Fertility & birth rates in Iraq and South Sudan

Fertility rate in Iraq vs South Sudan 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 3.86 in South Sudan in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Iraq vs South Sudan 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 Sudan
1960	5.3	7.16
1961	5.8	7.18
1962	6.99	7.2
1963	7.01	7.2
1964	7.01	7.22
1965	7.02	7.22
1966	7.02	7.25
1967	7.03	7.26
1968	7.06	7.26
1969	7.08	7.28
1970	7.07	7.29
1971	7.06	7.3
1972	7.02	7.31
1973	6.99	7.31
1974	6.95	7.31
1975	6.91	7.33
1976	6.86	7.33
1977	6.8	7.33
1978	6.73	7.33
1979	6.66	7.32
1980	6.59	7.33
1981	6.53	7.33
1982	6.46	7.34
1983	6.39	7.34
1984	6.32	7.35
1985	6.25	7.36
1986	6.18	7.38
1987	6.11	7.39
1988	6.05	7.38
1989	5.99	7.37
1990	5.93	7.38
1991	5.83	7.38
1992	5.72	7.37
1993	5.61	7.36
1994	5.49	7.35
1995	5.36	7.34
1996	5.25	7.32
1997	5.19	7.2
1998	5.11	7.08
1999	5.04	6.94
2000	4.92	6.8
2001	4.8	6.65
2002	4.67	6.52
2003	4.58	6.35
2004	4.53	6.19
2005	4.45	6.02
2006	4.46	5.85
2007	4.4	5.7
2008	4.37	5.57
2009	4.38	5.45
2010	4.46	5.32
2011	4.59	5.19
2012	4.54	5.06
2013	4.44	4.94
2014	4.31	4.82
2015	4.08	4.7
2016	3.84	4.58
2017	3.64	4.48
2018	3.55	4.37
2019	3.48	4.26
2020	3.42	4.16
2021	3.36	4.05
2022	3.29	3.96
2023	3.25	3.86
2024	3.22	3.79
2025	3.17	3.71
2026	3.13	3.63
2027	3.09	3.56
2028	3.05	3.49
2029	3.01	3.43
2030	2.97	3.37
2031	2.94	3.31
2032	2.89	3.26
2033	2.86	3.2
2034	2.83	3.15
2035	2.79	3.1
2036	2.77	3.06
2037	2.74	3.01
2038	2.71	2.96
2039	2.69	2.92
2040	2.66	2.88
2041	2.64	2.84
2042	2.61	2.8
2043	2.59	2.76
2044	2.57	2.73
2045	2.54	2.69
2046	2.52	2.66
2047	2.5	2.63
2048	2.48	2.6
2049	2.47	2.58
2050	2.45	2.55

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Iraq	South Sudan
1960	39.8%	42.5%
1961	39.9%	42.6%
1962	40.4%	42.6%
1963	41%	42.8%
1964	41.5%	43%
1965	42.1%	43.3%
1966	42.5%	43.5%
1967	42.8%	43.8%
1968	43%	44%
1969	43.3%	44.3%
1970	43.6%	44.5%
1971	44.1%	44.7%
1972	44.7%	44.8%
1973	45.5%	45%
1974	46.2%	45.1%
1975	46.7%	45.2%
1976	47.2%	45.3%
1977	47.3%	45.4%
1978	47.1%	45.5%
1979	47%	45.7%
1980	46.8%	45.8%
1981	46.7%	46%
1982	46.6%	46.2%
1983	46.5%	46.3%
1984	46.3%	46.5%
1985	46.2%	46.6%
1986	46%	46.7%
1987	45.8%	46.9%
1988	45.6%	46.2%
1989	45.4%	45.4%
1990	45.2%	45.4%
1991	45%	45.5%
1992	44.9%	45.6%
1993	44.7%	45.7%
1994	44.6%	45.8%
1995	44.4%	45.8%
1996	44.3%	46%
1997	44.1%	46%
1998	44%	45.8%
1999	43.8%	45.6%
2000	43.7%	45.5%
2001	43.5%	45.5%
2002	43.3%	45.7%
2003	43.1%	45.9%
2004	42.9%	45.8%
2005	42.6%	45.3%
2006	42.3%	44.8%
2007	42.1%	44.3%
2008	41.8%	43.8%
2009	41.5%	43.4%
2010	41.2%	42.8%
2011	41.1%	42.2%
2012	41%	41.9%
2013	40.8%	41.9%
2014	40.6%	42.5%
2015	40.4%	43.1%
2016	40.1%	43.7%
2017	39.7%	45%
2018	39.3%	44.9%
2019	38.9%	43.6%
2020	38.5%	42.4%
2021	38.1%	41.6%
2022	37.6%	40.9%
2023	37.1%	39.9%
2024	36.6%	38.9%
2025	36%	38%
2026	35.4%	37.1%
2027	34.7%	36.2%
2028	34.1%	35.5%
2029	33.4%	35%
2030	32.9%	34.7%
2031	32.5%	34.5%
2032	32.1%	34.4%
2033	31.8%	34.3%
2034	31.6%	34.3%
2035	31.3%	34.2%
2036	31.1%	34.1%
2037	30.9%	34%
2038	30.6%	33.8%
2039	30.4%	33.7%
2040	30.1%	33.4%
2041	29.9%	33.2%
2042	29.7%	32.9%
2043	29.4%	32.5%
2044	29.1%	32.2%
2045	28.8%	31.8%
2046	28.6%	31.4%
2047	28.3%	31%
2048	28%	30.5%
2049	27.7%	30.1%
2050	27.4%	29.7%

Children aged 0-14 make up 36.6% of the population in Iraq and 38.9% in South Sudan in 2024, compared to 45.2% and 45.4% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Iraq and South Sudan compared.

