Fertility & birth rates in Ireland and South Africa

Fertility rate in Ireland vs South Africa chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Ireland was 1.5 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 Ireland 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
	Ireland	South Africa
1960	3.78	6.11
1961	3.78	6.08
1962	3.92	6.05
1963	4.01	6.01
1964	4.07	5.96
1965	4.04	5.89
1966	3.94	5.91
1967	3.84	5.85
1968	3.77	5.78
1969	3.83	5.72
1970	3.85	5.63
1971	3.93	5.57
1972	3.84	5.49
1973	3.71	5.41
1974	3.59	5.3
1975	3.37	5.19
1976	3.29	5.07
1977	3.24	4.94
1978	3.21	4.85
1979	3.21	4.82
1980	3.21	4.78
1981	3.05	4.71
1982	2.94	4.7
1983	2.74	4.63
1984	2.58	4.57
1985	2.48	4.5
1986	2.44	4.41
1987	2.32	4.35
1988	2.17	4.18
1989	2.08	3.98
1990	2.11	3.72
1991	2.08	3.62
1992	1.99	3.48
1993	1.9	3.37
1994	1.85	3.26
1995	1.84	3.17
1996	1.88	2.99
1997	1.93	2.73
1998	1.94	2.63
1999	1.9	2.56
2000	1.89	2.41
2001	1.94	2.37
2002	1.97	2.32
2003	1.96	2.36
2004	1.93	2.44
2005	1.86	2.51
2006	1.91	2.55
2007	2.01	2.55
2008	2.06	2.68
2009	2.06	2.5
2010	2.05	2.44
2011	2.03	2.44
2012	1.98	2.45
2013	1.93	2.43
2014	1.89	2.42
2015	1.85	2.36
2016	1.81	2.26
2017	1.77	2.28
2018	1.75	2.27
2019	1.71	2.26
2020	1.63	2.26
2021	1.78	2.25
2022	1.54	2.23
2023	1.5	2.22
2024	1.5	2.21
2025	1.5	2.19
2026	1.5	2.17
2027	1.5	2.15
2028	1.5	2.13
2029	1.5	2.12
2030	1.5	2.1
2031	1.5	2.09
2032	1.5	2.07
2033	1.5	2.06
2034	1.5	2.05
2035	1.5	2.04
2036	1.5	2.03
2037	1.5	2.02
2038	1.5	2
2039	1.51	1.99
2040	1.51	1.98
2041	1.5	1.98
2042	1.5	1.97
2043	1.5	1.96
2044	1.51	1.95
2045	1.51	1.94
2046	1.5	1.93
2047	1.5	1.92
2048	1.5	1.91
2049	1.5	1.9
2050	1.5	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Ireland	South Africa
1960	30.9%	42.1%
1961	31%	42.1%
1962	30.9%	42.1%
1963	30.9%	42.1%
1964	30.9%	42.1%
1965	31.1%	42.1%
1966	31.1%	42.1%
1967	31.1%	42.2%
1968	31.1%	42.2%
1969	31.1%	42.2%
1970	31.1%	42.3%
1971	31.2%	42.2%
1972	31.2%	42.2%
1973	31.2%	42.1%
1974	31.2%	42%
1975	31.1%	41.9%
1976	31%	41.8%
1977	30.9%	41.7%
1978	30.7%	41.5%
1979	30.5%	41.3%
1980	30.4%	40.9%
1981	30.3%	40.5%
1982	30.1%	40.1%
1983	29.9%	39.8%
1984	29.6%	39.5%
1985	29.3%	39.2%
1986	28.9%	38.9%
1987	28.5%	38.7%
1988	28.1%	38.4%
1989	27.6%	38.1%
1990	27.1%	37.7%
1991	26.6%	37.5%
1992	26%	37.6%
1993	25.5%	37.3%
1994	24.9%	37.2%
1995	24.2%	37.5%
1996	23.6%	37.5%
1997	23%	37.2%
1998	22.5%	36.5%
1999	22.1%	35.7%
2000	21.8%	34.9%
2001	21.4%	34%
2002	21.1%	33.2%
2003	21%	32.3%
2004	20.8%	31.6%
2005	20.6%	31.1%
2006	20.4%	30.6%
2007	20.3%	30.2%
2008	20.5%	29.9%
2009	20.7%	29.7%
2010	21.1%	29.4%
2011	21.4%	29.1%
2012	21.5%	28.9%
2013	21.5%	28.7%
2014	21.4%	28.5%
2015	21.3%	28.3%
2016	21.2%	28.3%
2017	20.9%	28.3%
2018	20.7%	27.9%
2019	20.4%	27.4%
2020	20.1%	27%
2021	19.8%	26.6%
2022	19.5%	26.3%
2023	19%	26.1%
2024	18.6%	25.9%
2025	18.1%	25.7%
2026	17.6%	25.6%
2027	17.2%	25.4%
2028	16.9%	25.3%
2029	16.6%	25.2%
2030	16.3%	25.2%
2031	16%	25.1%
2032	15.8%	25%
2033	15.6%	24.8%
2034	15.4%	24.5%
2035	15.3%	24.3%
2036	15.2%	23.9%
2037	15.1%	23.6%
2038	15.1%	23.4%
2039	15.2%	23.1%
2040	15.2%	22.9%
2041	15.3%	22.7%
2042	15.4%	22.5%
2043	15.4%	22.4%
2044	15.5%	22.2%
2045	15.6%	22.1%
2046	15.6%	21.9%
2047	15.7%	21.8%
2048	15.7%	21.7%
2049	15.7%	21.6%
