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Fertility & birth rates in Eritrea and Gambia

Updated on by Georank team

Eritrea has an annual birth rate of 28.5 births per 1,000 people, compared to 30.4 for the Gambia. The average number of children a woman is expected to have during her lifetime — the fertility rate, is 3.71 in Eritrea and 4.01 in the Gambia — 7.89% difference.

1960 vs 2023, the fertility rate has decreased by -42.7% in Eritrea and by -35.9% in the Gambia — in 1960, it was 6.48 and 6.25, respectively.

Birth rates facts compared:

  • Eritrea is ranked 37/196 by birth rate compared to 30/196 for the Gambia.
  • The mean age for first-time mothers is 21.3 years in Eritrea, compared to 20.7 years in the Gambia.
  • The mean age at childbearing (for all the births, not just the first) is 29.1 in Eritrea — it's 29.8 in the Gambia.
  • Annual births per 1,000 women ages 15-19 (adolescent birth rate or teenage mother rate) is 65.2 in Eritrea vs 58.1 in the Gambia.
  • In Eritrea, 24.8% of the population is composed of women of reproductive age (15-49), compared to 24.5% in the Gambia.
  • Excluding migration, the natural population change due to births and deaths from 2022 to 2023 was +2.25% in Eritrea and +2.41% in the Gambia.

Birth rate data compared

Eritrea Gambia
Fertility rate 3.71 4.01
Birth rate 28.5 30.4
Birth rate rank 37/196 30/196
Age at first childbirth 21.3 years 20.7 years
Average age at childbearing 29.1 years 29.8 years
Annual births per 1,000 women ages 15-19 64.2 54.1
Annual births per 1,000 women ages 20-29 170.8 173
Annual births per 1,000 women ages 30+ 51.8 68.1
Female of reproductive age (15-49), share of population 24.8% 24.5%
Any modern method of contraceptive prevalence among married women ages 15-49 7.1% 17.1%
Share of births attended by skilled health staff 34.1% 83.8%
Maternal mortality per live birth 0.29% 0.35%
Neonatal mortality rate (before reaching 28 days of age) 1.64% 2.37%
Infant mortality rate (before reaching 1 year of age) 2.55% 3.38%
Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births 3.54% 4.41%
Population change due to births and deaths +78,073 +65,118
Natural population change rank 84/196 88/196
Natural population change rate +2.25% +2.41%
Population growth +1.88% +2.3%
Population growth rank 60/197 39/197
Life expectancy 69.2 years 66.3 years

Fertility rate in Eritrea vs Gambia chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Eritrea was 3.71 children per woman in 2023, compared to 4.01 in the Gambia in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

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

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Eritrea
Factual

UN forecast
Gambia
Factual

UN forecast

Births per woman

Year Fertility rate
Eritrea Gambia
1960 6.48 6.25
1961 6.47 6.23
1962 6.5 6.21
1963 6.48 6.2
1964 6.49 6.2
1965 6.49 6.19
1966 6.5 6.18
1967 6.5 6.21
1968 6.5 6.22
1969 6.5 6.25
1970 6.54 6.26
1971 6.54 6.33
1972 6.54 6.37
1973 6.55 6.41
1974 6.57 6.42
1975 6.59 6.43
1976 6.6 6.43
1977 6.61 6.43
1978 6.61 6.42
1979 6.62 6.41
1980 6.61 6.41
1981 6.62 6.4
1982 6.63 6.4
1983 6.65 6.39
1984 6.62 6.39
1985 6.59 6.36
1986 6.56 6.34
1987 6.52 6.3
1988 6.47 6.26
1989 6.41 6.25
1990 6.34 6.25
1991 6.24 6.19
1992 6.16 6.11
1993 6.07 6.03
1994 6.01 6.04
1995 5.94 5.99
1996 5.84 5.93
1997 5.74 5.85
1998 5.63 5.82
1999 5.52 5.77
2000 5.4 5.72
2001 5.31 5.67
2002 5.23 5.66
2003 5.14 5.66
2004 5.04 5.68
2005 4.93 5.71
2006 4.88 5.74
2007 4.81 5.69
2008 4.74 5.63
2009 4.66 5.57
2010 4.57 5.56
2011 4.49 5.54
2012 4.41 5.52
2013 4.34 5.39
2014 4.27 5.2
2015 4.22 5
2016 4.16 4.81
2017 4.11 4.61
2018 4.06 4.42
2019 4 4.33
2020 3.93 4.25
2021 3.87 4.17
2022 3.79 4.08
2023 3.71 4.01
2024 3.68 3.91
2025 3.61 3.8
2026 3.55 3.7
2027 3.49 3.6
2028 3.43 3.51
2029 3.38 3.41
2030 3.32 3.33
2031 3.27 3.24
2032 3.22 3.17
2033 3.18 3.1
2034 3.13 3.03
2035 3.09 2.97
2036 3.04 2.91
2037 3.01 2.86
2038 2.97 2.81
2039 2.93 2.76
2040 2.9 2.71
2041 2.86 2.67
2042 2.83 2.63
2043 2.8 2.59
2044 2.77 2.56
2045 2.74 2.52
2046 2.71 2.49
2047 2.68 2.46
2048 2.65 2.43
2049 2.63 2.4
2050 2.6 2.38

