Fertility & birth rates in Iran and North Korea

Fertility rate in Iran vs North Korea chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Iran was 1.7 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 Iran 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
	Iran	North Korea
1960	7.52	3.57
1961	7.46	3.26
1962	7.4	3.41
1963	7.32	3.63
1964	7.24	3.55
1965	7.22	3.56
1966	7.21	3.71
1967	7.19	4.05
1968	7.12	3.87
1969	7.01	3.86
1970	6.8	3.85
1971	6.55	3.74
1972	6.26	3.89
1973	6.06	3.35
1974	5.97	3.14
1975	5.95	3.05
1976	6.07	2.84
1977	6.18	2.77
1978	6.34	2.79
1979	6.55	2.85
1980	6.63	2.84
1981	6.62	2.92
1982	6.59	2.85
1983	6.53	2.78
1984	6.43	2.71
1985	6.24	2.65
1986	6.01	2.59
1987	5.72	2.53
1988	5.43	2.47
1989	5.17	2.41
1990	4.93	2.39
1991	4.57	2.35
1992	4.1	2.29
1993	3.67	2.22
1994	3.24	2.18
1995	2.85	2.15
1996	2.54	2.09
1997	2.32	2.03
1998	2.19	1.99
1999	2.09	1.97
2000	2	1.94
2001	1.92	1.94
2002	1.84	1.92
2003	1.8	1.91
2004	1.78	1.9
2005	1.76	1.87
2006	1.76	1.94
2007	1.75	1.94
2008	1.74	1.97
2009	1.74	1.91
2010	1.75	1.89
2011	1.79	1.88
2012	1.85	1.88
2013	1.91	1.88
2014	1.98	1.87
2015	2.02	1.86
2016	2.05	1.86
2017	2.02	1.85
2018	1.92	1.83
2019	1.77	1.83
2020	1.7	1.82
2021	1.71	1.81
2022	1.7	1.8
2023	1.7	1.78
2024	1.68	1.78
2025	1.67	1.77
2026	1.66	1.75
2027	1.65	1.74
2028	1.64	1.73
2029	1.64	1.73
2030	1.63	1.72
2031	1.63	1.72
2032	1.63	1.71
2033	1.63	1.71
2034	1.63	1.71
2035	1.63	1.7
2036	1.63	1.7
2037	1.63	1.7
2038	1.63	1.69
2039	1.63	1.69
2040	1.63	1.69
2041	1.63	1.69
2042	1.63	1.69
2043	1.63	1.69
2044	1.63	1.68
2045	1.63	1.68
2046	1.63	1.68
2047	1.63	1.68
2048	1.63	1.67
2049	1.63	1.67
2050	1.63	1.67

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Iran	North Korea
1960	43.5%	37.5%
1961	44.1%	37%
1962	44.6%	36.6%
1963	44.9%	36.5%
1964	45%	36.6%
1965	45%	36.7%
1966	44.9%	37.3%
1967	44.8%	38.3%
1968	44.8%	39.2%
1969	44.7%	39.8%
1970	44.6%	40.1%
1971	44.4%	40.3%
1972	44.2%	40.2%
1973	43.8%	39.8%
1974	43.5%	39.3%
1975	43.2%	38.8%
1976	43%	38.3%
1977	42.9%	37.7%
1978	43%	36.9%
1979	43.1%	36%
1980	43.3%	35.1%
1981	42.9%	34.2%
1982	42.7%	33.1%
1983	43%	32%
1984	43.3%	30.9%
1985	43.5%	29.9%
1986	43.7%	29%
1987	43.9%	28%
1988	44%	27.3%
1989	44.2%	26.8%
1990	44.1%	26.5%
1991	43.9%	26.4%
1992	43.6%	26.3%
1993	43.6%	26.4%
1994	43.2%	26.4%
1995	42.1%	26.4%
1996	40.7%	26.3%
1997	39.1%	26.2%
1998	37.3%	26%
1999	35.4%	25.8%
2000	33.6%	25.6%
2001	31.7%	25.3%
2002	30.1%	25%
2003	28.7%	24.6%
2004	27.4%	24.3%
2005	26.2%	23.9%
2006	25.3%	23.4%
2007	24.6%	23%
2008	24%	22.5%
2009	23.7%	22.1%
2010	23.4%	21.6%
2011	23.3%	21.2%
2012	23.3%	20.8%
2013	23.3%	20.4%
2014	23.4%	20.1%
2015	23.6%	19.8%
2016	23.8%	19.6%
2017	23.9%	19.4%
2018	24%	19.2%
2019	23.9%	19.1%
2020	23.8%	19.1%
2021	23.6%	19.1%
2022	23.2%	19%
2023	22.8%	19%
2024	22.4%	18.9%
2025	22%	18.9%
2026	21.6%	18.9%
2027	21.1%	18.8%
2028	20.5%	18.7%
2029	19.9%	18.6%
2030	19.3%	18.5%
2031	18.6%	18.3%
2032	18%	18.1%
2033	17.4%	17.9%
2034	17%	17.6%
2035	16.7%	17.4%
2036	16.4%	17.1%
2037	16.2%	16.8%
2038	15.9%	16.6%
2039	15.8%	16.3%
2040	15.6%	16.1%
2041	15.5%	15.9%
2042	15.4%	15.7%
2043	15.3%	15.5%
2044	15.3%	15.4%
2045	15.2%	15.3%
2046	15.2%	15.2%
2047	15.2%	15.2%
2048	15.2%	15.2%
2049	15.1%	15.2%
2050	15.1%	15.2%

Children aged 0-14 make up 22.4% of the population in Iran and 18.9% in North Korea in 2024, compared to 44.1% and 26.5% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Iran and North Korea compared.

