Fertility & birth rates in DR Congo and North Korea

Fertility rate in DR Congo vs North Korea 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 1.78 in North Korea in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check the DR Congo vs North Korea 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	North Korea
1960	6.11	3.57
1961	6.12	3.26
1962	6.14	3.41
1963	6.16	3.63
1964	6.19	3.55
1965	6.21	3.56
1966	6.24	3.71
1967	6.27	4.05
1968	6.29	3.87
1969	6.3	3.86
1970	6.33	3.85
1971	6.34	3.74
1972	6.37	3.89
1973	6.39	3.35
1974	6.4	3.14
1975	6.42	3.05
1976	6.44	2.84
1977	6.45	2.77
1978	6.46	2.79
1979	6.48	2.85
1980	6.5	2.84
1981	6.52	2.92
1982	6.54	2.85
1983	6.56	2.78
1984	6.59	2.71
1985	6.61	2.65
1986	6.63	2.59
1987	6.65	2.53
1988	6.66	2.47
1989	6.65	2.41
1990	6.65	2.39
1991	6.65	2.35
1992	6.64	2.29
1993	6.64	2.22
1994	6.64	2.18
1995	6.68	2.15
1996	6.67	2.09
1997	6.69	2.03
1998	6.7	1.99
1999	6.69	1.97
2000	6.7	1.94
2001	6.66	1.94
2002	6.61	1.92
2003	6.55	1.91
2004	6.53	1.9
2005	6.53	1.87
2006	6.55	1.94
2007	6.56	1.94
2008	6.58	1.97
2009	6.59	1.91
2010	6.59	1.89
2011	6.58	1.88
2012	6.56	1.88
2013	6.53	1.88
2014	6.48	1.87
2015	6.44	1.86
2016	6.39	1.86
2017	6.35	1.85
2018	6.3	1.83
2019	6.25	1.83
2020	6.21	1.82
2021	6.16	1.81
2022	6.11	1.8
2023	6.05	1.78
2024	5.98	1.78
2025	5.9	1.77
2026	5.8	1.75
2027	5.71	1.74
2028	5.62	1.73
2029	5.52	1.73
2030	5.42	1.72
2031	5.32	1.72
2032	5.2	1.71
2033	5.09	1.71
2034	4.99	1.71
2035	4.87	1.7
2036	4.77	1.7
2037	4.64	1.7
2038	4.55	1.69
2039	4.47	1.69
2040	4.38	1.69
2041	4.3	1.69
2042	4.21	1.69
2043	4.14	1.69
2044	4.06	1.68
2045	3.99	1.68
2046	3.92	1.68
2047	3.85	1.68
2048	3.78	1.67
2049	3.72	1.67
2050	3.66	1.67

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	DR Congo	North Korea
1960	42.9%	37.5%
1961	42.8%	37%
1962	42.7%	36.6%
1963	42.7%	36.5%
1964	42.7%	36.6%
1965	42.8%	36.7%
1966	42.9%	37.3%
1967	43%	38.3%
1968	43.2%	39.2%
1969	43.3%	39.8%
1970	43.4%	40.1%
1971	43.6%	40.3%
1972	43.8%	40.2%
1973	44%	39.8%
1974	44.2%	39.3%
1975	44.3%	38.8%
1976	44.5%	38.3%
1977	44.6%	37.7%
1978	44.5%	36.9%
1979	44.3%	36%
1980	44.2%	35.1%
1981	44.3%	34.2%
1982	44.3%	33.1%
1983	44.2%	32%
1984	44.1%	30.9%
1985	44.1%	29.9%
1986	44.1%	29%
1987	44.2%	28%
1988	44.3%	27.3%
1989	44.3%	26.8%
1990	44.4%	26.5%
1991	44.4%	26.4%
1992	44.5%	26.3%
1993	44.5%	26.4%
1994	44.1%	26.4%
1995	44%	26.4%
1996	44.7%	26.3%
1997	45.4%	26.2%
1998	45.6%	26%
1999	45.6%	25.8%
2000	45.7%	25.6%
2001	45.7%	25.3%
2002	45.7%	25%
2003	45.8%	24.6%
2004	45.9%	24.3%
2005	45.9%	23.9%
2006	45.9%	23.4%
2007	46%	23%
2008	46%	22.5%
2009	46.1%	22.1%
2010	46.1%	21.6%
2011	46%	21.2%
2012	46%	20.8%
2013	46%	20.4%
2014	46%	20.1%
2015	46%	19.8%
2016	45.9%	19.6%
2017	45.8%	19.4%
2018	45.9%	19.2%
2019	46%	19.1%
2020	46.1%	19.1%
2021	46.1%	19.1%
2022	46.1%	19%
2023	46.1%	19%
2024	46%	18.9%
2025	45.9%	18.9%
2026	45.8%	18.9%
2027	45.7%	18.8%
2028	45.5%	18.7%
2029	45.3%	18.6%
2030	45%	18.5%
2031	44.8%	18.3%
2032	44.5%	18.1%
2033	44.2%	17.9%
2034	43.8%	17.6%
2035	43.4%	17.4%
2036	43%	17.1%
2037	42.6%	16.8%
2038	42.2%	16.6%
2039	41.7%	16.3%
2040	41.3%	16.1%
2041	40.9%	15.9%
2042	40.4%	15.7%
2043	40%	15.5%
2044	39.6%	15.4%
2045	39.2%	15.3%
2046	38.8%	15.2%
2047	38.4%	15.2%
2048	38%	15.2%
2049	37.7%	15.2%
2050	37.3%	15.2%

Children aged 0-14 make up 46% of the population in the DR Congo and 18.9% in North Korea in 2024, compared to 44.4% and 26.5% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of the DR Congo and North Korea compared.

