Fertility & birth rates in Iran and South Korea

Fertility rate in Iran vs South 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 0.72 in South Korea in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Iran vs South 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	South Korea
1960	7.52	5.99
1961	7.46	5.8
1962	7.4	5.56
1963	7.32	5.33
1964	7.24	5.07
1965	7.22	4.89
1966	7.21	4.78
1967	7.19	4.62
1968	7.12	4.51
1969	7.01	4.45
1970	6.8	4.53
1971	6.55	4.54
1972	6.26	4.12
1973	6.06	4.07
1974	5.97	3.77
1975	5.95	3.43
1976	6.07	3
1977	6.18	2.99
1978	6.34	2.64
1979	6.55	2.9
1980	6.63	2.82
1981	6.62	2.57
1982	6.59	2.39
1983	6.53	2.06
1984	6.43	1.74
1985	6.24	1.66
1986	6.01	1.58
1987	5.72	1.53
1988	5.43	1.55
1989	5.17	1.56
1990	4.93	1.57
1991	4.57	1.71
1992	4.1	1.76
1993	3.67	1.65
1994	3.24	1.66
1995	2.85	1.63
1996	2.54	1.57
1997	2.32	1.54
1998	2.19	1.46
1999	2.09	1.43
2000	2	1.48
2001	1.92	1.31
2002	1.84	1.18
2003	1.8	1.19
2004	1.78	1.16
2005	1.76	1.09
2006	1.76	1.13
2007	1.75	1.26
2008	1.74	1.19
2009	1.74	1.15
2010	1.75	1.23
2011	1.79	1.24
2012	1.85	1.3
2013	1.91	1.19
2014	1.98	1.21
2015	2.02	1.24
2016	2.05	1.17
2017	2.02	1.05
2018	1.92	0.98
2019	1.77	0.92
2020	1.7	0.84
2021	1.71	0.81
2022	1.7	0.78
2023	1.7	0.72
2024	1.68	0.73
2025	1.67	0.75
2026	1.66	0.76
2027	1.65	0.78
2028	1.64	0.79
2029	1.64	0.8
2030	1.63	0.82
2031	1.63	0.83
2032	1.63	0.84
2033	1.63	0.85
2034	1.63	0.86
2035	1.63	0.88
2036	1.63	0.89
2037	1.63	0.9
2038	1.63	0.91
2039	1.63	0.92
2040	1.63	0.93
2041	1.63	0.95
2042	1.63	0.96
2043	1.63	0.96
2044	1.63	0.97
2045	1.63	0.98
2046	1.63	0.99
2047	1.63	1
2048	1.63	1.01
2049	1.63	1.02
2050	1.63	1.03

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Iran	South Korea
1960	43.5%	41.3%
1961	44.1%	41.8%
1962	44.6%	42.3%
1963	44.9%	42.7%
1964	45%	43.1%
1965	45%	43.3%
1966	44.9%	43.5%
1967	44.8%	43.3%
1968	44.8%	43.1%
1969	44.7%	42.7%
1970	44.6%	42.1%
1971	44.4%	41.5%
1972	44.2%	41%
1973	43.8%	40.3%
1974	43.5%	39.5%
1975	43.2%	38.5%
1976	43%	37.5%
1977	42.9%	36.5%
1978	43%	35.6%
1979	43.1%	34.8%
1980	43.3%	34%
1981	42.9%	33.3%
1982	42.7%	32.7%
1983	43%	32%
1984	43.3%	31.2%
1985	43.5%	30.2%
1986	43.7%	29.2%
1987	43.9%	28.2%
1988	44%	27.3%
1989	44.2%	26.5%
1990	44.1%	25.8%
1991	43.9%	25.2%
1992	43.6%	24.7%
1993	43.6%	24.2%
1994	43.2%	23.7%
1995	42.1%	23.1%
1996	40.7%	22.5%
1997	39.1%	22%
1998	37.3%	21.6%
1999	35.4%	21.2%
2000	33.6%	21%
2001	31.7%	20.8%
2002	30.1%	20.5%
2003	28.7%	20.1%
2004	27.4%	19.7%
2005	26.2%	19.2%
2006	25.3%	18.7%
2007	24.6%	18.1%
2008	24%	17.5%
2009	23.7%	16.9%
2010	23.4%	16.4%
2011	23.3%	15.8%
2012	23.3%	15.2%
2013	23.3%	14.7%
2014	23.4%	14.2%
2015	23.6%	13.8%
2016	23.8%	13.4%
2017	23.9%	13%
2018	24%	12.7%
2019	23.9%	12.4%
2020	23.8%	12.1%
2021	23.6%	11.8%
2022	23.2%	11.4%
2023	22.8%	11%
2024	22.4%	10.6%
2025	22%	10.2%
2026	21.6%	9.82%
2027	21.1%	9.42%
2028	20.5%	9.06%
2029	19.9%	8.75%
2030	19.3%	8.43%
2031	18.6%	8.15%
2032	18%	7.94%
2033	17.4%	7.79%
2034	17%	7.7%
2035	16.7%	7.66%
2036	16.4%	7.65%
2037	16.2%	7.66%
2038	15.9%	7.68%
2039	15.8%	7.71%
2040	15.6%	7.73%
2041	15.5%	7.75%
2042	15.4%	7.76%
2043	15.3%	7.77%
2044	15.3%	7.78%
2045	15.2%	7.79%
2046	15.2%	7.8%
2047	15.2%	7.81%
2048	15.2%	7.82%
2049	15.1%	7.82%
2050	15.1%	7.83%

Children aged 0-14 make up 22.4% of the population in Iran and 10.6% in South Korea in 2024, compared to 44.1% and 25.8% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Iran and South Korea compared.