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Eritrea
Factual

UN forecast
Gambia
Factual

UN forecast
Year Share of people 0-14 years old
Eritrea Gambia
1960 41.5% 41%
1961 41.4% 40.8%
1962 41.4% 40.7%
1963 41.5% 40.8%
1964 41.6% 41%
1965 41.8% 41.3%
1966 42.1% 41.5%
1967 42.4% 41.6%
1968 42.8% 41.8%
1969 43% 41.9%
1970 43.3% 42%
1971 43.6% 42.1%
1972 43.8% 42.2%
1973 44% 42.3%
1974 44.1% 42.4%
1975 44.1% 42.6%
1976 44.2% 42.8%
1977 44.3% 43%
1978 44.3% 43.3%
1979 44.4% 43.5%
1980 44.4% 43.7%
1981 44.4% 44%
1982 44.4% 44.3%
1983 44.4% 44.6%
1984 44.2% 44.9%
1985 44.1% 45%
1986 44% 45.2%
1987 44% 45.4%
1988 44.2% 45.5%
1989 44.3% 45.6%
1990 44.5% 45.7%
1991 44.6% 45.8%
1992 44.7% 45.9%
1993 44.5% 46%
1994 44.4% 46.3%
1995 43.5% 46.5%
1996 42.9% 46.7%
1997 43.7% 46.9%
1998 44.4% 46.9%
1999 44.9% 46.9%
2000 45.2% 46.8%
2001 45% 46.7%
2002 44.4% 46.6%
2003 43.7% 46.4%
2004 43% 46.1%
2005 42.9% 45.9%
2006 43.1% 45.6%
2007 43.3% 45.3%
2008 43% 45.1%
2009 42.7% 44.8%
2010 42.6% 44.5%
2011 42.3% 44.3%
2012 42.1% 44.1%
2013 42% 43.9%
2014 42% 43.7%
2015 42.1% 43.6%
2016 42.1% 43.3%
2017 41.9% 43.1%
2018 41.5% 42.8%
2019 41% 42.4%
2020 40.4% 42%
2021 39.8% 41.6%
2022 39.2% 41.2%
2023 38.7% 40.7%
2024 38.1% 40.2%
2025 37.6% 39.7%
2026 37.1% 39.2%
2027 36.6% 38.5%
2028 36.3% 37.9%
2029 35.9% 37.3%
2030 35.7% 36.7%
2031 35.5% 36.2%
2032 35.3% 35.7%
2033 35.2% 35.2%
2034 35% 34.8%
2035 34.8% 34.3%
2036 34.7% 33.9%
2037 34.4% 33.4%
2038 34.2% 33%
2039 34% 32.5%
2040 33.7% 32.1%
2041 33.4% 31.7%
2042 33.1% 31.3%
2043 32.7% 30.9%
2044 32.3% 30.5%
2045 31.9% 30.2%
2046 31.5% 29.8%
2047 31.1% 29.5%
2048 30.7% 29.1%
2049 30.3% 28.8%
2050 29.9% 28.4%

Children aged 0-14 make up 38.1% of the population in Eritrea and 40.2% in the Gambia in 2024, compared to 44.5% and 45.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Eritrea and the Gambia compared.

Natural population change in Eritrea vs Gambia by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.29% in Eritrea and +2.59% in the Gambia. The chart below illustrates the comparison of the absolute yearly changes resulting from births and deaths.