Natural population change in DR Congo vs North Korea by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +3.29% in the DR Congo and +0.42% in North Korea. 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	North Korea
1960	363,517	277,717
1961	368,207	257,788
1962	383,406	286,534
1963	398,972	321,805
1964	406,334	323,623
1965	429,002	335,587
1966	463,397	363,882
1967	479,552	414,632
1968	497,682	399,837
1969	514,800	404,189
1970	533,300	406,129
1971	549,343	393,220
1972	564,495	411,997
1973	578,280	338,600
1974	593,539	306,902
1975	608,655	288,966
1976	624,147	255,841
1977	638,242	242,870
1978	646,411	243,533
1979	691,773	251,409
1980	724,111	255,206
1981	748,371	273,800
1982	774,823	276,332
1983	807,122	279,046
1984	844,956	282,987
1985	885,670	287,714
1986	925,334	293,227
1987	959,875	296,030
1988	995,278	299,305
1989	1,027,238	303,078
1990	1,063,508	312,460
1991	1,114,033	320,551
1992	1,152,781	324,002
1993	1,209,242	320,880
1994	1,259,539	320,861
1995	1,395,440	233,381
1996	1,380,490	226,095
1997	1,392,037	211,325
1998	1,375,130	197,589
1999	1,450,318	181,613
2000	1,549,518	161,591
2001	1,594,999	143,321
2002	1,631,597	119,504
2003	1,679,188	178,775
2004	1,731,022	155,838
2005	1,800,300	132,765
2006	1,889,398	129,171
2007	1,963,738	120,521
2008	2,044,210	122,015
2009	2,126,912	111,530
2010	2,212,255	112,443
2011	2,310,679	114,798
2012	2,405,462	118,773
2013	2,489,378	122,519
2014	2,580,251	127,078
2015	2,665,016	127,365
2016	2,753,687	125,048
2017	2,883,245	120,181
2018	2,993,184	113,164
2019	3,075,538	106,208
2020	3,156,152	95,920
2021	3,227,992	99,710
2022	3,347,664	96,495
2023	3,467,787	86,203

Maternal mortality chart: DR Congo vs North Korea

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 67 deaths in North Korea.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	DR Congo	North Korea
1985	934	76
1986	902	68
1987	863	62
1988	824	55
1989	791	49
1990	755	43
1991	735	38
1992	709	37
1993	683	46
1994	656	57
1995	644	127
1996	661	128
1997	617	128
1998	605	129
1999	601	129
2000	585	129
2001	588	130
2002	601	131
2003	605	76
2004	607	77
2005	613	78
2006	619	80
2007	631	80
2008	620	79
2009	608	78
2010	601	77
2011	589	76
2012	578	76
2013	567	75
2014	558	73
2015	545	72
2016	526	71
2017	519	70
2018	508	69
2019	493	66
2020	489	66
2021	507	72
2022	456	67
2023	427	67

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 7.32% in the DR Congo and 1.8% in North Korea. 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	North Korea
1960	-	11.6%
1961	-	11.2%
1962	-	10.8%
1963	-	10.4%
1964	-	9.92%
1965	-	9.46%
1966	-	8.96%
1967	-	8.45%
1968	-	7.94%
1969	25.1%	7.45%
1970	24.7%	6.99%
1971	24.3%	6.58%
1972	24%	6.2%
1973	23.7%	5.86%
1974	23.4%	5.56%
1975	23%	5.28%
1976	22.6%	5.03%
1977	22.3%	4.8%
1978	21.9%	4.59%
1979	21.5%	4.4%
1980	21.2%	4.22%
1981	20.9%	4.05%
1982	20.6%	3.91%
1983	20.3%	3.8%
1984	20%	3.71%
1985	19.7%	3.68%
1986	19.5%	3.68%
1987	19.2%	3.78%
1988	19%	3.83%
1989	18.8%	3.95%
1990	18.5%	4.07%
1991	18.3%	4.18%
1992	18.1%	4.25%
1993	17.9%	4.27%
1994	17.7%	4.25%
1995	17.5%	10.8%
1996	17.3%	10.6%
1997	17%	10.5%
1998	16.7%	10.3%
1999	16.3%	10.2%
2000	15.9%	10%
2001	15.5%	9.9%
2002	15%	9.78%
2003	14.6%	3.45%
2004	14.1%	3.38%
2005	13.6%	3.33%
2006	13.1%	3.28%
2007	12.7%	3.24%
2008	12.2%	3.1%
2009	11.8%	3%
2010	11.4%	2.87%
2011	11%	2.72%
2012	10.6%	2.57%
2013	10.3%	2.41%
2014	9.9%	2.26%
2015	9.56%	2.14%
2016	9.23%	2.06%
2017	8.93%	1.91%
2018	8.63%	1.84%
2019	8.35%	1.77%
2020	8.07%	1.74%
2021	7.81%	1.74%
2022	7.57%	1.77%
2023	7.32%	1.8%