Fertility & birth rates in Iran and South Africa

Fertility rate in Iran vs South Africa 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 2.22 in South Africa in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Iran vs South Africa 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	South Africa
1960	7.52	6.11
1961	7.46	6.08
1962	7.4	6.05
1963	7.32	6.01
1964	7.24	5.96
1965	7.22	5.89
1966	7.21	5.91
1967	7.19	5.85
1968	7.12	5.78
1969	7.01	5.72
1970	6.8	5.63
1971	6.55	5.57
1972	6.26	5.49
1973	6.06	5.41
1974	5.97	5.3
1975	5.95	5.19
1976	6.07	5.07
1977	6.18	4.94
1978	6.34	4.85
1979	6.55	4.82
1980	6.63	4.78
1981	6.62	4.71
1982	6.59	4.7
1983	6.53	4.63
1984	6.43	4.57
1985	6.24	4.5
1986	6.01	4.41
1987	5.72	4.35
1988	5.43	4.18
1989	5.17	3.98
1990	4.93	3.72
1991	4.57	3.62
1992	4.1	3.48
1993	3.67	3.37
1994	3.24	3.26
1995	2.85	3.17
1996	2.54	2.99
1997	2.32	2.73
1998	2.19	2.63
1999	2.09	2.56
2000	2	2.41
2001	1.92	2.37
2002	1.84	2.32
2003	1.8	2.36
2004	1.78	2.44
2005	1.76	2.51
2006	1.76	2.55
2007	1.75	2.55
2008	1.74	2.68
2009	1.74	2.5
2010	1.75	2.44
2011	1.79	2.44
2012	1.85	2.45
2013	1.91	2.43
2014	1.98	2.42
2015	2.02	2.36
2016	2.05	2.26
2017	2.02	2.28
2018	1.92	2.27
2019	1.77	2.26
2020	1.7	2.26
2021	1.71	2.25
2022	1.7	2.23
2023	1.7	2.22
2024	1.68	2.21
2025	1.67	2.19
2026	1.66	2.17
2027	1.65	2.15
2028	1.64	2.13
2029	1.64	2.12
2030	1.63	2.1
2031	1.63	2.09
2032	1.63	2.07
2033	1.63	2.06
2034	1.63	2.05
2035	1.63	2.04
2036	1.63	2.03
2037	1.63	2.02
2038	1.63	2
2039	1.63	1.99
2040	1.63	1.98
2041	1.63	1.98
2042	1.63	1.97
2043	1.63	1.96
2044	1.63	1.95
2045	1.63	1.94
2046	1.63	1.93
2047	1.63	1.92
2048	1.63	1.91
2049	1.63	1.9
2050	1.63	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Iran	South Africa
1960	43.5%	42.1%
1961	44.1%	42.1%
1962	44.6%	42.1%
1963	44.9%	42.1%
1964	45%	42.1%
1965	45%	42.1%
1966	44.9%	42.1%
1967	44.8%	42.2%
1968	44.8%	42.2%
1969	44.7%	42.2%
1970	44.6%	42.3%
1971	44.4%	42.2%
1972	44.2%	42.2%
1973	43.8%	42.1%
1974	43.5%	42%
1975	43.2%	41.9%
1976	43%	41.8%
1977	42.9%	41.7%
1978	43%	41.5%
1979	43.1%	41.3%
1980	43.3%	40.9%
1981	42.9%	40.5%
1982	42.7%	40.1%
1983	43%	39.8%
1984	43.3%	39.5%
1985	43.5%	39.2%
1986	43.7%	38.9%
1987	43.9%	38.7%
1988	44%	38.4%
1989	44.2%	38.1%
1990	44.1%	37.7%
1991	43.9%	37.5%
1992	43.6%	37.6%
1993	43.6%	37.3%
1994	43.2%	37.2%
1995	42.1%	37.5%
1996	40.7%	37.5%
1997	39.1%	37.2%
1998	37.3%	36.5%
1999	35.4%	35.7%
2000	33.6%	34.9%
2001	31.7%	34%
2002	30.1%	33.2%
2003	28.7%	32.3%
2004	27.4%	31.6%
2005	26.2%	31.1%
2006	25.3%	30.6%
2007	24.6%	30.2%
2008	24%	29.9%
2009	23.7%	29.7%
2010	23.4%	29.4%
2011	23.3%	29.1%
2012	23.3%	28.9%
2013	23.3%	28.7%
2014	23.4%	28.5%
2015	23.6%	28.3%
2016	23.8%	28.3%
2017	23.9%	28.3%
2018	24%	27.9%
2019	23.9%	27.4%
2020	23.8%	27%
2021	23.6%	26.6%
2022	23.2%	26.3%
2023	22.8%	26.1%
2024	22.4%	25.9%
2025	22%	25.7%
2026	21.6%	25.6%
2027	21.1%	25.4%
2028	20.5%	25.3%
2029	19.9%	25.2%
2030	19.3%	25.2%
2031	18.6%	25.1%
2032	18%	25%
2033	17.4%	24.8%
2034	17%	24.5%
2035	16.7%	24.3%
2036	16.4%	23.9%
2037	16.2%	23.6%
2038	15.9%	23.4%
2039	15.8%	23.1%
2040	15.6%	22.9%
2041	15.5%	22.7%
2042	15.4%	22.5%
2043	15.3%	22.4%
2044	15.3%	22.2%
2045	15.2%	22.1%
2046	15.2%	21.9%
2047	15.2%	21.8%
2048	15.2%	21.7%
2049	15.1%	21.6%