Natural population change in Iran vs South Korea by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.1% in Iran and +0.06% in South 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	South Korea
1960	584,060	728,010
1961	594,674	730,173
1962	595,538	712,590
1963	620,126	685,824
1964	635,589	655,501
1965	663,029	641,090
1966	695,040	623,534
1967	727,276	692,169
1968	743,992	684,487
1969	780,660	694,227
1970	794,612	747,987
1971	805,830	789,185
1972	804,043	740,469
1973	831,880	699,115
1974	873,369	673,030
1975	929,481	603,300
1976	1,013,347	530,558
1977	1,091,542	578,947
1978	1,156,974	499,084
1979	1,294,306	623,068
1980	1,361,293	583,294
1981	1,376,830	631,189
1982	1,514,240	605,626
1983	1,573,612	514,844
1984	1,653,051	436,384
1985	1,661,750	416,219
1986	1,659,289	395,651
1987	1,639,644	378,758
1988	1,614,512	399,297
1989	1,609,739	403,266
1990	1,530,434	411,546
1991	1,495,594	467,594
1992	1,365,466	494,352
1993	1,219,658	477,302
1994	1,008,076	473,200
1995	879,648	468,967
1996	784,508	446,142
1997	726,574	422,773
1998	717,655	393,436
1999	723,237	368,272
2000	731,203	390,167
2001	743,658	312,643
2002	752,205	247,752
2003	732,600	244,251
2004	801,203	225,988
2005	837,305	187,920
2006	884,529	203,441
2007	919,254	248,286
2008	940,983	215,841
2009	958,322	197,231
2010	980,380	213,083
2011	1,023,925	214,728
2012	1,073,804	215,859
2013	1,119,533	166,415
2014	1,158,552	167,464
2015	1,178,317	163,248
2016	1,186,949	122,923
2017	1,140,549	71,907
2018	1,035,052	30,951
2019	893,063	10,353
2020	663,978	-31,101
2021	645,725	-56,947
2022	753,525	-124,014
2023	750,150	-77,569

Maternal mortality chart: Iran vs South 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 4 deaths in South Korea.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Iran	South Korea
1985	160	38
1986	148	35
1987	136	34
1988	126	31
1989	113	29
1990	107	28
1991	94	28
1992	86	26
1993	80	24
1994	71	23
1995	65	22
1996	59	20
1997	55	19
1998	50	18
1999	46	17
2000	43	15
2001	40	14
2002	38	13
2003	37	13
2004	34	12
2005	33	11
2006	32	10
2007	31	10
2008	30	9
2009	28	9
2010	27	8
2011	26	8
2012	25	8
2013	24	7
2014	23	7
2015	22	6
2016	21	6
2017	20	6
2018	19	5
2019	18	5
2020	34	12
2021	51	5
2022	21	7
2023	16	4

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.18% in Iran and 0.28% in South 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	South Korea
1960	-	11.2%
1961	-	10.6%
1962	-	10.1%
1963	-	9.67%
1964	-	9.18%
1965	-	8.68%
1966	-	8.16%
1967	-	7.62%
1968	-	7.1%
1969	-	6.59%
1970	-	6.12%
1971	18.9%	5.71%
1972	18%	5.36%
1973	17.1%	5.07%
1974	16.2%	4.82%
1975	15.3%	4.61%
1976	14.4%	4.42%
1977	13.5%	4.23%
1978	12.6%	4.04%
1979	11.7%	3.84%
1980	10.8%	3.63%
1981	10%	3.4%
1982	9.3%	3.17%
1983	8.67%	2.93%
1984	8.13%	2.7%
1985	7.64%	2.46%
1986	7.2%	2.25%
1987	6.8%	2.05%
1988	6.42%	1.87%
1989	6.07%	1.71%
1990	5.76%	1.57%
1991	5.48%	1.44%
1992	5.22%	1.33%
1993	5%	1.23%
1994	4.79%	1.14%
1995	4.59%	1.05%
1996	4.4%	0.98%
1997	4.21%	0.91%
1998	4.02%	0.85%
1999	3.83%	0.8%
2000	3.63%	0.75%
2001	3.42%	0.71%
2002	3.22%	0.68%
2003	3.02%	0.64%
2004	2.83%	0.6%
2005	2.65%	0.56%
2006	2.48%	0.52%
2007	2.32%	0.48%
2008	2.17%	0.45%
2009	2.04%	0.43%
2010	1.93%	0.41%
2011	1.84%	0.4%
2012	1.75%	0.38%
2013	1.68%	0.37%
2014	1.61%	0.36%
2015	1.55%	0.35%
2016	1.5%	0.34%
2017	1.45%	0.33%
2018	1.39%	0.32%
2019	1.35%	0.31%
2020	1.3%	0.3%
2021	1.26%	0.29%
2022	1.22%	0.28%
2023	1.18%	0.28%