Fertility & birth rates in DR Congo and Lesotho

Fertility rate in DR Congo vs Lesotho 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 2.69 in Lesotho in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check the DR Congo vs Lesotho 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	Lesotho
1960	6.11	5.78
1961	6.12	5.79
1962	6.14	5.79
1963	6.16	5.78
1964	6.19	5.77
1965	6.21	5.77
1966	6.24	5.76
1967	6.27	5.75
1968	6.29	5.73
1969	6.3	5.7
1970	6.33	5.7
1971	6.34	5.7
1972	6.37	5.69
1973	6.39	5.69
1974	6.4	5.75
1975	6.42	5.83
1976	6.44	5.87
1977	6.45	5.85
1978	6.46	5.82
1979	6.48	5.79
1980	6.5	5.75
1981	6.52	5.69
1982	6.54	5.63
1983	6.56	5.56
1984	6.59	5.48
1985	6.61	5.4
1986	6.63	5.32
1987	6.65	5.22
1988	6.66	5.1
1989	6.65	4.96
1990	6.65	4.81
1991	6.65	4.68
1992	6.64	4.54
1993	6.64	4.37
1994	6.64	4.21
1995	6.68	4.13
1996	6.67	4.06
1997	6.69	3.98
1998	6.7	3.82
1999	6.69	3.67
2000	6.7	3.61
2001	6.66	3.63
2002	6.61	3.68
2003	6.55	3.62
2004	6.53	3.51
2005	6.53	3.43
2006	6.55	3.41
2007	6.56	3.44
2008	6.58	3.39
2009	6.59	3.31
2010	6.59	3.25
2011	6.58	3.34
2012	6.56	3.3
2013	6.53	3.28
2014	6.48	3.24
2015	6.44	3.22
2016	6.39	3.18
2017	6.35	3.11
2018	6.3	3.02
2019	6.25	2.92
2020	6.21	2.85
2021	6.16	2.77
2022	6.11	2.72
2023	6.05	2.69
2024	5.98	2.66
2025	5.9	2.64
2026	5.8	2.61
2027	5.71	2.58
2028	5.62	2.55
2029	5.52	2.53
2030	5.42	2.5
2031	5.32	2.47
2032	5.2	2.45
2033	5.09	2.43
2034	4.99	2.41
2035	4.87	2.38
2036	4.77	2.37
2037	4.64	2.34
2038	4.55	2.32
2039	4.47	2.3
2040	4.38	2.29
2041	4.3	2.27
2042	4.21	2.25
2043	4.14	2.24
2044	4.06	2.22
2045	3.99	2.21
2046	3.92	2.19
2047	3.85	2.18
2048	3.78	2.17
2049	3.72	2.16
2050	3.66	2.14

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	DR Congo	Lesotho
1960	42.9%	45.1%
1961	42.8%	45.2%
1962	42.7%	45.3%
1963	42.7%	45.2%
1964	42.7%	44.9%
1965	42.8%	44.8%
1966	42.9%	44.9%
1967	43%	44.8%
1968	43.2%	44.4%
1969	43.3%	44%
1970	43.4%	43.6%
1971	43.6%	43.1%
1972	43.8%	42.7%
1973	44%	42.3%
1974	44.2%	41.9%
1975	44.3%	41.6%
1976	44.5%	41.4%
1977	44.6%	41.5%
1978	44.5%	41.7%
1979	44.3%	41.9%
1980	44.2%	42.1%
1981	44.3%	42.3%
1982	44.3%	42.5%
1983	44.2%	42.7%
1984	44.1%	42.8%
1985	44.1%	43%
1986	44.1%	42.7%
1987	44.2%	42.5%
1988	44.3%	42.7%
1989	44.3%	42.8%
1990	44.4%	42.9%
1991	44.4%	42.9%
1992	44.5%	42.8%
1993	44.5%	42.6%
1994	44.1%	42.3%
1995	44%	42%
1996	44.7%	41.7%
1997	45.4%	41.2%
1998	45.6%	40.7%
1999	45.6%	40.2%
2000	45.7%	39.6%
2001	45.7%	39.1%
2002	45.7%	38.6%
2003	45.8%	38.1%
2004	45.9%	37.7%
2005	45.9%	37.4%
2006	45.9%	37.1%
2007	46%	36.8%
2008	46%	36.7%
2009	46.1%	36.6%
2010	46.1%	36.5%
2011	46%	36.5%
2012	46%	36.5%
2013	46%	36.5%
2014	46%	36.6%
2015	46%	36.6%
2016	45.9%	36.6%
2017	45.8%	36.5%
2018	45.9%	36.3%
2019	46%	36.1%
2020	46.1%	35.8%
2021	46.1%	35.6%
2022	46.1%	35.3%
2023	46.1%	34.9%
2024	46%	34.5%
2025	45.9%	34.1%
2026	45.8%	33.6%
2027	45.7%	33.1%
2028	45.5%	32.6%
2029	45.3%	32%
2030	45%	31.5%
2031	44.8%	31%
2032	44.5%	30.5%
2033	44.2%	30.1%
2034	43.8%	29.7%
2035	43.4%	29.3%
2036	43%	29%
2037	42.6%	28.8%
2038	42.2%	28.5%
2039	41.7%	28.3%
2040	41.3%	28.1%
2041	40.9%	27.8%
2042	40.4%	27.6%
2043	40%	27.4%
2044	39.6%	27.1%
2045	39.2%	26.9%
2046	38.8%	26.7%
2047	38.4%	26.4%
2048	38%	26.2%
2049	37.7%	25.9%
2050	37.3%	25.7%

Children aged 0-14 make up 46% of the population in the DR Congo and 34.5% in Lesotho in 2024, compared to 44.4% and 42.9% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of the DR Congo and Lesotho compared.

