Fertility & birth rates in Estonia and North Korea

Fertility rate in Estonia vs North Korea chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Estonia was 1.31 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 Estonia 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
	Estonia	North Korea
1960	1.98	3.57
1961	1.98	3.26
1962	1.95	3.41
1963	1.89	3.63
1964	1.94	3.55
1965	1.88	3.56
1966	1.87	3.71
1967	1.9	4.05
1968	2.03	3.87
1969	2.13	3.86
1970	2.17	3.85
1971	2.19	3.74
1972	2.13	3.89
1973	2.06	3.35
1974	2.07	3.14
1975	2.04	3.05
1976	2.07	2.84
1977	2.06	2.77
1978	2.02	2.79
1979	2	2.85
1980	2.02	2.84
1981	2.07	2.92
1982	2.07	2.85
1983	2.16	2.78
1984	2.17	2.71
1985	2.13	2.65
1986	2.18	2.59
1987	2.27	2.53
1988	2.27	2.47
1989	2.22	2.41
1990	2.05	2.39
1991	1.8	2.35
1992	1.71	2.29
1993	1.49	2.22
1994	1.42	2.18
1995	1.38	2.15
1996	1.37	2.09
1997	1.32	2.03
1998	1.28	1.99
1999	1.3	1.97
2000	1.36	1.94
2001	1.32	1.94
2002	1.36	1.92
2003	1.37	1.91
2004	1.47	1.9
2005	1.52	1.87
2006	1.58	1.94
2007	1.69	1.94
2008	1.72	1.97
2009	1.7	1.91
2010	1.72	1.89
2011	1.61	1.88
2012	1.56	1.88
2013	1.52	1.88
2014	1.54	1.87
2015	1.58	1.86
2016	1.6	1.86
2017	1.59	1.85
2018	1.67	1.83
2019	1.66	1.83
2020	1.58	1.82
2021	1.61	1.81
2022	1.41	1.8
2023	1.31	1.78
2024	1.32	1.78
2025	1.33	1.77
2026	1.34	1.75
2027	1.35	1.74
2028	1.36	1.73
2029	1.37	1.73
2030	1.38	1.72
2031	1.39	1.72
2032	1.39	1.71
2033	1.4	1.71
2034	1.4	1.71
2035	1.41	1.7
2036	1.41	1.7
2037	1.42	1.7
2038	1.42	1.69
2039	1.42	1.69
2040	1.43	1.69
2041	1.43	1.69
2042	1.44	1.69
2043	1.44	1.69
2044	1.44	1.68
2045	1.45	1.68
2046	1.45	1.68
2047	1.46	1.68
2048	1.46	1.67
2049	1.46	1.67
2050	1.46	1.67

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Estonia	North Korea
1960	23.1%	37.5%
1961	23.3%	37%
1962	23.3%	36.6%
1963	23.2%	36.5%
1964	23%	36.6%
1965	22.8%	36.7%
1966	22.6%	37.3%
1967	22.3%	38.3%
1968	22.2%	39.2%
1969	22.1%	39.8%
1970	22.1%	40.1%
1971	22%	40.3%
1972	22%	40.2%
1973	21.9%	39.8%
1974	21.8%	39.3%
1975	21.6%	38.8%
1976	21.6%	38.3%
1977	21.5%	37.7%
1978	21.5%	36.9%
1979	21.6%	36%
1980	21.7%	35.1%
1981	21.8%	34.2%
1982	21.9%	33.1%
1983	22%	32%
1984	22.1%	30.9%
1985	22.1%	29.9%
1986	22.1%	29%
1987	22.2%	28%
1988	22.2%	27.3%
1989	22.3%	26.8%
1990	22.3%	26.5%
1991	22.1%	26.4%
1992	21.8%	26.3%
1993	21.4%	26.4%
1994	21.1%	26.4%
1995	20.7%	26.4%
1996	20.3%	26.3%
1997	19.8%	26.2%
1998	19.2%	26%
1999	18.4%	25.8%
2000	17.6%	25.6%
2001	17.2%	25.3%
2002	16.6%	25%
2003	16.1%	24.6%
2004	15.6%	24.3%
2005	15.2%	23.9%
2006	15%	23.4%
2007	14.9%	23%
2008	14.9%	22.5%
2009	15%	22.1%
2010	15.2%	21.6%
2011	15.4%	21.2%
2012	15.6%	20.8%
2013	15.7%	20.4%
2014	15.9%	20.1%
2015	16%	19.8%
2016	16.2%	19.6%
2017	16.3%	19.4%
2018	16.4%	19.2%
2019	16.4%	19.1%
2020	16.4%	19.1%
2021	16.4%	19.1%
2022	16.2%	19%
2023	16%	19%
2024	15.6%	18.9%
2025	15.3%	18.9%
2026	14.9%	18.9%
2027	14.6%	18.8%
2028	14.3%	18.7%
2029	14%	18.6%
2030	13.7%	18.5%
2031	13.4%	18.3%
2032	13.1%	18.1%
2033	12.8%	17.9%
2034	12.4%	17.6%
2035	12.2%	17.4%
2036	12%	17.1%
2037	11.8%	16.8%
2038	11.8%	16.6%
2039	11.9%	16.3%
2040	11.9%	16.1%
2041	12%	15.9%
2042	12.1%	15.7%
2043	12.2%	15.5%
2044	12.3%	15.4%
2045	12.5%	15.3%
2046	12.6%	15.2%
2047	12.8%	15.2%
2048	12.9%	15.2%
2049	13%	15.2%
2050	13.1%	15.2%

Children aged 0-14 make up 15.6% of the population in Estonia and 18.9% in North Korea in 2024, compared to 22.3% and 26.5% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Estonia and North Korea compared.

