Fertility & birth rates in DR Congo and South Sudan

Fertility rate in DR Congo vs South Sudan 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 3.86 in South Sudan in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check the DR Congo vs South Sudan 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	South Sudan
1960	6.11	7.16
1961	6.12	7.18
1962	6.14	7.2
1963	6.16	7.2
1964	6.19	7.22
1965	6.21	7.22
1966	6.24	7.25
1967	6.27	7.26
1968	6.29	7.26
1969	6.3	7.28
1970	6.33	7.29
1971	6.34	7.3
1972	6.37	7.31
1973	6.39	7.31
1974	6.4	7.31
1975	6.42	7.33
1976	6.44	7.33
1977	6.45	7.33
1978	6.46	7.33
1979	6.48	7.32
1980	6.5	7.33
1981	6.52	7.33
1982	6.54	7.34
1983	6.56	7.34
1984	6.59	7.35
1985	6.61	7.36
1986	6.63	7.38
1987	6.65	7.39
1988	6.66	7.38
1989	6.65	7.37
1990	6.65	7.38
1991	6.65	7.38
1992	6.64	7.37
1993	6.64	7.36
1994	6.64	7.35
1995	6.68	7.34
1996	6.67	7.32
1997	6.69	7.2
1998	6.7	7.08
1999	6.69	6.94
2000	6.7	6.8
2001	6.66	6.65
2002	6.61	6.52
2003	6.55	6.35
2004	6.53	6.19
2005	6.53	6.02
2006	6.55	5.85
2007	6.56	5.7
2008	6.58	5.57
2009	6.59	5.45
2010	6.59	5.32
2011	6.58	5.19
2012	6.56	5.06
2013	6.53	4.94
2014	6.48	4.82
2015	6.44	4.7
2016	6.39	4.58
2017	6.35	4.48
2018	6.3	4.37
2019	6.25	4.26
2020	6.21	4.16
2021	6.16	4.05
2022	6.11	3.96
2023	6.05	3.86
2024	5.98	3.79
2025	5.9	3.71
2026	5.8	3.63
2027	5.71	3.56
2028	5.62	3.49
2029	5.52	3.43
2030	5.42	3.37
2031	5.32	3.31
2032	5.2	3.26
2033	5.09	3.2
2034	4.99	3.15
2035	4.87	3.1
2036	4.77	3.06
2037	4.64	3.01
2038	4.55	2.96
2039	4.47	2.92
2040	4.38	2.88
2041	4.3	2.84
2042	4.21	2.8
2043	4.14	2.76
2044	4.06	2.73
2045	3.99	2.69
2046	3.92	2.66
2047	3.85	2.63
2048	3.78	2.6
2049	3.72	2.58
2050	3.66	2.55

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	DR Congo	South Sudan
1960	42.9%	42.5%
1961	42.8%	42.6%
1962	42.7%	42.6%
1963	42.7%	42.8%
1964	42.7%	43%
1965	42.8%	43.3%
1966	42.9%	43.5%
1967	43%	43.8%
1968	43.2%	44%
1969	43.3%	44.3%
1970	43.4%	44.5%
1971	43.6%	44.7%
1972	43.8%	44.8%
1973	44%	45%
1974	44.2%	45.1%
1975	44.3%	45.2%
1976	44.5%	45.3%
1977	44.6%	45.4%
1978	44.5%	45.5%
1979	44.3%	45.7%
1980	44.2%	45.8%
1981	44.3%	46%
1982	44.3%	46.2%
1983	44.2%	46.3%
1984	44.1%	46.5%
1985	44.1%	46.6%
1986	44.1%	46.7%
1987	44.2%	46.9%
1988	44.3%	46.2%
1989	44.3%	45.4%
1990	44.4%	45.4%
1991	44.4%	45.5%
1992	44.5%	45.6%
1993	44.5%	45.7%
1994	44.1%	45.8%
1995	44%	45.8%
1996	44.7%	46%
1997	45.4%	46%
1998	45.6%	45.8%
1999	45.6%	45.6%
2000	45.7%	45.5%
2001	45.7%	45.5%
2002	45.7%	45.7%
2003	45.8%	45.9%
2004	45.9%	45.8%
2005	45.9%	45.3%
2006	45.9%	44.8%
2007	46%	44.3%
2008	46%	43.8%
2009	46.1%	43.4%
2010	46.1%	42.8%
2011	46%	42.2%
2012	46%	41.9%
2013	46%	41.9%
2014	46%	42.5%
2015	46%	43.1%
2016	45.9%	43.7%
2017	45.8%	45%
2018	45.9%	44.9%
2019	46%	43.6%
2020	46.1%	42.4%
2021	46.1%	41.6%
2022	46.1%	40.9%
2023	46.1%	39.9%
2024	46%	38.9%
2025	45.9%	38%
2026	45.8%	37.1%
2027	45.7%	36.2%
2028	45.5%	35.5%
2029	45.3%	35%
2030	45%	34.7%
2031	44.8%	34.5%
2032	44.5%	34.4%
2033	44.2%	34.3%
2034	43.8%	34.3%
2035	43.4%	34.2%
2036	43%	34.1%
2037	42.6%	34%
2038	42.2%	33.8%
2039	41.7%	33.7%
2040	41.3%	33.4%
2041	40.9%	33.2%
2042	40.4%	32.9%
2043	40%	32.5%
2044	39.6%	32.2%
2045	39.2%	31.8%
2046	38.8%	31.4%
2047	38.4%	31%
2048	38%	30.5%
2049	37.7%	30.1%
2050	37.3%	29.7%

Children aged 0-14 make up 46% of the population in the DR Congo and 38.9% in South Sudan in 2024, compared to 44.4% and 45.4% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of the DR Congo and South Sudan compared.

