Fertility & birth rates in DR Congo and Namibia

Fertility rate in DR Congo vs Namibia 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 3.21 in Namibia in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check the DR Congo vs Namibia 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	Namibia
1960	6.11	6.24
1961	6.12	6.29
1962	6.14	6.35
1963	6.16	6.41
1964	6.19	6.43
1965	6.21	6.45
1966	6.24	6.47
1967	6.27	6.49
1968	6.29	6.5
1969	6.3	6.51
1970	6.33	6.52
1971	6.34	6.52
1972	6.37	6.53
1973	6.39	6.54
1974	6.4	6.55
1975	6.42	6.53
1976	6.44	6.49
1977	6.45	6.44
1978	6.46	6.38
1979	6.48	6.31
1980	6.5	6.24
1981	6.52	6.16
1982	6.54	6.08
1983	6.56	6
1984	6.59	5.94
1985	6.61	5.88
1986	6.63	5.79
1987	6.65	5.7
1988	6.66	5.61
1989	6.65	5.52
1990	6.65	5.4
1991	6.65	5.29
1992	6.64	5.11
1993	6.64	4.91
1994	6.64	4.68
1995	6.68	4.42
1996	6.67	4.2
1997	6.69	4.17
1998	6.7	4.18
1999	6.69	4.14
2000	6.7	3.99
2001	6.66	3.83
2002	6.61	3.69
2003	6.55	3.58
2004	6.53	3.55
2005	6.53	3.57
2006	6.55	3.6
2007	6.56	3.61
2008	6.58	3.62
2009	6.59	3.63
2010	6.59	3.66
2011	6.58	3.66
2012	6.56	3.68
2013	6.53	3.65
2014	6.48	3.64
2015	6.44	3.6
2016	6.39	3.57
2017	6.35	3.51
2018	6.3	3.46
2019	6.25	3.4
2020	6.21	3.35
2021	6.16	3.3
2022	6.11	3.25
2023	6.05	3.21
2024	5.98	3.21
2025	5.9	3.17
2026	5.8	3.13
2027	5.71	3.09
2028	5.62	3.06
2029	5.52	3.02
2030	5.42	2.98
2031	5.32	2.94
2032	5.2	2.91
2033	5.09	2.88
2034	4.99	2.84
2035	4.87	2.81
2036	4.77	2.78
2037	4.64	2.75
2038	4.55	2.72
2039	4.47	2.68
2040	4.38	2.66
2041	4.3	2.63
2042	4.21	2.6
2043	4.14	2.58
2044	4.06	2.56
2045	3.99	2.53
2046	3.92	2.51
2047	3.85	2.49
2048	3.78	2.47
2049	3.72	2.45
2050	3.66	2.43

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	DR Congo	Namibia
1960	42.9%	42.2%
1961	42.8%	42.4%
1962	42.7%	42.6%
1963	42.7%	42.7%
1964	42.7%	42.9%
1965	42.8%	43%
1966	42.9%	43.2%
1967	43%	43.3%
1968	43.2%	43.5%
1969	43.3%	43.6%
1970	43.4%	43.8%
1971	43.6%	43.9%
1972	43.8%	44.1%
1973	44%	44.3%
1974	44.2%	44.6%
1975	44.3%	44.8%
1976	44.5%	45%
1977	44.6%	45.3%
1978	44.5%	45.9%
1979	44.3%	46.3%
1980	44.2%	46.6%
1981	44.3%	47.1%
1982	44.3%	47.2%
1983	44.2%	46.9%
1984	44.1%	46.6%
1985	44.1%	46.2%
1986	44.1%	45.8%
1987	44.2%	45.3%
1988	44.3%	44.8%
1989	44.3%	43.4%
1990	44.4%	42.3%
1991	44.4%	42.2%
1992	44.5%	42.2%
1993	44.5%	42.2%
1994	44.1%	42.2%
1995	44%	42.1%
1996	44.7%	42%
1997	45.4%	41.9%
1998	45.6%	41.8%
1999	45.6%	41.7%
2000	45.7%	41.5%
2001	45.7%	41.3%
2002	45.7%	41%
2003	45.8%	40.5%
2004	45.9%	40%
2005	45.9%	39.4%
2006	45.9%	38.7%
2007	46%	38.1%
2008	46%	37.5%
2009	46.1%	37.1%
2010	46.1%	36.8%
2011	46%	36.7%
2012	46%	36.6%
2013	46%	36.6%
2014	46%	36.5%
2015	46%	36.5%
2016	45.9%	36.5%
2017	45.8%	36.7%
2018	45.9%	36.8%
2019	46%	37%
2020	46.1%	37.1%
2021	46.1%	37.4%
2022	46.1%	37.5%
2023	46.1%	37.3%
2024	46%	37%
2025	45.9%	36.7%
2026	45.8%	36.3%
2027	45.7%	35.9%
2028	45.5%	35.5%
2029	45.3%	35.1%
2030	45%	34.6%
2031	44.8%	34%
2032	44.5%	33.5%
2033	44.2%	32.9%
2034	43.8%	32.4%
2035	43.4%	31.8%
2036	43%	31.1%
2037	42.6%	30.6%
2038	42.2%	30.3%
2039	41.7%	30%
2040	41.3%	29.7%
2041	40.9%	29.5%
2042	40.4%	29.2%
2043	40%	29%
2044	39.6%	28.8%
2045	39.2%	28.5%
2046	38.8%	28.3%
2047	38.4%	28.1%
2048	38%	27.9%
2049	37.7%	27.7%
2050	37.3%	27.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 46% of the population in the DR Congo and 37% in Namibia in 2024, compared to 44.4% and 42.3% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of the DR Congo and Namibia compared.

