Fertility & birth rates in Iceland and Netherlands

Fertility rate in Iceland vs Netherlands chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Iceland was 1.59 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1.43 in the Netherlands in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Iceland vs the Netherlands population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Iceland	Netherlands
1960	4.29	3.12
1961	3.88	3.22
1962	3.98	3.18
1963	3.99	3.19
1964	3.88	3.17
1965	3.73	3.04
1966	3.59	2.9
1967	3.28	2.81
1968	3.06	2.72
1969	2.99	2.75
1970	2.81	2.57
1971	2.92	2.36
1972	3.09	2.15
1973	2.94	1.9
1974	2.66	1.77
1975	2.65	1.66
1976	2.52	1.63
1977	2.31	1.58
1978	2.35	1.58
1979	2.49	1.56
1980	2.48	1.6
1981	2.33	1.56
1982	2.27	1.5
1983	2.24	1.47
1984	2.08	1.49
1985	1.93	1.51
1986	1.92	1.55
1987	2.06	1.56
1988	2.26	1.55
1989	2.19	1.55
1990	2.3	1.62
1991	2.18	1.61
1992	2.21	1.59
1993	2.22	1.57
1994	2.14	1.57
1995	2.08	1.53
1996	2.12	1.53
1997	2.04	1.56
1998	2.05	1.63
1999	1.99	1.65
2000	2.08	1.72
2001	1.95	1.71
2002	1.93	1.73
2003	1.99	1.75
2004	2.04	1.72
2005	2.05	1.71
2006	2.08	1.72
2007	2.09	1.72
2008	2.15	1.77
2009	2.23	1.79
2010	2.2	1.79
2011	2.02	1.76
2012	2.04	1.72
2013	1.93	1.68
2014	1.93	1.71
2015	1.8	1.66
2016	1.74	1.66
2017	1.71	1.62
2018	1.71	1.59
2019	1.74	1.57
2020	1.72	1.54
2021	1.82	1.62
2022	1.59	1.49
2023	1.59	1.43
2024	1.57	1.43
2025	1.55	1.44
2026	1.54	1.44
2027	1.53	1.45
2028	1.53	1.45
2029	1.53	1.45
2030	1.52	1.46
2031	1.52	1.46
2032	1.52	1.47
2033	1.53	1.47
2034	1.53	1.48
2035	1.53	1.48
2036	1.53	1.48
2037	1.53	1.48
2038	1.53	1.48
2039	1.54	1.49
2040	1.54	1.49
2041	1.54	1.49
2042	1.54	1.5
2043	1.54	1.5
2044	1.54	1.5
2045	1.54	1.5
2046	1.55	1.5
2047	1.55	1.51
2048	1.55	1.51
2049	1.55	1.51
2050	1.56	1.51

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Iceland	Netherlands
1960	34.9%	30%
1961	35%	29.7%
1962	34.9%	29.1%
1963	34.9%	28.7%
1964	34.7%	28.5%
1965	34.5%	28.3%
1966	34.3%	28.1%
1967	34%	27.8%
1968	33.6%	27.6%
1969	33.2%	27.5%
1970	32.6%	27.3%
1971	32.1%	27.1%
1972	31.6%	26.8%
1973	31.2%	26.4%
1974	30.7%	25.9%
1975	30.1%	25.3%
1976	29.5%	24.8%
1977	29%	24.2%
1978	28.4%	23.5%
1979	27.9%	22.9%
1980	27.5%	22.3%
1981	27.2%	21.8%
1982	26.9%	21.3%
1983	26.7%	20.7%
1984	26.5%	20.1%
1985	26.2%	19.5%
1986	25.9%	19.1%
1987	25.6%	18.7%
1988	25.2%	18.5%
1989	25%	18.4%
1990	25%	18.4%
1991	24.8%	18.4%
1992	24.8%	18.5%
1993	24.8%	18.5%
1994	24.7%	18.6%
1995	24.4%	18.6%
1996	24.1%	18.6%
1997	23.9%	18.6%
1998	23.6%	18.6%
1999	23.4%	18.7%
2000	23.3%	18.8%
2001	23.2%	18.8%
2002	23%	18.8%
2003	22.8%	18.7%
2004	22.5%	18.6%
2005	22.1%	18.5%
2006	21.5%	18.3%
2007	21.1%	18.1%
2008	20.9%	17.9%
2009	20.9%	17.7%
2010	20.9%	17.6%
2011	20.8%	17.4%
2012	20.7%	17.3%
2013	20.6%	17.1%
2014	20.4%	16.9%
2015	20.2%	16.6%
2016	19.9%	16.4%
2017	19.6%	16.2%
2018	19.2%	16%
2019	18.9%	15.8%
2020	18.7%	15.6%
2021	18.6%	15.5%
2022	18.4%	15.4%
2023	18.1%	15.2%
2024	17.8%	15%
2025	17.5%	14.9%
2026	17.3%	14.9%
2027	17.1%	14.8%
2028	17%	14.8%
2029	16.8%	14.8%
2030	16.7%	14.8%
2031	16.6%	14.8%
2032	16.5%	14.7%
2033	16.3%	14.7%
2034	16.1%	14.7%
2035	15.9%	14.7%
2036	15.6%	14.7%
2037	15.4%	14.6%
2038	15.2%	14.6%
2039	15%	14.6%
2040	14.8%	14.5%
2041	14.7%	14.5%
2042	14.5%	14.4%
2043	14.4%	14.4%
2044	14.2%	14.3%
2045	14.1%	14.2%
2046	14%	14.1%
2047	13.9%	14.1%
2048	13.8%	14%
2049	13.7%	13.9%
2050	13.6%	13.8%

Children aged 0-14 make up 17.8% of the population in Iceland and 15% in the Netherlands in 2024, compared to 25% and 18.4% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Iceland and the Netherlands compared.