2050	15.1%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 22.4% of the population in Iran and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 44.1% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Iran and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in Iran vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.1% in Iran and +1.05% in South Africa. 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	South Africa
1960	584,060	421,263
1961	594,674	437,851
1962	595,538	455,634
1963	620,126	473,821
1964	635,589	490,606
1965	663,029	506,632
1966	695,040	534,862
1967	727,276	553,741
1968	743,992	571,841
1969	780,660	590,794
1970	794,612	605,102
1971	805,830	624,761
1972	804,043	638,754
1973	831,880	651,596
1974	873,369	658,438
1975	929,481	667,862
1976	1,013,347	675,011
1977	1,091,542	680,929
1978	1,156,974	694,341
1979	1,294,306	716,541
1980	1,361,293	738,415
1981	1,376,830	767,833
1982	1,514,240	807,550
1983	1,573,612	837,013
1984	1,653,051	869,011
1985	1,661,750	893,889
1986	1,659,289	903,644
1987	1,639,644	922,330
1988	1,614,512	909,221
1989	1,609,739	884,629
1990	1,530,434	835,421
1991	1,495,594	827,296
1992	1,365,466	794,415
1993	1,219,658	789,220
1994	1,008,076	698,609
1995	879,648	743,488
1996	784,508	710,868
1997	726,574	667,969
1998	717,655	627,027
1999	723,237	594,643
2000	731,203	526,963
2001	743,658	484,801
2002	752,205	430,926
2003	732,600	415,018
2004	801,203	442,540
2005	837,305	464,464
2006	884,529	487,584
2007	919,254	503,567
2008	940,983	595,332
2009	958,322	554,115
2010	980,380	566,834
2011	1,023,925	601,708
2012	1,073,804	643,723
2013	1,119,533	652,427
2014	1,158,552	674,754
2015	1,178,317	668,771
2016	1,186,949	641,365
2017	1,140,549	645,975
2018	1,035,052	648,319
2019	893,063	652,130
2020	663,978	595,873
2021	645,725	456,411
2022	753,525	603,636
2023	750,150	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: Iran vs South Africa

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 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Iran	South Africa
1985	160	208
1986	148	200
1987	136	192
1988	126	184
1989	113	177
1990	107	170
1991	94	162
1992	86	152
1993	80	145
1994	71	133
1995	65	125
1996	59	150
1997	55	152
1998	50	152
1999	46	151
2000	43	175
2001	40	192
2002	38	225
2003	37	245
2004	34	259
2005	33	279
2006	32	283
2007	31	272
2008	30	272
2009	28	241
2010	27	226
2011	26	202
2012	25	194
2013	24	180
2014	23	162
2015	22	150
2016	21	141
2017	20	134
2018	19	128
2019	18	119
2020	34	118
2021	51	191
2022	21	129
2023	16	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.18% in Iran and 3.47% in South Africa. 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	South Africa
1971	18.9%	-
1972	18%	-
1973	17.1%	-
1974	16.2%	13.2%
1975	15.3%	12.5%
1976	14.4%	11.8%
1977	13.5%	11.1%
1978	12.6%	10.5%
1979	11.7%	9.88%
1980	10.8%	9.35%
1981	10%	8.84%
1982	9.3%	8.39%
1983	8.67%	7.98%
1984	8.13%	7.6%
1985	7.64%	7.24%
1986	7.2%	6.89%
1987	6.8%	6.56%
1988	6.42%	6.26%
1989	6.07%	6.01%
1990	5.76%	5.82%
1991	5.48%	5.7%
1992	5.22%	5.66%
1993	5%	5.7%
1994	4.79%	5.82%
1995	4.59%	5.95%
1996	4.4%	6.11%
1997	4.21%	6.29%
1998	4.02%	6.56%
1999	3.83%	6.85%
2000	3.63%	7.11%
2001	3.42%	7.43%
2002	3.22%	7.69%
2003	3.02%	7.93%
2004	2.83%	8.1%
2005	2.65%	8.03%
2006	2.48%	7.75%
2007	2.32%	7.19%
2008	2.17%	6.42%
2009	2.04%	5.7%
2010	1.93%	5%
2011	1.84%	4.5%
2012	1.75%	4.25%
2013	1.68%	4.1%
2014	1.61%	3.96%
2015	1.55%	3.82%
2016	1.5%	3.68%
2017	1.45%	3.58%
2018	1.39%	3.49%
2019	1.35%	3.45%
2020	1.3%	3.41%
2021	1.26%	3.41%
2022	1.22%	3.44%
2023	1.18%	3.47%