Natural population change in DR Congo vs Lesotho by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +3.29% in the DR Congo and +1.44% in Lesotho. 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	Lesotho
1960	363,517	19,981
1961	368,207	20,581
1962	383,406	21,132
1963	398,972	21,585
1964	406,334	22,116
1965	429,002	22,755
1966	463,397	23,326
1967	479,552	23,911
1968	497,682	24,490
1969	514,800	25,137
1970	533,300	25,935
1971	549,343	26,838
1972	564,495	27,841
1973	578,280	28,859
1974	593,539	30,444
1975	608,655	32,311
1976	624,147	34,117
1977	638,242	35,654
1978	646,411	37,084
1979	691,773	38,440
1980	724,111	39,617
1981	748,371	40,808
1982	774,823	41,941
1983	807,122	42,899
1984	844,956	43,785
1985	885,670	44,575
1986	925,334	45,232
1987	959,875	47,718
1988	995,278	47,158
1989	1,027,238	46,264
1990	1,063,508	45,060
1991	1,114,033	44,026
1992	1,152,781	42,579
1993	1,209,242	40,505
1994	1,259,539	38,629
1995	1,395,440	37,370
1996	1,380,490	36,228
1997	1,392,037	34,637
1998	1,375,130	30,889
1999	1,450,318	27,393
2000	1,549,518	24,786
2001	1,594,999	23,190
2002	1,631,597	22,274
2003	1,679,188	20,133
2004	1,731,022	17,271
2005	1,800,300	15,831
2006	1,889,398	15,234
2007	1,963,738	17,763
2008	2,044,210	19,349
2009	2,126,912	20,335
2010	2,212,255	21,877
2011	2,310,679	25,647
2012	2,405,462	27,592
2013	2,489,378	29,789
2014	2,580,251	30,922
2015	2,665,016	32,087
2016	2,753,687	33,390
2017	2,883,245	33,601
2018	2,993,184	33,112
2019	3,075,538	32,279
2020	3,156,152	30,721
2021	3,227,992	27,806
2022	3,347,664	30,803
2023	3,467,787	31,115

Maternal mortality chart: DR Congo vs Lesotho

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 478 deaths in Lesotho.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	DR Congo	Lesotho
1985	934	711
1986	902	680
1987	863	686
1988	824	680
1989	791	680
1990	755	665
1991	735	641
1992	709	601
1993	683	542
1994	656	423
1995	644	357
1996	661	319
1997	617	312
1998	605	332
1999	601	371
2000	585	413
2001	588	465
2002	601	484
2003	605	508
2004	607	499
2005	613	549
2006	619	696
2007	631	891
2008	620	1,205
2009	608	1,387
2010	601	1,311
2011	589	1,210
2012	578	1,000
2013	567	855
2014	558	707
2015	545	594
2016	526	518
2017	519	468
2018	508	491
2019	493	467
2020	489	529
2021	507	577
2022	456	477
2023	427	478

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 7.32% in the DR Congo and 5.89% in Lesotho. 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	Lesotho
1960	-	18.6%
1961	-	18.5%
1962	-	18.5%
1963	-	18.6%
1964	-	18.6%
1965	-	18.7%
1966	-	18.6%
1967	-	18.5%
1968	-	18.3%
1969	25.1%	18%
1970	24.7%	17.7%
1971	24.3%	17.3%
1972	24%	16.9%
1973	23.7%	16.5%
1974	23.4%	16%
1975	23%	15.5%
1976	22.6%	14.9%
1977	22.3%	14.2%
1978	21.9%	13.6%
1979	21.5%	12.9%
1980	21.2%	12.3%
1981	20.9%	11.7%
1982	20.6%	11.1%
1983	20.3%	10.6%
1984	20%	10.1%
1985	19.7%	9.72%
1986	19.5%	9.36%
1987	19.2%	9.06%
1988	19%	8.8%
1989	18.8%	8.6%
1990	18.5%	8.47%
1991	18.3%	8.43%
1992	18.1%	8.51%
1993	17.9%	8.73%
1994	17.7%	9.07%
1995	17.5%	9.45%
1996	17.3%	9.83%
1997	17%	10.2%
1998	16.7%	10.5%
1999	16.3%	10.7%
2000	15.9%	10.9%
2001	15.5%	11.1%
2002	15%	11.2%
2003	14.6%	11.4%
2004	14.1%	11.5%
2005	13.6%	11.6%
2006	13.1%	11.5%
2007	12.7%	11.2%
2008	12.2%	10.9%
2009	11.8%	9.64%
2010	11.4%	9.01%
2011	11%	8.59%
2012	10.6%	8.26%
2013	10.3%	8.02%
2014	9.9%	7.82%
2015	9.56%	7.51%
2016	9.23%	7.18%
2017	8.93%	7.12%
2018	8.63%	6.91%
2019	8.35%	6.87%
2020	8.07%	6.68%
2021	7.81%	6.44%
2022	7.57%	6.15%
2023	7.32%	5.89%