Fertility & birth rates in Germany and United States

Fertility rate in Germany vs United States chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Germany was 1.39 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1.62 in the United States in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Germany vs the United States population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Germany	United States
1960	2.37	3.65
1961	2.45	3.62
1962	2.44	3.46
1963	2.51	3.32
1964	2.54	3.19
1965	2.5	2.91
1966	2.53	2.72
1967	2.48	2.56
1968	2.38	2.46
1969	2.21	2.46
1970	2.03	2.48
1971	1.92	2.27
1972	1.71	2.01
1973	1.54	1.88
1974	1.51	1.84
1975	1.45	1.77
1976	1.45	1.74
1977	1.4	1.79
1978	1.38	1.76
1979	1.38	1.81
1980	1.44	1.84
1981	1.43	1.81
1982	1.41	1.83
1983	1.33	1.8
1984	1.29	1.81
1985	1.37	1.84
1986	1.43	1.84
1987	1.43	1.87
1988	1.46	1.93
1989	1.42	2.01
1990	1.45	2.08
1991	1.33	2.06
1992	1.29	2.05
1993	1.28	2.02
1994	1.24	2
1995	1.25	1.98
1996	1.3	1.98
1997	1.35	1.97
1998	1.36	2
1999	1.36	2.01
2000	1.38	2.06
2001	1.35	2.03
2002	1.34	2.02
2003	1.34	2.05
2004	1.36	2.05
2005	1.34	2.06
2006	1.33	2.11
2007	1.37	2.12
2008	1.38	2.07
2009	1.36	2
2010	1.39	1.93
2011	1.39	1.89
2012	1.41	1.88
2013	1.42	1.86
2014	1.47	1.86
2015	1.5	1.84
2016	1.6	1.82
2017	1.57	1.77
2018	1.57	1.73
2019	1.54	1.71
2020	1.53	1.64
2021	1.58	1.66
2022	1.46	1.66
2023	1.39	1.62
2024	1.4	1.62
2025	1.4	1.62
2026	1.41	1.62
2027	1.41	1.62
2028	1.42	1.62
2029	1.42	1.62
2030	1.42	1.62
2031	1.43	1.62
2032	1.43	1.62
2033	1.44	1.63
2034	1.44	1.62
2035	1.44	1.63
2036	1.45	1.63
2037	1.45	1.63
2038	1.45	1.63
2039	1.46	1.63
2040	1.46	1.63
2041	1.46	1.63
2042	1.47	1.63
2043	1.47	1.63
2044	1.47	1.63
2045	1.47	1.64
2046	1.48	1.64
2047	1.48	1.63
2048	1.48	1.64
2049	1.48	1.63
2050	1.48	1.64

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Germany	United States
1960	21.3%	31.3%
1961	21.7%	31.4%
1962	22%	31.3%
1963	22.3%	31.1%
1964	22.6%	30.9%
1965	22.8%	30.7%
1966	23%	30.4%
1967	23.1%	30%
1968	23.3%	29.5%
1969	23.3%	29%
1970	23.2%	28.6%
1971	23%	28%
1972	22.8%	27.4%
1973	22.4%	26.6%
1974	22%	25.9%
1975	21.5%	25.2%
1976	20.9%	24.4%
1977	20.3%	23.8%
1978	19.7%	23.2%
1979	19.1%	22.8%
1980	18.5%	22.4%
1981	17.9%	22.1%
1982	17.4%	22%
1983	16.9%	21.8%
1984	16.4%	21.7%
1985	16%	21.5%
1986	15.8%	21.3%
1987	15.6%	21.3%
1988	15.7%	21.3%
1989	15.9%	21.5%
1990	16.1%	21.6%
1991	16.3%	21.7%
1992	16.3%	21.8%
1993	16.3%	21.9%
1994	16.3%	21.9%
1995	16.3%	21.8%
1996	16.2%	21.7%
1997	16.1%	21.5%
1998	15.9%	21.4%
1999	15.8%	21.3%
2000	15.7%	21.2%
2001	15.5%	21%
2002	15.3%	20.9%
2003	15%	20.7%
2004	14.8%	20.5%
2005	14.5%	20.3%
2006	14.2%	20.2%
2007	14%	20%
2008	13.8%	19.9%
2009	13.8%	19.8%
2010	13.7%	19.7%
2011	13.6%	19.6%
2012	13.4%	19.5%
2013	13.2%	19.4%
2014	13.2%	19.3%
2015	13.2%	19.2%
2016	13.3%	19.1%
2017	13.5%	18.9%
2018	13.6%	18.8%
2019	13.7%	18.6%
2020	13.8%	18.4%
2021	13.9%	18.1%
2022	13.9%	17.9%
2023	13.9%	17.6%
2024	13.9%	17.3%
2025	13.9%	17.1%
2026	13.9%	16.9%
2027	13.8%	16.7%
2028	13.8%	16.6%
2029	13.7%	16.4%
2030	13.6%	16.3%
2031	13.5%	16.1%
2032	13.4%	16%
2033	13.2%	16%
2034	13.1%	15.9%
2035	12.9%	15.9%
2036	12.8%	15.9%
2037	12.7%	15.9%
2038	12.6%	15.9%
2039	12.6%	15.9%
2040	12.6%	15.9%
2041	12.5%	16%
2042	12.5%	16%
2043	12.6%	16%
2044	12.6%	16%
2045	12.7%	16%
2046	12.7%	16%
2047	12.8%	16%
2048	12.9%	16%
2049	13%	15.9%
2050	13.1%	15.9%

Children aged 0-14 make up 13.9% of the population in Germany and 17.3% in the United States in 2024, compared to 16.1% and 21.6% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Germany and the United States compared.

