2.02
2010	1.83	2.01
2011	1.88	1.99
2012	1.85	2.01
2013	1.78	2.03
2014	1.8	2.03
2015	1.8	2.04
2016	1.75	1.97
2017	1.71	1.82
2018	1.71	1.68
2019	1.6	1.57
2020	1.45	1.5
2021	1.35	1.45
2022	1.34	1.43
2023	1.33	1.41
2024	1.32	1.4
2025	1.31	1.39
2026	1.31	1.38
2027	1.31	1.38
2028	1.3	1.38
2029	1.31	1.38
2030	1.31	1.38
2031	1.31	1.39
2032	1.32	1.39
2033	1.32	1.39
2034	1.32	1.39
2035	1.33	1.4
2036	1.33	1.4
2037	1.34	1.4
2038	1.34	1.4
2039	1.35	1.41
2040	1.35	1.41
2041	1.35	1.41
2042	1.36	1.42
2043	1.36	1.42
2044	1.37	1.42
2045	1.37	1.42
2046	1.37	1.42
2047	1.38	1.43
2048	1.38	1.43
2049	1.38	1.43
2050	1.38	1.44

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Costa Rica	Uruguay
1960	46.4%	27.6%
1961	46.6%	27.6%
1962	46.7%	27.7%
1963	46.7%	27.8%
1964	46.6%	27.9%
1965	46.5%	27.9%
1966	46.3%	28%
1967	45.9%	28%
1968	45.5%	27.9%
1969	45%	27.8%
1970	44.4%	27.8%
1971	43.8%	27.7%
1972	43.1%	27.5%
1973	42.3%	27.4%
1974	41.5%	27.4%
1975	40.8%	27.4%
1976	40%	27.4%
1977	39.2%	27.3%
1978	38.6%	27.3%
1979	38%	27.2%
1980	37.5%	27%
1981	37.1%	26.9%
1982	36.7%	26.7%
1983	36.5%	26.6%
1984	36.4%	26.5%
1985	36.3%	26.4%
1986	36.3%	26.2%
1987	36.2%	26.1%
1988	36.2%	26%
1989	36.1%	25.8%
1990	36%	25.6%
1991	35.7%	25.3%
1992	35.4%	25.1%
1993	35%	24.9%
1994	34.6%	24.7%
1995	34.1%	24.7%
1996	33.6%	24.6%
1997	33%	24.6%
1998	32.4%	24.5%
1999	31.8%	24.5%
2000	31.1%	24.4%
2001	30.5%	24.2%
2002	29.8%	24.1%
2003	29.1%	23.9%
2004	28.4%	23.7%
2005	27.7%	23.5%
2006	27.1%	23.3%
2007	26.5%	23.1%
2008	25.9%	22.8%
2009	25.4%	22.6%
2010	24.9%	22.3%
2011	24.3%	22%
2012	23.9%	21.7%
2013	23.4%	21.5%
2014	23%	21.3%
2015	22.5%	21.1%
2016	22.1%	21%
2017	21.8%	20.8%
2018	21.4%	20.5%
2019	21.1%	20.2%
2020	20.7%	19.8%
2021	20.3%	19.4%
2022	19.8%	19.1%
2023	19.3%	18.7%
2024	18.8%	18.3%
2025	18.3%	17.9%
2026	17.8%	17.5%
2027	17.3%	17.1%
2028	16.9%	16.7%
2029	16.4%	16.3%
2030	16%	15.8%
2031	15.5%	15.4%
2032	15.1%	15.1%
2033	14.7%	14.8%
2034	14.4%	14.7%
2035	14.1%	14.6%
2036	13.9%	14.5%
2037	13.8%	14.5%
2038	13.7%	14.4%
2039	13.6%	14.4%
2040	13.5%	14.3%
2041	13.4%	14.3%
2042	13.3%	14.3%
2043	13.2%	14.2%
2044	13.2%	14.1%
2045	13.1%	14.1%
2046	13%	14%
2047	12.9%	13.9%
2048	12.8%	13.8%
2049	12.7%	13.7%
2050	12.6%	13.6%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.8% of the population in Costa Rica and 18.3% in Uruguay in 2024, compared to 36% and 25.6% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Costa Rica and Uruguay compared.

