Fertility & birth rates in DR Congo and Eritrea

Fertility rate in DR Congo vs Eritrea chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in the DR Congo was 6.05 children per woman in 2023, compared to 3.71 in Eritrea in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check the DR Congo vs Eritrea population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	DR Congo	Eritrea
1960	6.11	6.48
1961	6.12	6.47
1962	6.14	6.5
1963	6.16	6.48
1964	6.19	6.49
1965	6.21	6.49
1966	6.24	6.5
1967	6.27	6.5
1968	6.29	6.5
1969	6.3	6.5
1970	6.33	6.54
1971	6.34	6.54
1972	6.37	6.54
1973	6.39	6.55
1974	6.4	6.57
1975	6.42	6.59
1976	6.44	6.6
1977	6.45	6.61
1978	6.46	6.61
1979	6.48	6.62
1980	6.5	6.61
1981	6.52	6.62
1982	6.54	6.63
1983	6.56	6.65
1984	6.59	6.62
1985	6.61	6.59
1986	6.63	6.56
1987	6.65	6.52
1988	6.66	6.47
1989	6.65	6.41
1990	6.65	6.34
1991	6.65	6.24
1992	6.64	6.16
1993	6.64	6.07
1994	6.64	6.01
1995	6.68	5.94
1996	6.67	5.84
1997	6.69	5.74
1998	6.7	5.63
1999	6.69	5.52
2000	6.7	5.4
2001	6.66	5.31
2002	6.61	5.23
2003	6.55	5.14
2004	6.53	5.04
2005	6.53	4.93
2006	6.55	4.88
2007	6.56	4.81
2008	6.58	4.74
2009	6.59	4.66
2010	6.59	4.57
2011	6.58	4.49
2012	6.56	4.41
2013	6.53	4.34
2014	6.48	4.27
2015	6.44	4.22
2016	6.39	4.16
2017	6.35	4.11
2018	6.3	4.06
2019	6.25	4
2020	6.21	3.93
2021	6.16	3.87
2022	6.11	3.79
2023	6.05	3.71
2024	5.98	3.68
2025	5.9	3.61
2026	5.8	3.55
2027	5.71	3.49
2028	5.62	3.43
2029	5.52	3.38
2030	5.42	3.32
2031	5.32	3.27
2032	5.2	3.22
2033	5.09	3.18
2034	4.99	3.13
2035	4.87	3.09
2036	4.77	3.04
2037	4.64	3.01
2038	4.55	2.97
2039	4.47	2.93
2040	4.38	2.9
2041	4.3	2.86
2042	4.21	2.83
2043	4.14	2.8
2044	4.06	2.77
2045	3.99	2.74
2046	3.92	2.71
2047	3.85	2.68
2048	3.78	2.65
2049	3.72	2.63
2050	3.66	2.6

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	DR Congo	Eritrea
1960	42.9%	41.5%
1961	42.8%	41.4%
1962	42.7%	41.4%
1963	42.7%	41.5%
1964	42.7%	41.6%
1965	42.8%	41.8%
1966	42.9%	42.1%
1967	43%	42.4%
1968	43.2%	42.8%
1969	43.3%	43%
1970	43.4%	43.3%
1971	43.6%	43.6%
1972	43.8%	43.8%
1973	44%	44%
1974	44.2%	44.1%
1975	44.3%	44.1%
1976	44.5%	44.2%
1977	44.6%	44.3%
1978	44.5%	44.3%
1979	44.3%	44.4%
1980	44.2%	44.4%
1981	44.3%	44.4%
1982	44.3%	44.4%
1983	44.2%	44.4%
1984	44.1%	44.2%
1985	44.1%	44.1%
1986	44.1%	44%
1987	44.2%	44%
1988	44.3%	44.2%
1989	44.3%	44.3%
1990	44.4%	44.5%
1991	44.4%	44.6%
1992	44.5%	44.7%
1993	44.5%	44.5%
1994	44.1%	44.4%
1995	44%	43.5%
1996	44.7%	42.9%
1997	45.4%	43.7%
1998	45.6%	44.4%
1999	45.6%	44.9%
2000	45.7%	45.2%
2001	45.7%	45%
2002	45.7%	44.4%
2003	45.8%	43.7%
2004	45.9%	43%
2005	45.9%	42.9%
2006	45.9%	43.1%
2007	46%	43.3%
2008	46%	43%
2009	46.1%	42.7%
2010	46.1%	42.6%
2011	46%	42.3%
2012	46%	42.1%
2013	46%	42%
2014	46%	42%
2015	46%	42.1%
2016	45.9%	42.1%
2017	45.8%	41.9%
2018	45.9%	41.5%
2019	46%	41%
2020	46.1%	40.4%
2021	46.1%	39.8%
2022	46.1%	39.2%
2023	46.1%	38.7%
2024	46%	38.1%
2025	45.9%	37.6%
2026	45.8%	37.1%
2027	45.7%	36.6%
2028	45.5%	36.3%
2029	45.3%	35.9%
2030	45%	35.7%
2031	44.8%	35.5%
2032	44.5%	35.3%
2033	44.2%	35.2%
2034	43.8%	35%
2035	43.4%	34.8%
2036	43%	34.7%
2037	42.6%	34.4%
2038	42.2%	34.2%
2039	41.7%	34%
2040	41.3%	33.7%
2041	40.9%	33.4%
2042	40.4%	33.1%
2043	40%	32.7%
2044	39.6%	32.3%
2045	39.2%	31.9%
2046	38.8%	31.5%
2047	38.4%	31.1%
2048	38%	30.7%
2049	37.7%	30.3%
2050	37.3%	29.9%

Children aged 0-14 make up 46% of the population in the DR Congo and 38.1% in Eritrea in 2024, compared to 44.4% and 44.5% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of the DR Congo and Eritrea compared.