Natural population change in DR Congo vs South Sudan by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +3.29% in the DR Congo and +1.65% in South Sudan. 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	South Sudan
1960	363,517	42,945
1961	368,207	45,186
1962	383,406	47,406
1963	398,972	46,333
1964	406,334	64,786
1965	429,002	51,682
1966	463,397	38,523
1967	479,552	41,357
1968	497,682	44,213
1969	514,800	42,015
1970	533,300	44,776
1971	549,343	72,308
1972	564,495	74,803
1973	578,280	94,765
1974	593,539	97,181
1975	608,655	99,882
1976	624,147	102,346
1977	638,242	104,886
1978	646,411	107,352
1979	691,773	109,540
1980	724,111	112,307
1981	748,371	115,163
1982	774,823	118,641
1983	807,122	104,107
1984	844,956	90,970
1985	885,670	95,342
1986	925,334	99,502
1987	959,875	5,756
1988	995,278	-125,447
1989	1,027,238	83,735
1990	1,063,508	82,900
1991	1,114,033	87,873
1992	1,152,781	28,874
1993	1,209,242	32,779
1994	1,259,539	165,407
1995	1,395,440	110,417
1996	1,380,490	116,728
1997	1,392,037	121,454
1998	1,375,130	-12,157
1999	1,450,318	180,721
2000	1,549,518	196,055
2001	1,594,999	204,108
2002	1,631,597	212,014
2003	1,679,188	225,822
2004	1,731,022	231,877
2005	1,800,300	239,272
2006	1,889,398	246,706
2007	1,963,738	256,546
2008	2,044,210	268,268
2009	2,126,912	278,859
2010	2,212,255	287,409
2011	2,310,679	303,181
2012	2,405,462	312,974
2013	2,489,378	315,983
2014	2,580,251	227,611
2015	2,665,016	148,542
2016	2,753,687	110,553
2017	2,883,245	72,193
2018	2,993,184	168,497
2019	3,075,538	209,708
2020	3,156,152	212,332
2021	3,227,992	213,567
2022	3,347,664	211,166
2023	3,467,787	217,966

Maternal mortality chart: DR Congo vs South Sudan

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 692 deaths in South Sudan.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	DR Congo	South Sudan
1985	934	3,845
1986	902	3,720
1987	863	8,045
1988	824	5,535
1989	791	5,103
1990	755	4,877
1991	735	4,764
1992	709	7,597
1993	683	7,537
1994	656	1,666
1995	644	4,430
1996	661	4,357
1997	617	4,172
1998	605	7,514
1999	601	2,048
2000	585	1,658
2001	588	1,580
2002	601	1,521
2003	605	1,199
2004	607	1,150
2005	613	1,074
2006	619	1,005
2007	631	933
2008	620	858
2009	608	823
2010	601	776
2011	589	770
2012	578	755
2013	567	771
2014	558	1,216
2015	545	1,436
2016	526	1,629
2017	519	1,662
2018	508	913
2019	493	745
2020	489	729
2021	507	749
2022	456	704
2023	427	692

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 7.32% in the DR Congo and 9.87% in South Sudan. 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	South Sudan
1960	-	35.5%
1961	-	35.2%
1962	-	34.9%
1963	-	34.6%
1964	-	34.3%
1965	-	34%
1966	-	33.6%
1967	-	33.3%
1968	-	32.9%
1969	25.1%	32.6%
1970	24.7%	32.3%
1971	24.3%	31.9%
1972	24%	31.6%
1973	23.7%	31.3%
1974	23.4%	30.9%
1975	23%	30.6%
1976	22.6%	30.2%
1977	22.3%	29.9%
1978	21.9%	29.5%
1979	21.5%	29.2%
1980	21.2%	28.9%
1981	20.9%	28.5%
1982	20.6%	28.2%
1983	20.3%	27.8%
1984	20%	27.5%
1985	19.7%	27.1%
1986	19.5%	26.7%
1987	19.2%	36%
1988	19%	76.7%
1989	18.8%	30.7%
1990	18.5%	30.3%
1991	18.3%	29.7%
1992	18.1%	33.8%
1993	17.9%	33.1%
1994	17.7%	23%
1995	17.5%	27%
1996	17.3%	26.1%
1997	17%	25.2%
1998	16.7%	42.6%
1999	16.3%	19.2%
2000	15.9%	18.3%
2001	15.5%	17.4%
2002	15%	16.5%
2003	14.6%	15.7%
2004	14.1%	14.8%
2005	13.6%	14.1%
2006	13.1%	13.4%
2007	12.7%	12.7%
2008	12.2%	12.1%
2009	11.8%	11.5%
2010	11.4%	10.9%
2011	11%	10.5%
2012	10.6%	10.1%
2013	10.3%	9.92%
2014	9.9%	18.2%
2015	9.56%	23.7%
2016	9.23%	26.4%
2017	8.93%	27.8%
2018	8.63%	13.2%
2019	8.35%	9.87%
2020	8.07%	9.87%
2021	7.81%	9.87%
2022	7.57%	9.87%
2023	7.32%	9.87%