Natural population change in Costa Rica vs Uruguay by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.74% in Costa Rica and +0.19% in Uruguay. 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	Uruguay
1960	48,857	30,438
1961	50,149	30,975
1962	51,046	31,441
1963	51,403	31,824
1964	51,435	31,340
1965	51,196	30,807
1966	50,755	30,293
1967	50,193	29,514
1968	48,361	29,103
1969	48,790	28,805
1970	48,398	28,737
1971	48,341	28,584
1972	48,417	28,896
1973	48,943	30,213
1974	50,349	32,221
1975	51,979	33,393
1976	54,019	33,199
1977	56,122	31,321
1978	58,327	30,076
1979	60,984	27,456
1980	62,561	25,451
1981	64,632	24,968
1982	66,826	25,224
1983	68,972	24,146
1984	71,062	23,684
1985	72,776	23,988
1986	73,211	24,505
1987	73,188	24,469
1988	72,944	25,071
1989	72,327	25,322
1990	71,727	25,699
1991	70,506	25,422
1992	69,830	24,847
1993	69,016	24,212
1994	68,336	24,637
1995	67,585	24,872
1996	66,094	24,635
1997	64,954	23,737
1998	64,788	22,114
1999	64,922	21,844
2000	64,268	21,060
2001	62,199	20,729
2002	58,388	20,073
2003	56,743	18,628
2004	55,769	18,067
2005	57,139	18,926
2006	54,177	17,783
2007	55,244	17,422
2008	56,491	16,838
2009	55,757	16,947
2010	50,803	16,231
2011	52,884	14,934
2012	52,036	15,520
2013	49,227	16,318
2014	49,559	16,238
2015	49,077	16,194
2016	45,565	14,008
2017	43,471	10,907
2018	42,469	7,322
2019	37,682	3,873
2020	29,164	4,048
2021	20,119	-5,621
2022	21,409	-2,964
2023	24,109	298

Maternal mortality chart: Costa Rica vs Uruguay

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 15 deaths in Uruguay.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Costa Rica	Uruguay
1985	43	41
1986	42	41
1987	41	41
1988	40	39
1989	40	36
1990	40	35
1991	39	33
1992	39	33
1993	39	31
1994	39	30
1995	39	29
1996	39	28
1997	38	27
1998	37	25
1999	36	24
2000	36	23
2001	35	24
2002	34	23
2003	33	23
2004	33	21
2005	31	20
2006	30	20
2007	30	19
2008	30	19
2009	29	18
2010	29	17
2011	28	17
2012	27	16
2013	27	16
2014	27	16
2015	26	16
2016	27	16
2017	27	16
2018	28	16
2019	26	16
2020	34	20
2021	44	49
2022	27	20
2023	24	15

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.05% in Costa Rica and 0.67% in Uruguay. 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	Uruguay
1960	9.62%	6.33%
1961	9.36%	6.21%
1962	9.27%	6.06%
1963	9.25%	5.93%
1964	9.18%	5.83%
1965	9.02%	5.77%
1966	8.78%	5.74%
1967	8.49%	5.7%
1968	8.17%	5.64%
1969	7.85%	5.53%
1970	7.48%	5.4%
1971	7.02%	5.33%
1972	6.45%	5.34%
1973	5.82%	5.39%
1974	5.17%	5.46%
1975	4.54%	5.49%
1976	3.93%	5.41%
1977	3.39%	5.18%
1978	2.96%	4.83%
1979	2.65%	4.41%
1980	2.45%	3.98%
1981	2.33%	3.6%
1982	2.29%	3.31%
1983	2.27%	3.1%
1984	2.25%	2.95%
1985	2.2%	2.84%
1986	2.12%	2.74%
1987	2.01%	2.62%
1988	1.89%	2.51%
1989	1.78%	2.42%
1990	1.69%	2.37%
1991	1.62%	2.32%
1992	1.57%	2.29%
1993	1.53%	2.25%
1994	1.51%	2.19%
1995	1.49%	2.12%
1996	1.47%	2.03%
1997	1.45%	1.93%
1998	1.41%	1.84%
1999	1.36%	1.76%
2000	1.31%	1.7%
2001	1.26%	1.66%
2002	1.22%	1.62%
2003	1.18%	1.58%
2004	1.15%	1.52%
2005	1.13%	1.44%
2006	1.12%	1.35%
2007	1.11%	1.27%
2008	1.09%	1.19%
2009	1.07%	1.13%
2010	1.05%	1.08%
2011	1.02%	1.04%
2012	0.98%	1%
2013	0.95%	0.97%
2014	0.92%	0.93%
2015	0.9%	0.89%
2016	0.89%	0.85%
2017	0.89%	0.81%
2018	0.89%	0.77%
2019	0.91%	0.74%
2020	0.94%	0.71%
2021	0.97%	0.7%
2022	1.01%	0.68%
2023	1.05%	0.67%