Natural population change in DR Congo vs Eritrea by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +3.29% in the DR Congo and +2.29% in Eritrea. 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
	DR Congo	Eritrea
1960	363,517	21,424
1961	368,207	22,351
1962	383,406	23,478
1963	398,972	24,393
1964	406,334	25,327
1965	429,002	26,285
1966	463,397	24,713
1967	479,552	27,992
1968	497,682	28,777
1969	514,800	29,535
1970	533,300	30,686
1971	549,343	31,490
1972	564,495	30,951
1973	578,280	31,969
1974	593,539	30,111
1975	608,655	30,971
1976	624,147	36,250
1977	638,242	37,295
1978	646,411	38,353
1979	691,773	39,577
1980	724,111	41,392
1981	748,371	42,924
1982	774,823	44,146
1983	807,122	33,420
1984	844,956	35,101
1985	885,670	37,362
1986	925,334	39,470
1987	959,875	52,229
1988	995,278	54,163
1989	1,027,238	54,299
1990	1,063,508	56,903
1991	1,114,033	57,741
1992	1,152,781	51,443
1993	1,209,242	51,679
1994	1,259,539	56,288
1995	1,395,440	56,157
1996	1,380,490	66,557
1997	1,392,037	63,953
1998	1,375,130	55,332
1999	1,450,318	45,120
2000	1,549,518	60,274
2001	1,594,999	61,180
2002	1,631,597	65,436
2003	1,679,188	66,291
2004	1,731,022	72,147
2005	1,800,300	72,930
2006	1,889,398	74,470
2007	1,963,738	73,101
2008	2,044,210	73,391
2009	2,126,912	76,206
2010	2,212,255	76,098
2011	2,310,679	76,806
2012	2,405,462	76,416
2013	2,489,378	75,562
2014	2,580,251	75,729
2015	2,665,016	73,682
2016	2,753,687	73,002
2017	2,883,245	72,291
2018	2,993,184	72,511
2019	3,075,538	73,572
2020	3,156,152	73,362
2021	3,227,992	74,394
2022	3,347,664	76,221
2023	3,467,787	78,073

Maternal mortality chart: DR Congo vs Eritrea

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 427 deaths per 100,000 live births in the DR Congo, compared to 291 deaths in Eritrea.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	DR Congo	Eritrea
1985	934	1,678
1986	902	1,625
1987	863	1,555
1988	824	1,499
1989	791	1,473
1990	755	1,352
1991	735	1,384
1992	709	1,149
1993	683	1,040
1994	656	998
1995	644	854
1996	661	878
1997	617	817
1998	605	865
1999	601	734
2000	585	741
2001	588	651
2002	601	636
2003	605	588
2004	607	588
2005	613	567
2006	619	555
2007	631	541
2008	620	530
2009	608	515
2010	601	498
2011	589	478
2012	578	458
2013	567	443
2014	558	430
2015	545	413
2016	526	395
2017	519	379
2018	508	363
2019	493	351
2020	489	334
2021	507	338
2022	456	301
2023	427	291

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 7.32% in the DR Congo and 3.54% in Eritrea. 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
	DR Congo	Eritrea
1969	25.1%	-
1970	24.7%	-
1971	24.3%	-
1972	24%	-
1973	23.7%	-
1974	23.4%	25.6%
1975	23%	25%
1976	22.6%	20.8%
1977	22.3%	20.4%
1978	21.9%	20%
1979	21.5%	19.7%
1980	21.2%	19.4%
1981	20.9%	19.1%
1982	20.6%	18.8%
1983	20.3%	27.8%
1984	20%	27.2%
1985	19.7%	26.2%
1986	19.5%	25.6%
1987	19.2%	17.1%
1988	19%	16.6%
1989	18.8%	16%
1990	18.5%	15.4%
1991	18.3%	14.7%
1992	18.1%	13.9%
1993	17.9%	13.1%
1994	17.7%	12.3%
1995	17.5%	11.5%
1996	17.3%	10.8%
1997	17%	10.1%
1998	16.7%	9.51%
1999	16.3%	10.9%
2000	15.9%	8.53%
2001	15.5%	8.11%
2002	15%	7.73%
2003	14.6%	7.38%
2004	14.1%	7.05%
2005	13.6%	6.75%
2006	13.1%	6.46%
2007	12.7%	6.19%
2008	12.2%	5.94%
2009	11.8%	5.71%
2010	11.4%	5.5%
2011	11%	5.31%
2012	10.6%	5.12%
2013	10.3%	4.94%
2014	9.9%	4.78%
2015	9.56%	4.61%
2016	9.23%	4.46%
2017	8.93%	4.32%
2018	8.63%	4.17%
2019	8.35%	4.03%
2020	8.07%	3.91%
2021	7.81%	3.79%
2022	7.57%	3.66%
2023	7.32%	3.54%