Natural population change in Iceland vs Netherlands by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.57% in Iceland and +0.08% in the Netherlands. 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
	Iceland	Netherlands
1960	3,758	151,623
1961	3,312	159,450
1962	3,465	153,474
1963	3,490	154,361
1964	3,459	157,653
1965	3,442	146,308
1966	3,305	138,265
1967	3,021	138,580
1968	2,841	132,389
1969	2,766	139,082
1970	2,576	129,082
1971	2,782	116,112
1972	3,241	101,297
1973	3,121	84,668
1974	2,776	75,853
1975	2,965	64,232
1976	2,951	63,361
1977	2,551	63,739
1978	2,727	61,344
1979	2,980	63,172
1980	2,966	66,504
1981	2,677	62,688
1982	2,736	54,388
1983	2,702	51,722
1984	2,539	54,812
1985	2,221	55,069
1986	2,384	59,746
1987	2,360	64,526
1988	2,847	61,993
1989	2,832	59,396
1990	3,058	68,777
1991	2,733	69,321
1992	2,898	66,811
1993	2,875	58,103
1994	2,713	61,532
1995	2,354	54,106
1996	2,447	51,251
1997	2,305	56,198
1998	2,357	61,258
1999	2,192	60,086
2000	2,475	66,887
2001	2,365	62,580
2002	2,243	59,751
2003	2,317	58,411
2004	2,425	56,987
2005	2,433	50,592
2006	2,491	49,038
2007	2,617	49,145
2008	2,825	49,337
2009	3,026	51,244
2010	2,862	48,184
2011	2,521	45,072
2012	2,566	35,186
2013	2,169	30,248
2014	2,324	35,417
2015	1,952	23,716
2016	1,711	23,843
2017	1,854	18,844
2018	1,975	15,508
2019	2,163	17,345
2020	2,199	0
2021	2,534	7,014
2022	1,719	-1,770
2023	1,730	-5,363

Maternal mortality chart: Iceland vs Netherlands

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 3 deaths per 100,000 live births in Iceland, compared to 4 deaths in the Netherlands.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Iceland	Netherlands
1985	11	12
1986	15	12
1987	13	12
1988	11	12
1989	14	12
1990	13	12
1991	11	12
1992	12	12
1993	10	12
1994	9	12
1995	13	12
1996	7	12
1997	8	13
1998	8	12
1999	7	13
2000	7	13
2001	6	13
2002	7	13
2003	6	12
2004	6	11
2005	5	10
2006	5	9
2007	5	8
2008	4	8
2009	5	7
2010	5	6
2011	4	7
2012	4	6
2013	4	6
2014	4	5
2015	4	5
2016	3	5
2017	3	5
2018	4	5
2019	4	5
2020	12	4
2021	5	5
2022	5	4
2023	3	4

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.26% in Iceland and 0.4% in the Netherlands. 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
	Iceland	Netherlands
1960	2.14%	2.08%
1961	2.11%	2.03%
1962	2.07%	1.97%
1963	2.02%	1.92%
1964	1.97%	1.88%
1965	1.92%	1.83%
1966	1.85%	1.79%
1967	1.79%	1.74%
1968	1.72%	1.69%
1969	1.66%	1.64%
1970	1.6%	1.58%
1971	1.54%	1.53%
1972	1.48%	1.47%
1973	1.41%	1.41%
1974	1.35%	1.36%
1975	1.29%	1.31%
1976	1.22%	1.26%
1977	1.15%	1.21%
1978	1.09%	1.16%
1979	1.03%	1.12%
1980	0.97%	1.09%
1981	0.92%	1.06%
1982	0.87%	1.04%
1983	0.83%	1.02%
1984	0.79%	0.99%
1985	0.75%	0.97%
1986	0.73%	0.95%
1987	0.7%	0.92%
1988	0.67%	0.89%
1989	0.65%	0.86%
1990	0.63%	0.83%
1991	0.61%	0.8%
1992	0.58%	0.77%
1993	0.56%	0.74%
1994	0.54%	0.71%
1995	0.52%	0.69%
1996	0.49%	0.67%
1997	0.47%	0.66%
1998	0.45%	0.64%
1999	0.42%	0.63%
2000	0.4%	0.62%
2001	0.38%	0.61%
2002	0.36%	0.59%
2003	0.34%	0.57%
2004	0.33%	0.55%
2005	0.31%	0.53%
2006	0.3%	0.51%
2007	0.29%	0.49%
2008	0.28%	0.47%
2009	0.27%	0.46%
2010	0.27%	0.44%
2011	0.27%	0.43%
2012	0.26%	0.42%
2013	0.26%	0.42%
2014	0.26%	0.41%
2015	0.26%	0.41%
2016	0.26%	0.41%
2017	0.26%	0.4%
2018	0.27%	0.4%
2019	0.27%	0.4%
2020	0.27%	0.4%
2021	0.27%	0.4%
2022	0.26%	0.4%
2023	0.26%	0.4%