Eritrea
Gambia

Natural population change

Year Population change due to births and deaths
Eritrea Gambia
1960 21,424 8,420
1961 22,351 8,778
1962 23,478 9,150
1963 24,393 9,493
1964 25,327 9,825
1965 26,285 10,162
1966 24,713 10,422
1967 27,992 10,823
1968 28,777 11,215
1969 29,535 11,670
1970 30,686 12,128
1971 31,490 12,842
1972 30,951 13,432
1973 31,969 14,046
1974 30,111 14,628
1975 30,971 15,256
1976 36,250 16,032
1977 37,295 16,773
1978 38,353 17,424
1979 39,577 18,543
1980 41,392 19,566
1981 42,924 20,156
1982 44,146 21,894
1983 33,420 23,175
1984 35,101 24,586
1985 37,362 25,795
1986 39,470 27,195
1987 52,229 28,452
1988 54,163 29,938
1989 54,299 31,504
1990 56,903 33,163
1991 57,741 34,584
1992 51,443 35,951
1993 51,679 37,302
1994 56,288 38,880
1995 56,157 39,681
1996 66,557 40,253
1997 63,953 40,742
1998 55,332 41,842
1999 45,120 42,533
2000 60,274 43,249
2001 61,180 44,154
2002 65,436 45,156
2003 66,291 46,473
2004 72,147 48,276
2005 72,930 50,010
2006 74,470 52,335
2007 73,101 53,653
2008 73,391 55,032
2009 76,206 56,575
2010 76,098 58,554
2011 76,806 60,571
2012 76,416 62,745
2013 75,562 63,510
2014 75,729 63,185
2015 73,682 62,832
2016 73,002 62,358
2017 72,291 61,665
2018 72,511 60,854
2019 73,572 61,701
2020 73,362 62,209
2021 74,394 62,239
2022 76,221 63,634
2023 78,073 65,118

Fertility rates around the globe

Fertility rate

Maternal mortality chart: Eritrea vs Gambia

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 291 deaths per 100,000 live births in Eritrea, compared to 354 deaths in the Gambia.

Eritrea
Gambia
Year Maternal mortality per 100K births
Eritrea Gambia
1985 1,678 1,454
1986 1,625 1,401
1987 1,555 1,360
1988 1,499 1,302
1989 1,473 1,258
1990 1,352 1,207
1991 1,384 1,167
1992 1,149 1,115
1993 1,040 1,072
1994 998 1,039
1995 854 999
1996 878 956
1997 817 928
1998 865 867
1999 734 830
2000 741 810
2001 651 794
2002 636 772
2003 588 749
2004 588 719
2005 567 707
2006 555 682
2007 541 675
2008 530 653
2009 515 634
2010 498 632
2011 478 634
2012 458 628
2013 443 606
2014 430 561
2015 413 527
2016 395 490
2017 379 469
2018 363 450
2019 351 422
2020 334 400
2021 338 420
2022 301 365
2023 291 354

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.54% in Eritrea and 4.41% in the Gambia. Below is the historical data on under-five mortality rates.

Eritrea
Gambia

Probability that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five

Year Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
Eritrea Gambia
1960 - 36.2%
1961 - 35.5%
1962 - 34.8%
1963 - 34.1%
1964 - 33.5%
1965 - 32.8%
1966 - 32.1%
1967 - 31.5%
1968 - 30.9%
1969 - 30.2%
1970 - 29.5%
1971 - 28.9%
1972 - 28.2%
1973 - 27.5%
1974 25.6% 26.9%
1975 25% 26.2%
1976 20.8% 25.5%
1977 20.4% 24.9%
1978 20% 24.2%
1979 19.7% 23.6%
1980 19.4% 23%
1981 19.1% 22.3%
1982 18.8% 21.7%
1983 27.8% 21%
1984 27.2% 20.4%
1985 26.2% 19.7%
1986 25.6% 19.1%
1987 17.1% 18.4%
1988 16.6% 17.8%
1989 16% 17.2%
1990 15.4% 16.6%
1991 14.7% 16%
1992 13.9% 15.5%
1993 13.1% 14.9%
1994 12.3% 14.4%
1995 11.5% 13.9%
1996 10.8% 13.3%
1997 10.1% 12.8%
1998 9.51% 12.3%
1999 10.9% 11.8%
2000 8.53% 11.3%
2001 8.11% 10.9%
2002 7.73% 10.4%
2003 7.38% 9.95%
2004 7.05% 9.52%
2005 6.75% 9.11%
2006 6.46% 8.71%
2007 6.19% 8.33%
2008 5.94% 7.98%
2009 5.71% 7.64%
2010 5.5% 7.31%
2011 5.31% 7.01%
2012 5.12% 6.73%
2013 4.94% 6.45%
2014 4.78% 6.18%
2015 4.61% 5.93%
2016 4.46% 5.7%
2017 4.32% 5.47%
2018 4.17% 5.27%
2019 4.03% 5.07%
2020 3.91% 4.89%
2021 3.79% 4.72%
2022 3.66% 4.56%
2023 3.54% 4.41%

Compare countries by 7 more topics

Birth rate comparisons

Birth rate vs Eritrea vs Gambia
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