Natural population change in Germany vs United States by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been -0.25% in Germany and +0.25% in the United States. 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
	Germany	United States
1960	385,919	2,565,530
1961	462,279	2,571,681
1962	436,752	2,406,337
1963	455,757	2,289,826
1964	482,038	2,245,099
1965	410,204	1,943,030
1966	405,982	1,749,387
1967	353,977	1,669,181
1968	239,612	1,565,507
1969	155,820	1,702,487
1970	70,352	1,824,965
1971	46,988	1,640,519
1972	-62,950	1,301,355
1973	-149,980	1,165,499
1974	-150,038	1,218,968
1975	-212,418	1,252,644
1976	-164,508	1,264,604
1977	-125,055	1,431,556
1978	-140,566	1,402,283
1979	-125,002	1,597,894
1980	-86,117	1,608,450
1981	-94,090	1,652,153
1982	-78,333	1,714,317
1983	-109,380	1,636,544
1984	-109,002	1,627,192
1985	-116,527	1,689,258
1986	-77,721	1,656,917
1987	-31,136	1,720,252
1988	-7,815	1,735,943
1989	-23,625	1,875,826
1990	-15,887	2,026,068
1991	-80,014	1,926,543
1992	-80,625	1,875,328
1993	-105,503	1,717,685
1994	-114,013	1,633,302
1995	-114,349	1,546,031
1996	-90,107	1,510,137
1997	-49,221	1,501,014
1998	-65,637	1,573,857
1999	-73,890	1,564,050
2000	-73,990	1,664,758
2001	-98,820	1,595,826
2002	-123,733	1,581,938
2003	-140,309	1,653,615
2004	-107,271	1,698,271
2005	-148,445	1,684,445
2006	-148,278	1,849,955
2007	-148,080	1,897,757
2008	-164,220	1,794,154
2009	-188,375	1,717,920
2010	-179,909	1,548,182
2011	-184,632	1,441,697
2012	-193,022	1,411,822
2013	-209,679	1,322,711
2014	-153,866	1,357,281
2015	-187,879	1,270,126
2016	-123,523	1,197,627
2017	-148,783	1,028,037
2018	-165,812	955,022
2019	-157,877	887,476
2020	-216,218	208,862
2021	-224,629	199,137
2022	-326,812	399,926
2023	-335,608	502,372

Maternal mortality chart: Germany vs United States

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 4 deaths per 100,000 live births in Germany, compared to 17 deaths in the United States.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Germany	United States
1985	14	11
1986	14	11
1987	13	11
1988	13	12
1989	12	12
1990	12	12
1991	11	12
1992	10	11
1993	9	12
1994	9	11
1995	8	12
1996	8	11
1997	8	11
1998	7	11
1999	7	12
2000	7	12
2001	6	13
2002	6	13
2003	6	13
2004	6	13
2005	6	13
2006	6	13
2007	5	13
2008	6	14
2009	6	15
2010	5	15
2011	5	15
2012	5	16
2013	5	16
2014	5	17
2015	5	17
2016	4	18
2017	4	18
2018	4	18
2019	4	18
2020	4	22
2021	4	31
2022	4	20
2023	4	17

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.37% in Germany and 0.65% in the United States. 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
	Germany	United States
1960	-	3.01%
1961	-	2.95%
1962	-	2.89%
1963	-	2.83%
1964	-	2.77%
1965	-	2.71%
1966	-	2.64%
1967	-	2.57%
1968	2.71%	2.49%
1969	2.64%	2.41%
1970	2.57%	2.32%
1971	2.49%	2.24%
1972	2.4%	2.15%
1973	2.31%	2.06%
1974	2.2%	1.97%
1975	2.08%	1.88%
1976	1.95%	1.79%
1977	1.83%	1.71%
1978	1.71%	1.63%
1979	1.6%	1.56%
1980	1.5%	1.5%
1981	1.41%	1.44%
1982	1.32%	1.39%
1983	1.25%	1.34%
1984	1.18%	1.3%
1985	1.11%	1.27%
1986	1.06%	1.24%
1987	1.01%	1.21%
1988	0.95%	1.19%
1989	0.9%	1.16%
1990	0.85%	1.12%
1991	0.8%	1.09%
1992	0.76%	1.05%
1993	0.72%	1.01%
1994	0.68%	0.98%
1995	0.65%	0.95%
1996	0.62%	0.92%
1997	0.59%	0.89%
1998	0.57%	0.87%
1999	0.55%	0.86%
2000	0.54%	0.84%
2001	0.52%	0.83%
2002	0.51%	0.82%
2003	0.5%	0.81%
2004	0.48%	0.81%
2005	0.47%	0.8%
2006	0.46%	0.79%
2007	0.45%	0.77%
2008	0.44%	0.76%
2009	0.43%	0.75%
2010	0.42%	0.73%
2011	0.41%	0.72%
2012	0.4%	0.7%
2013	0.4%	0.69%
2014	0.4%	0.68%
2015	0.39%	0.68%
2016	0.39%	0.67%
2017	0.38%	0.66%
2018	0.38%	0.65%
2019	0.37%	0.65%
2020	0.37%	0.65%
2021	0.37%	0.65%
2022	0.37%	0.65%
2023	0.37%	0.65%