Natural population change in Estonia vs North Korea by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been -0.21% in Estonia 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
	Estonia	North Korea
1960	7,511	277,717
1961	7,228	257,788
1962	6,457	286,534
1963	6,043	321,805
1964	6,897	323,623
1965	5,437	335,587
1966	4,842	363,882
1967	5,012	414,632
1968	5,592	399,837
1969	5,515	404,189
1970	6,257	406,129
1971	7,160	393,220
1972	6,267	411,997
1973	5,623	338,600
1974	5,956	306,902
1975	4,717	288,966
1976	4,319	255,841
1977	4,931	242,870
1978	4,088	243,533
1979	3,818	251,409
1980	3,989	255,206
1981	4,612	273,800
1982	5,244	276,332
1983	5,884	279,046
1984	5,163	282,987
1985	4,281	287,714
1986	6,160	293,227
1987	6,829	296,030
1988	6,404	299,305
1989	5,803	303,078
1990	2,825	312,460
1991	-312	320,551
1992	-1,993	324,002
1993	-5,976	320,880
1994	-8,044	320,861
1995	-7,327	233,381
1996	-5,662	226,095
1997	-6,018	211,325
1998	-7,208	197,589
1999	-6,117	181,613
2000	-5,309	161,591
2001	-5,830	143,321
2002	-5,380	119,504
2003	-5,072	178,775
2004	-3,679	155,838
2005	-2,981	132,765
2006	-2,559	129,171
2007	-1,608	120,521
2008	-668	122,015
2009	-400	111,530
2010	0	112,443
2011	-531	114,798
2012	-1,455	118,773
2013	-1,713	122,519
2014	-1,972	127,078
2015	-1,315	127,365
2016	-1,316	125,048
2017	-1,713	120,181
2018	-1,322	113,164
2019	-1,327	106,208
2020	-2,659	95,920
2021	-5,324	99,710
2022	-5,665	96,495
2023	-5,070	86,203

Maternal mortality chart: Estonia vs North Korea

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 5 deaths per 100,000 live births in Estonia, compared to 67 deaths in North Korea.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Estonia	North Korea
1985	56	76
1986	46	68
1987	42	62
1988	43	55
1989	48	49
1990	44	43
1991	42	38
1992	40	37
1993	46	46
1994	60	57
1995	45	127
1996	36	128
1997	31	128
1998	32	129
1999	28	129
2000	27	129
2001	25	130
2002	22	131
2003	18	76
2004	15	77
2005	15	78
2006	13	80
2007	13	80
2008	11	79
2009	10	78
2010	8	77
2011	9	76
2012	8	76
2013	6	75
2014	7	73
2015	6	72
2016	7	71
2017	5	70
2018	5	69
2019	6	66
2020	6	66
2021	8	72
2022	7	67
2023	5	67

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.21% in Estonia 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
	Estonia	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	-	7.45%
1970	-	6.99%
1971	-	6.58%
1972	-	6.2%
1973	-	5.86%
1974	-	5.56%
1975	-	5.28%
1976	-	5.03%
1977	-	4.8%
1978	-	4.59%
1979	-	4.4%
1980	2.24%	4.22%
1981	2.16%	4.05%
1982	2.09%	3.91%
1983	2.02%	3.8%
1984	1.96%	3.71%
1985	1.91%	3.68%
1986	1.86%	3.68%
1987	1.83%	3.78%
1988	1.81%	3.83%
1989	1.79%	3.95%
1990	1.77%	4.07%
1991	1.75%	4.18%
1992	1.73%	4.25%
1993	1.69%	4.27%
1994	1.64%	4.25%
1995	1.57%	10.8%
1996	1.48%	10.6%
1997	1.39%	10.5%
1998	1.29%	10.3%
1999	1.2%	10.2%
2000	1.1%	10%
2001	1.01%	9.9%
2002	0.93%	9.78%
2003	0.85%	3.45%
2004	0.78%	3.38%
2005	0.71%	3.33%
2006	0.65%	3.28%
2007	0.59%	3.24%
2008	0.54%	3.1%
2009	0.5%	3%
2010	0.46%	2.87%
2011	0.42%	2.72%
2012	0.39%	2.57%
2013	0.36%	2.41%
2014	0.34%	2.26%
2015	0.32%	2.14%
2016	0.3%	2.06%
2017	0.28%	1.91%
2018	0.27%	1.84%
2019	0.25%	1.77%
2020	0.24%	1.74%
2021	0.23%	1.74%
2022	0.22%	1.77%
2023	0.21%	1.8%