Fertility & birth rates in Iraq and South Africa

Fertility rate in Iraq vs South Africa chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Iraq was 3.25 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 Iraq 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
	Iraq	South Africa
1960	5.3	6.11
1961	5.8	6.08
1962	6.99	6.05
1963	7.01	6.01
1964	7.01	5.96
1965	7.02	5.89
1966	7.02	5.91
1967	7.03	5.85
1968	7.06	5.78
1969	7.08	5.72
1970	7.07	5.63
1971	7.06	5.57
1972	7.02	5.49
1973	6.99	5.41
1974	6.95	5.3
1975	6.91	5.19
1976	6.86	5.07
1977	6.8	4.94
1978	6.73	4.85
1979	6.66	4.82
1980	6.59	4.78
1981	6.53	4.71
1982	6.46	4.7
1983	6.39	4.63
1984	6.32	4.57
1985	6.25	4.5
1986	6.18	4.41
1987	6.11	4.35
1988	6.05	4.18
1989	5.99	3.98
1990	5.93	3.72
1991	5.83	3.62
1992	5.72	3.48
1993	5.61	3.37
1994	5.49	3.26
1995	5.36	3.17
1996	5.25	2.99
1997	5.19	2.73
1998	5.11	2.63
1999	5.04	2.56
2000	4.92	2.41
2001	4.8	2.37
2002	4.67	2.32
2003	4.58	2.36
2004	4.53	2.44
2005	4.45	2.51
2006	4.46	2.55
2007	4.4	2.55
2008	4.37	2.68
2009	4.38	2.5
2010	4.46	2.44
2011	4.59	2.44
2012	4.54	2.45
2013	4.44	2.43
2014	4.31	2.42
2015	4.08	2.36
2016	3.84	2.26
2017	3.64	2.28
2018	3.55	2.27
2019	3.48	2.26
2020	3.42	2.26
2021	3.36	2.25
2022	3.29	2.23
2023	3.25	2.22
2024	3.22	2.21
2025	3.17	2.19
2026	3.13	2.17
2027	3.09	2.15
2028	3.05	2.13
2029	3.01	2.12
2030	2.97	2.1
2031	2.94	2.09
2032	2.89	2.07
2033	2.86	2.06
2034	2.83	2.05
2035	2.79	2.04
2036	2.77	2.03
2037	2.74	2.02
2038	2.71	2
2039	2.69	1.99
2040	2.66	1.98
2041	2.64	1.98
2042	2.61	1.97
2043	2.59	1.96
2044	2.57	1.95
2045	2.54	1.94
2046	2.52	1.93
2047	2.5	1.92
2048	2.48	1.91
2049	2.47	1.9
2050	2.45	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Iraq	South Africa
1960	39.8%	42.1%
1961	39.9%	42.1%
1962	40.4%	42.1%
1963	41%	42.1%
1964	41.5%	42.1%
1965	42.1%	42.1%
1966	42.5%	42.1%
1967	42.8%	42.2%
1968	43%	42.2%
1969	43.3%	42.2%
1970	43.6%	42.3%
1971	44.1%	42.2%
1972	44.7%	42.2%
1973	45.5%	42.1%
1974	46.2%	42%
1975	46.7%	41.9%
1976	47.2%	41.8%
1977	47.3%	41.7%
1978	47.1%	41.5%
1979	47%	41.3%
1980	46.8%	40.9%
1981	46.7%	40.5%
1982	46.6%	40.1%
1983	46.5%	39.8%
1984	46.3%	39.5%
1985	46.2%	39.2%
1986	46%	38.9%
1987	45.8%	38.7%
1988	45.6%	38.4%
1989	45.4%	38.1%
1990	45.2%	37.7%
1991	45%	37.5%
1992	44.9%	37.6%
1993	44.7%	37.3%
1994	44.6%	37.2%
1995	44.4%	37.5%
1996	44.3%	37.5%
1997	44.1%	37.2%
1998	44%	36.5%
1999	43.8%	35.7%
2000	43.7%	34.9%
2001	43.5%	34%
2002	43.3%	33.2%
2003	43.1%	32.3%
2004	42.9%	31.6%
2005	42.6%	31.1%
2006	42.3%	30.6%
2007	42.1%	30.2%
2008	41.8%	29.9%
2009	41.5%	29.7%
2010	41.2%	29.4%
2011	41.1%	29.1%
2012	41%	28.9%
2013	40.8%	28.7%
2014	40.6%	28.5%
2015	40.4%	28.3%
2016	40.1%	28.3%
2017	39.7%	28.3%
2018	39.3%	27.9%
2019	38.9%	27.4%
2020	38.5%	27%
2021	38.1%	26.6%
2022	37.6%	26.3%
2023	37.1%	26.1%
2024	36.6%	25.9%
2025	36%	25.7%
2026	35.4%	25.6%
2027	34.7%	25.4%
2028	34.1%	25.3%
2029	33.4%	25.2%
2030	32.9%	25.2%
2031	32.5%	25.1%
2032	32.1%	25%
2033	31.8%	24.8%
2034	31.6%	24.5%
2035	31.3%	24.3%
2036	31.1%	23.9%
2037	30.9%	23.6%
2038	30.6%	23.4%
2039	30.4%	23.1%
2040	30.1%	22.9%
2041	29.9%	22.7%
2042	29.7%	22.5%
2043	29.4%	22.4%
2044	29.1%	22.2%
2045	28.8%	22.1%
2046	28.6%	21.9%
2047	28.3%	21.8%
2048	28%	21.7%
2049	27.7%	21.6%
2050	27.4%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 36.6% of the population in Iraq and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 45.2% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Iraq and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in Iraq vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.37% in Iraq 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