Natural population change in DR Congo vs Namibia by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +3.29% in the DR Congo and +2.04% in Namibia. 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	Namibia
1960	363,517	14,307
1961	368,207	14,936
1962	383,406	15,656
1963	398,972	16,430
1964	406,334	17,134
1965	429,002	17,902
1966	463,397	18,635
1967	479,552	19,498
1968	497,682	20,470
1969	514,800	21,387
1970	533,300	22,414
1971	549,343	23,467
1972	564,495	24,606
1973	578,280	25,754
1974	593,539	26,844
1975	608,655	27,882
1976	624,147	28,785
1977	638,242	29,241
1978	646,411	29,821
1979	691,773	28,930
1980	724,111	28,142
1981	748,371	27,938
1982	774,823	27,474
1983	807,122	28,307
1984	844,956	29,395
1985	885,670	30,575
1986	925,334	31,764
1987	959,875	33,340
1988	995,278	34,798
1989	1,027,238	37,715
1990	1,063,508	43,956
1991	1,114,033	44,523
1992	1,152,781	43,945
1993	1,209,242	42,861
1994	1,259,539	41,316
1995	1,395,440	39,119
1996	1,380,490	37,177
1997	1,392,037	37,256
1998	1,375,130	37,500
1999	1,450,318	37,233
2000	1,549,518	35,280
2001	1,594,999	32,942
2002	1,631,597	31,947
2003	1,679,188	31,115
2004	1,731,022	31,478
2005	1,800,300	32,909
2006	1,889,398	34,690
2007	1,963,738	36,430
2008	2,044,210	38,147
2009	2,126,912	39,942
2010	2,212,255	42,046
2011	2,310,679	43,557
2012	2,405,462	46,204
2013	2,489,378	47,801
2014	2,580,251	49,581
2015	2,665,016	50,846
2016	2,753,687	52,228
2017	2,883,245	52,975
2018	2,993,184	53,970
2019	3,075,538	54,769
2020	3,156,152	55,034
2021	3,227,992	50,160
2022	3,347,664	54,534
2023	3,467,787	58,435

Maternal mortality chart: DR Congo vs Namibia

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 139 deaths in Namibia.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	DR Congo	Namibia
1985	934	354
1986	902	348
1987	863	336
1988	824	342
1989	791	306
1990	755	325
1991	735	337
1992	709	346
1993	683	354
1994	656	367
1995	644	369
1996	661	387
1997	617	383
1998	605	396
1999	601	371
2000	585	384
2001	588	376
2002	601	313
2003	605	290
2004	607	282
2005	613	344
2006	619	408
2007	631	489
2008	620	537
2009	608	547
2010	601	531
2011	589	498
2012	578	439
2013	567	402
2014	558	369
2015	545	307
2016	526	250
2017	519	213
2018	508	198
2019	493	175
2020	489	143
2021	507	254
2022	456	127
2023	427	139

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 7.32% in the DR Congo and 4.07% in Namibia. 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	Namibia
1967	-	9.66%
1968	-	9.64%
1969	25.1%	9.65%
1970	24.7%	9.65%
1971	24.3%	9.67%
1972	24%	9.68%
1973	23.7%	9.73%
1974	23.4%	9.79%
1975	23%	9.89%
1976	22.6%	10%
1977	22.3%	10.2%
1978	21.9%	10.3%
1979	21.5%	10.3%
1980	21.2%	10.3%
1981	20.9%	10.2%
1982	20.6%	9.93%
1983	20.3%	9.61%
1984	20%	9.22%
1985	19.7%	8.81%
1986	19.5%	8.43%
1987	19.2%	8.09%
1988	19%	7.81%
1989	18.8%	7.57%
1990	18.5%	7.39%
1991	18.3%	7.24%
1992	18.1%	7.14%
1993	17.9%	7.1%
1994	17.7%	7.13%
1995	17.5%	7.24%
1996	17.3%	7.39%
1997	17%	7.56%
1998	16.7%	7.7%
1999	16.3%	7.79%
2000	15.9%	7.79%
2001	15.5%	7.71%
2002	15%	7.61%
2003	14.6%	7.51%
2004	14.1%	7.41%
2005	13.6%	7.05%
2006	13.1%	6.49%
2007	12.7%	6.06%
2008	12.2%	5.64%
2009	11.8%	5.29%
2010	11.4%	5.08%
2011	11%	5.16%
2012	10.6%	5.51%
2013	10.3%	5.4%
2014	9.9%	5.31%
2015	9.56%	5.5%
2016	9.23%	5.42%
2017	8.93%	5.19%
2018	8.63%	5.01%
2019	8.35%	4.78%
2020	8.07%	4.57%
2021	7.81%	4.38%
2022	7.57%	4.2%
2023	7.32%	4.07%