Fertility & birth rates in Cuba and South Africa

Fertility rate in Cuba vs South Africa chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Cuba was 1.44 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 Cuba 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
	Cuba	South Africa
1960	4.13	6.11
1961	4.26	6.08
1962	4.42	6.05
1963	4.56	6.01
1964	4.53	5.96
1965	4.5	5.89
1966	4.4	5.91
1967	4.29	5.85
1968	4.19	5.78
1969	4.12	5.72
1970	3.98	5.63
1971	3.8	5.57
1972	3.61	5.49
1973	3.4	5.41
1974	3.16	5.3
1975	2.82	5.19
1976	2.51	5.07
1977	2.21	4.94
1978	1.88	4.85
1979	1.77	4.82
1980	1.64	4.78
1981	1.59	4.71
1982	1.78	4.7
1983	1.8	4.63
1984	1.77	4.57
1985	1.77	4.5
1986	1.78	4.41
1987	1.8	4.35
1988	1.85	4.18
1989	1.83	3.98
1990	1.81	3.72
1991	1.66	3.62
1992	1.56	3.48
1993	1.49	3.37
1994	1.47	3.26
1995	1.48	3.17
1996	1.46	2.99
1997	1.59	2.73
1998	1.62	2.63
1999	1.64	2.56
2000	1.61	2.41
2001	1.6	2.37
2002	1.65	2.32
2003	1.63	2.36
2004	1.55	2.44
2005	1.49	2.51
2006	1.4	2.55
2007	1.44	2.55
2008	1.58	2.68
2009	1.68	2.5
2010	1.67	2.44
2011	1.73	2.44
2012	1.67	2.45
2013	1.68	2.43
2014	1.66	2.42
2015	1.69	2.36
2016	1.6	2.26
2017	1.59	2.28
2018	1.61	2.27
2019	1.54	2.26
2020	1.49	2.26
2021	1.43	2.25
2022	1.41	2.23
2023	1.44	2.22
2024	1.45	2.21
2025	1.45	2.19
2026	1.45	2.17
2027	1.46	2.15
2028	1.46	2.13
2029	1.46	2.12
2030	1.47	2.1
2031	1.47	2.09
2032	1.47	2.07
2033	1.48	2.06
2034	1.48	2.05
2035	1.49	2.04
2036	1.49	2.03
2037	1.49	2.02
2038	1.49	2
2039	1.49	1.99
2040	1.49	1.98
2041	1.49	1.98
2042	1.5	1.97
2043	1.5	1.96
2044	1.5	1.95
2045	1.5	1.94
2046	1.51	1.93
2047	1.51	1.92
2048	1.51	1.91
2049	1.51	1.9
2050	1.51	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Cuba	South Africa
1960	36%	42.1%
1961	36.2%	42.1%
1962	36.5%	42.1%
1963	36.8%	42.1%
1964	37.1%	42.1%
1965	37.3%	42.1%
1966	37.5%	42.1%
1967	37.7%	42.2%
1968	37.8%	42.2%
1969	37.9%	42.2%
1970	38%	42.3%
1971	37.9%	42.2%
1972	37.8%	42.2%
1973	37.6%	42.1%
1974	37.3%	42%
1975	36.8%	41.9%
1976	36.2%	41.8%
1977	35.4%	41.7%
1978	34.3%	41.5%
1979	33.2%	41.3%
1980	31.9%	40.9%
1981	30.5%	40.5%
1982	29.3%	40.1%
1983	28.1%	39.8%
1984	27.1%	39.5%
1985	26.1%	39.2%
1986	25.2%	38.9%
1987	24.3%	38.7%
1988	23.6%	38.4%
1989	23.1%	38.1%
1990	22.8%	37.7%
1991	22.5%	37.5%
1992	22.4%	37.6%
1993	22.2%	37.3%
1994	22.1%	37.2%
1995	22.1%	37.5%
1996	22.1%	37.5%
1997	22%	37.2%
1998	21.8%	36.5%
1999	21.5%	35.7%
2000	21.3%	34.9%
2001	20.9%	34%
2002	20.6%	33.2%
2003	20.2%	32.3%
2004	19.8%	31.6%
2005	19.4%	31.1%
2006	18.9%	30.6%
2007	18.5%	30.2%
2008	18.2%	29.9%
2009	17.9%	29.7%
2010	17.7%	29.4%
2011	17.5%	29.1%
2012	17.3%	28.9%
2013	17.1%	28.7%
2014	16.9%	28.5%
2015	16.7%	28.3%
2016	16.5%	28.3%
2017	16.3%	28.3%
2018	16.1%	27.9%
2019	16%	27.4%
2020	15.8%	27%
2021	15.8%	26.6%
2022	15.7%	26.3%
2023	15.5%	26.1%
2024	15.3%	25.9%
2025	15%	25.7%
2026	14.7%	25.6%
2027	14.4%	25.4%
2028	14.1%	25.3%
2029	13.9%	25.2%
2030	13.6%	25.2%
2031	13.4%	25.1%
2032	13.2%	25%
2033	13%	24.8%
2034	12.8%	24.5%
2035	12.7%	24.3%
2036	12.6%	23.9%
2037	12.6%	23.6%
2038	12.5%	23.4%
2039	12.4%	23.1%
2040	12.4%	22.9%
2041	12.3%	22.7%
2042	12.3%	22.5%
2043	12.2%	22.4%
2044	12.2%	22.2%
2045	12.1%	22.1%
2046	12.1%	21.9%
2047	12%	21.8%
2048	12%	21.7%
2049	11.9%	21.6%