2050	15.6%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.6% of the population in Ireland and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 27.1% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Ireland and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in Ireland vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.58% in Ireland 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
	Ireland	South Africa
1960	28,286	421,263
1961	25,137	437,851
1962	28,077	455,634
1963	29,667	473,821
1964	31,532	490,606
1965	30,500	506,632
1966	26,866	534,862
1967	29,895	553,741
1968	27,697	571,841
1969	29,326	590,794
1970	30,756	605,102
1971	35,606	624,761
1972	34,316	638,754
1973	34,562	651,596
1974	34,199	658,438
1975	34,128	667,862
1976	33,676	675,011
1977	35,448	680,929
1978	36,288	694,341
1979	38,798	716,541
1980	40,612	738,415
1981	39,364	767,833
1982	38,344	807,550
1983	34,053	837,013
1984	31,791	869,011
1985	29,013	893,889
1986	27,963	903,644
1987	26,904	922,330
1988	22,912	909,221
1989	20,012	884,629
1990	21,787	835,421
1991	21,206	827,296
1992	20,283	794,415
1993	17,166	789,220
1994	17,234	698,609
1995	16,601	743,488
1996	18,915	710,868
1997	21,311	667,969
1998	22,277	627,027
1999	21,402	594,643
2000	23,592	526,963
2001	27,837	484,801
2002	31,062	430,926
2003	32,372	415,018
2004	33,376	442,540
2005	33,279	464,464
2006	36,752	487,584
2007	43,109	503,567
2008	46,691	595,332
2009	47,168	554,115
2010	47,426	566,834
2011	45,801	601,708
2012	42,775	643,723
2013	39,302	652,427
2014	37,728	674,754
2015	35,265	668,771
2016	33,339	641,365
2017	31,379	645,975
2018	29,878	648,319
2019	28,365	652,130
2020	23,687	595,873
2021	26,064	456,411
2022	19,287	603,636
2023	19,638	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: Ireland vs South Africa

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 4 deaths per 100,000 live births in Ireland, compared to 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Ireland	South Africa
1985	11	208
1986	11	200
1987	10	192
1988	11	184
1989	10	177
1990	11	170
1991	10	162
1992	10	152
1993	9	145
1994	9	133
1995	9	125
1996	8	150
1997	8	152
1998	8	152
1999	7	151
2000	8	175
2001	7	192
2002	7	225
2003	6	245
2004	6	259
2005	6	279
2006	6	283
2007	6	272
2008	6	272
2009	6	241
2010	6	226
2011	6	202
2012	6	194
2013	5	180
2014	5	162
2015	5	150
2016	4	141
2017	4	134
2018	5	128
2019	4	119
2020	6	118
2021	6	191
2022	7	129
2023	4	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.38% in Ireland 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
	Ireland	South Africa
1960	3.53%	-
1961	3.38%	-
1962	3.25%	-
1963	3.13%	-
1964	3.01%	-
1965	2.87%	-
1966	2.71%	-
1967	2.55%	-
1968	2.41%	-
1969	2.3%	-
1970	2.22%	-
1971	2.17%	-
1972	2.14%	-
1973	2.11%	-
1974	2.06%	13.2%
1975	2%	12.5%
1976	1.91%	11.8%
1977	1.81%	11.1%
1978	1.69%	10.5%
1979	1.56%	9.88%
1980	1.43%	9.35%
1981	1.32%	8.84%
1982	1.23%	8.39%
1983	1.17%	7.98%
1984	1.11%	7.6%
1985	1.07%	7.24%
1986	1.04%	6.89%
1987	1.02%	6.56%
1988	0.99%	6.26%
1989	0.96%	6.01%
1990	0.92%	5.82%
1991	0.87%	5.7%
1992	0.81%	5.66%
1993	0.77%	5.7%
1994	0.74%	5.82%
1995	0.73%	5.95%
1996	0.73%	6.11%
1997	0.73%	6.29%
1998	0.73%	6.56%
1999	0.73%	6.85%
2000	0.72%	7.11%
2001	0.69%	7.43%
2002	0.65%	7.69%
2003	0.6%	7.93%
2004	0.56%	8.1%
2005	0.52%	8.03%
2006	0.49%	7.75%
2007	0.46%	7.19%
2008	0.44%	6.42%
2009	0.43%	5.7%
2010	0.42%	5%
2011	0.41%	4.5%
2012	0.4%	4.25%
2013	0.39%	4.1%
2014	0.38%	3.96%
2015	0.37%	3.82%
2016	0.36%	3.68%
2017	0.35%	3.58%
2018	0.34%	3.49%
2019	0.34%	3.45%
2020	0.35%	3.41%
2021	0.36%	3.41%
2022	0.37%	3.44%
2023	0.38%	3.47%