Natural population change in Iran vs North Korea by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.1% in Iran 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
	Iran	North Korea
1960	584,060	277,717
1961	594,674	257,788
1962	595,538	286,534
1963	620,126	321,805
1964	635,589	323,623
1965	663,029	335,587
1966	695,040	363,882
1967	727,276	414,632
1968	743,992	399,837
1969	780,660	404,189
1970	794,612	406,129
1971	805,830	393,220
1972	804,043	411,997
1973	831,880	338,600
1974	873,369	306,902
1975	929,481	288,966
1976	1,013,347	255,841
1977	1,091,542	242,870
1978	1,156,974	243,533
1979	1,294,306	251,409
1980	1,361,293	255,206
1981	1,376,830	273,800
1982	1,514,240	276,332
1983	1,573,612	279,046
1984	1,653,051	282,987
1985	1,661,750	287,714
1986	1,659,289	293,227
1987	1,639,644	296,030
1988	1,614,512	299,305
1989	1,609,739	303,078
1990	1,530,434	312,460
1991	1,495,594	320,551
1992	1,365,466	324,002
1993	1,219,658	320,880
1994	1,008,076	320,861
1995	879,648	233,381
1996	784,508	226,095
1997	726,574	211,325
1998	717,655	197,589
1999	723,237	181,613
2000	731,203	161,591
2001	743,658	143,321
2002	752,205	119,504
2003	732,600	178,775
2004	801,203	155,838
2005	837,305	132,765
2006	884,529	129,171
2007	919,254	120,521
2008	940,983	122,015
2009	958,322	111,530
2010	980,380	112,443
2011	1,023,925	114,798
2012	1,073,804	118,773
2013	1,119,533	122,519
2014	1,158,552	127,078
2015	1,178,317	127,365
2016	1,186,949	125,048
2017	1,140,549	120,181
2018	1,035,052	113,164
2019	893,063	106,208
2020	663,978	95,920
2021	645,725	99,710
2022	753,525	96,495
2023	750,150	86,203

Maternal mortality chart: Iran vs North Korea

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 16 deaths per 100,000 live births in Iran, compared to 67 deaths in North Korea.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Iran	North Korea
1985	160	76
1986	148	68
1987	136	62
1988	126	55
1989	113	49
1990	107	43
1991	94	38
1992	86	37
1993	80	46
1994	71	57
1995	65	127
1996	59	128
1997	55	128
1998	50	129
1999	46	129
2000	43	129
2001	40	130
2002	38	131
2003	37	76
2004	34	77
2005	33	78
2006	32	80
2007	31	80
2008	30	79
2009	28	78
2010	27	77
2011	26	76
2012	25	76
2013	24	75
2014	23	73
2015	22	72
2016	21	71
2017	20	70
2018	19	69
2019	18	66
2020	34	66
2021	51	72
2022	21	67
2023	16	67

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.18% in Iran 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
	Iran	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	18.9%	6.58%
1972	18%	6.2%
1973	17.1%	5.86%
1974	16.2%	5.56%
1975	15.3%	5.28%
1976	14.4%	5.03%
1977	13.5%	4.8%
1978	12.6%	4.59%
1979	11.7%	4.4%
1980	10.8%	4.22%
1981	10%	4.05%
1982	9.3%	3.91%
1983	8.67%	3.8%
1984	8.13%	3.71%
1985	7.64%	3.68%
1986	7.2%	3.68%
1987	6.8%	3.78%
1988	6.42%	3.83%
1989	6.07%	3.95%
1990	5.76%	4.07%
1991	5.48%	4.18%
1992	5.22%	4.25%
1993	5%	4.27%
1994	4.79%	4.25%
1995	4.59%	10.8%
1996	4.4%	10.6%
1997	4.21%	10.5%
1998	4.02%	10.3%
1999	3.83%	10.2%
2000	3.63%	10%
2001	3.42%	9.9%
2002	3.22%	9.78%
2003	3.02%	3.45%
2004	2.83%	3.38%
2005	2.65%	3.33%
2006	2.48%	3.28%
2007	2.32%	3.24%
2008	2.17%	3.1%
2009	2.04%	3%
2010	1.93%	2.87%
2011	1.84%	2.72%
2012	1.75%	2.57%
2013	1.68%	2.41%
2014	1.61%	2.26%
2015	1.55%	2.14%
2016	1.5%	2.06%
2017	1.45%	1.91%
2018	1.39%	1.84%
2019	1.35%	1.77%
2020	1.3%	1.74%
2021	1.26%	1.74%
2022	1.22%	1.77%
2023	1.18%	1.8%