2050	11.8%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 15.3% of the population in Cuba and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 22.8% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Cuba and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in Cuba vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been -0.06% in Cuba 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
	Cuba	South Africa
1960	172,816	421,263
1961	183,806	437,851
1962	196,423	455,634
1963	205,788	473,821
1964	209,315	490,606
1965	211,322	506,632
1966	209,179	534,862
1967	207,245	553,741
1968	205,487	571,841
1969	205,581	590,794
1970	201,823	605,102
1971	195,106	624,761
1972	187,588	638,754
1973	177,387	651,596
1974	165,099	658,438
1975	144,964	667,862
1976	125,383	675,011
1977	106,875	680,929
1978	86,864	694,341
1979	81,192	716,541
1980	74,271	738,415
1981	74,067	767,833
1982	95,866	807,550
1983	101,858	837,013
1984	101,670	869,011
1985	103,228	893,889
1986	105,997	903,644
1987	109,617	922,330
1988	116,626	909,221
1989	114,865	884,629
1990	112,378	835,421
1991	95,398	827,296
1992	83,461	794,415
1993	73,221	789,220
1994	68,604	698,609
1995	66,809	743,488
1996	61,837	710,868
1997	71,828	667,969
1998	71,284	627,027
1999	69,069	594,643
2000	61,133	526,963
2001	57,325	484,801
2002	58,212	430,926
2003	56,170	415,018
2004	44,258	442,540
2005	36,660	464,464
2006	24,508	487,584
2007	24,617	503,567
2008	32,848	595,332
2009	37,543	554,115
2010	37,021	566,834
2011	40,753	601,708
2012	33,864	643,723
2013	29,827	652,427
2014	22,448	674,754
2015	20,464	668,771
2016	9,677	641,365
2017	2,306	645,975
2018	3,436	648,319
2019	-4,245	652,130
2020	-12,808	595,873
2021	-71,616	456,411
2022	-17,961	603,636
2023	-15,880	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: Cuba vs South Africa

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 35 deaths per 100,000 live births in Cuba, compared to 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Cuba	South Africa
1985	70	208
1986	70	200
1987	69	192
1988	68	184
1989	66	177
1990	66	170
1991	66	162
1992	66	152
1993	65	145
1994	64	133
1995	62	125
1996	59	150
1997	57	152
1998	54	152
1999	51	151
2000	48	175
2001	46	192
2002	45	225
2003	44	245
2004	44	259
2005	43	279
2006	42	283
2007	42	272
2008	44	272
2009	45	241
2010	44	226
2011	44	202
2012	42	194
2013	42	180
2014	42	162
2015	41	150
2016	40	141
2017	39	134
2018	39	128
2019	40	119
2020	40	118
2021	172	191
2022	41	129
2023	35	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.83% in Cuba 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
	Cuba	South Africa
1960	4.41%	-
1961	4.44%	-
1962	4.45%	-
1963	4.45%	-
1964	4.43%	-
1965	4.38%	-
1966	4.31%	-
1967	4.22%	-
1968	4.11%	-
1969	3.97%	-
1970	3.82%	-
1971	3.65%	-
1972	3.47%	-
1973	3.29%	-
1974	3.11%	13.2%
1975	2.94%	12.5%
1976	2.77%	11.8%
1977	2.62%	11.1%
1978	2.47%	10.5%
1979	2.34%	9.88%
1980	2.22%	9.35%
1981	2.11%	8.84%
1982	2%	8.39%
1983	1.9%	7.98%
1984	1.81%	7.6%
1985	1.73%	7.24%
1986	1.64%	6.89%
1987	1.56%	6.56%
1988	1.49%	6.26%
1989	1.41%	6.01%
1990	1.34%	5.82%
1991	1.28%	5.7%
1992	1.22%	5.66%
1993	1.16%	5.7%
1994	1.11%	5.82%
1995	1.06%	5.95%
1996	1.01%	6.11%
1997	0.97%	6.29%
1998	0.93%	6.56%
1999	0.89%	6.85%
2000	0.86%	7.11%
2001	0.82%	7.43%
2002	0.79%	7.69%
2003	0.76%	7.93%
2004	0.73%	8.1%
2005	0.71%	8.03%
2006	0.69%	7.75%
2007	0.66%	7.19%
2008	0.65%	6.42%
2009	0.63%	5.7%
2010	0.62%	5%
2011	0.61%	4.5%
2012	0.6%	4.25%
2013	0.6%	4.1%
2014	0.6%	3.96%
2015	0.61%	3.82%
2016	0.62%	3.68%
2017	0.64%	3.58%
2018	0.66%	3.49%
2019	0.69%	3.45%
2020	0.72%	3.41%
2021	0.76%	3.41%
2022	0.79%	3.44%
2023	0.83%	3.47%