	Iraq	South Africa
1960	155,651	421,263
1961	184,792	437,851
1962	247,520	455,634
1963	254,046	473,821
1964	262,825	490,606
1965	274,551	506,632
1966	285,507	534,862
1967	298,192	553,741
1968	310,644	571,841
1969	324,792	590,794
1970	338,030	605,102
1971	351,464	624,761
1972	362,334	638,754
1973	373,191	651,596
1974	376,197	658,438
1975	385,916	667,862
1976	402,260	675,011
1977	410,229	680,929
1978	418,756	694,341
1979	428,458	716,541
1980	419,653	738,415
1981	416,998	767,833
1982	428,336	807,550
1983	439,800	837,013
1984	455,740	869,011
1985	467,445	893,889
1986	474,348	903,644
1987	488,742	922,330
1988	476,778	909,221
1989	496,852	884,629
1990	518,575	835,421
1991	550,146	827,296
1992	591,886	794,415
1993	606,700	789,220
1994	634,344	698,609
1995	642,977	743,488
1996	652,866	710,868
1997	667,582	667,969
1998	684,152	627,027
1999	702,170	594,643
2000	715,771	526,963
2001	729,704	484,801
2002	739,419	430,926
2003	746,159	415,018
2004	761,563	442,540
2005	776,603	464,464
2006	797,342	487,584
2007	784,119	503,567
2008	802,382	595,332
2009	855,096	554,115
2010	906,369	566,834
2011	971,082	601,708
2012	999,987	643,723
2013	1,026,036	652,427
2014	1,040,726	674,754
2015	1,007,561	668,771
2016	946,968	641,365
2017	924,507	645,975
2018	938,310	648,319
2019	942,972	652,130
2020	919,953	595,873
2021	941,924	456,411
2022	962,501	603,636
2023	973,420	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: Iraq vs South Africa

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 66 deaths per 100,000 live births in Iraq, compared to 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Iraq	South Africa
1985	152	208
1986	147	200
1987	145	192
1988	174	184
1989	190	177
1990	195	170
1991	157	162
1992	126	152
1993	132	145
1994	142	133
1995	152	125
1996	158	150
1997	165	152
1998	163	152
1999	156	151
2000	146	175
2001	137	192
2002	128	225
2003	125	245
2004	122	259
2005	118	279
2006	120	283
2007	117	272
2008	109	272
2009	107	241
2010	107	226
2011	105	202
2012	100	194
2013	96	180
2014	90	162
2015	86	150
2016	87	141
2017	81	134
2018	76	128
2019	74	119
2020	63	118
2021	77	191
2022	59	129
2023	66	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 2.26% in Iraq 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
	Iraq	South Africa
1960	19%	-
1961	17.9%	-
1962	16.9%	-
1963	16%	-
1964	15.1%	-
1965	14.4%	-
1966	13.6%	-
1967	13%	-
1968	12.4%	-
1969	11.8%	-
1970	11.2%	-
1971	10.7%	-
1972	10.3%	-
1973	9.79%	-
1974	9.35%	13.2%
1975	8.93%	12.5%
1976	8.54%	11.8%
1977	8.17%	11.1%
1978	7.83%	10.5%
1979	7.52%	9.88%
1980	7.23%	9.35%
1981	6.96%	8.84%
1982	6.71%	8.39%
1983	6.49%	7.98%
1984	6.28%	7.6%
1985	6.09%	7.24%
1986	5.91%	6.89%
1987	5.75%	6.56%
1988	6.92%	6.26%
1989	8.12%	6.01%
1990	7.97%	5.82%
1991	6.49%	5.7%
1992	5.17%	5.66%
1993	5.07%	5.7%
1994	4.98%	5.82%
1995	4.89%	5.95%
1996	4.8%	6.11%
1997	4.71%	6.29%
1998	4.61%	6.56%
1999	4.52%	6.85%
2000	4.43%	7.11%
2001	4.33%	7.43%
2002	4.24%	7.69%
2003	4.16%	7.93%
2004	4.07%	8.1%
2005	3.97%	8.03%
2006	3.88%	7.75%
2007	3.78%	7.19%
2008	3.67%	6.42%
2009	3.56%	5.7%
2010	3.46%	5%
2011	3.35%	4.5%
2012	3.24%	4.25%
2013	3.14%	4.1%
2014	3.04%	3.96%
2015	2.94%	3.82%
2016	2.84%	3.68%
2017	2.75%	3.58%
2018	2.66%	3.49%
2019	2.57%	3.45%
2020	2.49%	3.41%
2021	2.41%	3.41%
2022	2.33%	3.44%
2023	2.26%	3.47%