Natural population change in Iraq vs South Sudan by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.37% in Iraq and +1.65% in South Sudan. 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 Sudan
1960	155,651	42,945
1961	184,792	45,186
1962	247,520	47,406
1963	254,046	46,333
1964	262,825	64,786
1965	274,551	51,682
1966	285,507	38,523
1967	298,192	41,357
1968	310,644	44,213
1969	324,792	42,015
1970	338,030	44,776
1971	351,464	72,308
1972	362,334	74,803
1973	373,191	94,765
1974	376,197	97,181
1975	385,916	99,882
1976	402,260	102,346
1977	410,229	104,886
1978	418,756	107,352
1979	428,458	109,540
1980	419,653	112,307
1981	416,998	115,163
1982	428,336	118,641
1983	439,800	104,107
1984	455,740	90,970
1985	467,445	95,342
1986	474,348	99,502
1987	488,742	5,756
1988	476,778	-125,447
1989	496,852	83,735
1990	518,575	82,900
1991	550,146	87,873
1992	591,886	28,874
1993	606,700	32,779
1994	634,344	165,407
1995	642,977	110,417
1996	652,866	116,728
1997	667,582	121,454
1998	684,152	-12,157
1999	702,170	180,721
2000	715,771	196,055
2001	729,704	204,108
2002	739,419	212,014
2003	746,159	225,822
2004	761,563	231,877
2005	776,603	239,272
2006	797,342	246,706
2007	784,119	256,546
2008	802,382	268,268
2009	855,096	278,859
2010	906,369	287,409
2011	971,082	303,181
2012	999,987	312,974
2013	1,026,036	315,983
2014	1,040,726	227,611
2015	1,007,561	148,542
2016	946,968	110,553
2017	924,507	72,193
2018	938,310	168,497
2019	942,972	209,708
2020	919,953	212,332
2021	941,924	213,567
2022	962,501	211,166
2023	973,420	217,966

Maternal mortality chart: Iraq vs South Sudan

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 692 deaths in South Sudan.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Iraq	South Sudan
1985	152	3,845
1986	147	3,720
1987	145	8,045
1988	174	5,535
1989	190	5,103
1990	195	4,877
1991	157	4,764
1992	126	7,597
1993	132	7,537
1994	142	1,666
1995	152	4,430
1996	158	4,357
1997	165	4,172
1998	163	7,514
1999	156	2,048
2000	146	1,658
2001	137	1,580
2002	128	1,521
2003	125	1,199
2004	122	1,150
2005	118	1,074
2006	120	1,005
2007	117	933
2008	109	858
2009	107	823
2010	107	776
2011	105	770
2012	100	755
2013	96	771
2014	90	1,216
2015	86	1,436
2016	87	1,629
2017	81	1,662
2018	76	913
2019	74	745
2020	63	729
2021	77	749
2022	59	704
2023	66	692

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 2.26% in Iraq and 9.87% in South Sudan. 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 Sudan
1960	19%	35.5%
1961	17.9%	35.2%
1962	16.9%	34.9%
1963	16%	34.6%
1964	15.1%	34.3%
1965	14.4%	34%
1966	13.6%	33.6%
1967	13%	33.3%
1968	12.4%	32.9%
1969	11.8%	32.6%
1970	11.2%	32.3%
1971	10.7%	31.9%
1972	10.3%	31.6%
1973	9.79%	31.3%
1974	9.35%	30.9%
1975	8.93%	30.6%
1976	8.54%	30.2%
1977	8.17%	29.9%
1978	7.83%	29.5%
1979	7.52%	29.2%
1980	7.23%	28.9%
1981	6.96%	28.5%
1982	6.71%	28.2%
1983	6.49%	27.8%
1984	6.28%	27.5%
1985	6.09%	27.1%
1986	5.91%	26.7%
1987	5.75%	36%
1988	6.92%	76.7%
1989	8.12%	30.7%
1990	7.97%	30.3%
1991	6.49%	29.7%
1992	5.17%	33.8%
1993	5.07%	33.1%
1994	4.98%	23%
1995	4.89%	27%
1996	4.8%	26.1%
1997	4.71%	25.2%
1998	4.61%	42.6%
1999	4.52%	19.2%
2000	4.43%	18.3%
2001	4.33%	17.4%
2002	4.24%	16.5%
2003	4.16%	15.7%
2004	4.07%	14.8%
2005	3.97%	14.1%
2006	3.88%	13.4%
2007	3.78%	12.7%
2008	3.67%	12.1%
2009	3.56%	11.5%
2010	3.46%	10.9%
2011	3.35%	10.5%
2012	3.24%	10.1%
2013	3.14%	9.92%
2014	3.04%	18.2%
2015	2.94%	23.7%
2016	2.84%	26.4%
2017	2.75%	27.8%
2018	2.66%	13.2%
2019	2.57%	9.87%
2020	2.49%	9.87%
2021	2.41%	9.87%
2022	2.33%	9.87%
2023	2.26%	9.87%