Fertility & birth rates in Kenya and Zimbabwe

Fertility rate in Kenya vs Zimbabwe chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Kenya was 3.21 children per woman in 2023, compared to 3.72 in Zimbabwe in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Kenya vs Zimbabwe population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Kenya	Zimbabwe
1960	7.65	7.2
1961	7.72	7.21
1962	7.77	7.23
1963	7.82	7.23
1964	7.87	7.23
1965	7.92	7.23
1966	7.96	7.2
1967	7.95	7.16
1968	7.95	7.11
1969	7.95	7.04
1970	7.94	6.98
1971	7.92	6.94
1972	7.89	6.94
1973	7.86	6.94
1974	7.82	6.88
1975	7.8	6.83
1976	7.77	6.77
1977	7.73	6.71
1978	7.67	6.66
1979	7.6	6.59
1980	7.53	6.52
1981	7.45	6.45
1982	7.35	6.33
1983	7.22	6.2
1984	7.08	6.04
1985	6.96	5.87
1986	6.84	5.69
1987	6.69	5.5
1988	6.52	5.28
1989	6.33	5.07
1990	6.14	4.88
1991	5.94	4.72
1992	5.74	4.57
1993	5.57	4.39
1994	5.44	4.28
1995	5.37	4.15
1996	5.31	4.11
1997	5.27	4.08
1998	5.24	4.07
1999	5.18	4.06
2000	5.14	4.01
2001	5.09	3.98
2002	5.03	3.93
2003	4.94	3.86
2004	4.86	3.78
2005	4.8	3.69
2006	4.75	3.64
2007	4.72	3.68
2008	4.66	3.78
2009	4.57	3.95
2010	4.45	4.04
2011	4.28	4.13
2012	4.12	4.13
2013	3.96	4.11
2014	3.84	4.01
2015	3.77	3.91
2016	3.69	3.83
2017	3.61	3.77
2018	3.54	3.74
2019	3.43	3.75
2020	3.36	3.75
2021	3.31	3.77
2022	3.26	3.77
2023	3.21	3.72
2024	3.17	3.67
2025	3.12	3.62
2026	3.07	3.57
2027	3.03	3.52
2028	2.99	3.47
2029	2.95	3.43
2030	2.92	3.38
2031	2.89	3.33
2032	2.85	3.29
2033	2.82	3.25
2034	2.78	3.21
2035	2.75	3.17
2036	2.72	3.13
2037	2.69	3.09
2038	2.66	3.06
2039	2.63	3.02
2040	2.61	2.99
2041	2.58	2.96
2042	2.55	2.93
2043	2.53	2.9
2044	2.5	2.87
2045	2.47	2.84
2046	2.44	2.81
2047	2.42	2.78
2048	2.4	2.75
2049	2.38	2.72
2050	2.36	2.69

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Kenya	Zimbabwe
1960	48.7%	47.3%
1961	49.1%	47.7%
1962	49.4%	48.1%
1963	49.7%	48.5%
1964	49.8%	48.8%
1965	50.2%	48.7%
1966	50.6%	48.6%
1967	50.9%	48.5%
1968	51.2%	48.5%
1969	51.4%	48.4%
1970	51.6%	48.3%
1971	51.7%	48.2%
1972	51.9%	48.2%
1973	52%	48.1%
1974	52%	48.1%
1975	52%	48.1%
1976	52.1%	48.2%
1977	52%	48.3%
1978	51.9%	48.5%
1979	51.7%	48.8%
1980	51.5%	48.7%
1981	51.3%	48.4%
1982	51.1%	48.3%
1983	50.8%	48.2%
1984	50.6%	48.1%
1985	50.3%	48%
1986	50.1%	47.9%
1987	49.9%	47.9%
1988	49.7%	47.9%
1989	49.5%	47.6%
1990	49.2%	47.1%
1991	48.9%	46.6%
1992	48.7%	46.8%
1993	48.4%	47.1%
1994	48%	46.6%
1995	47.7%	45.9%
1996	47.4%	45%
1997	47.1%	44%
1998	46.8%	43.1%
1999	46.5%	42.4%
2000	46.1%	41.9%
2001	45.7%	41.5%
2002	45.3%	41.4%
2003	45%	41.5%
2004	44.6%	41.7%
2005	44.4%	41.9%
2006	44.2%	42%
2007	44%	42.1%
2008	43.9%	42.4%
2009	43.8%	42.7%
2010	43.6%	43%
2011	43.4%	43.4%
2012	43.2%	43.7%
2013	42.8%	43.9%
2014	42.4%	43.9%
2015	42%	43.8%
2016	41.5%	43.6%
2017	41%	43.3%
2018	40.5%	42.9%
2019	39.9%	42.5%
2020	39.3%	42.2%
2021	38.7%	41.9%
2022	38.1%	41.6%
2023	37.4%	41.3%
2024	36.8%	40.9%
2025	36.3%	40.3%
2026	35.7%	39.6%
2027	35.3%	39%
2028	34.9%	38.4%
2029	34.5%	37.8%
2030	34.2%	37.4%
2031	33.9%	37%
2032	33.6%	36.8%
2033	33.4%	36.5%
2034	33.2%	36.3%
2035	32.9%	36.1%
2036	32.7%	35.8%
2037	32.5%	35.6%
2038	32.2%	35.3%
2039	32%	35.1%
2040	31.7%	34.8%
2041	31.4%	34.6%
2042	31%	34.3%
2043	30.7%	34.1%
2044	30.4%	33.8%
2045	30%	33.5%
2046	29.7%	33.2%
2047	29.3%	32.9%
2048	28.9%	32.6%
2049	28.5%	32.2%
2050	28.2%	31.9%

Children aged 0-14 make up 36.8% of the population in Kenya and 40.9% in Zimbabwe in 2024, compared to 49.2% and 47.1% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Kenya and Zimbabwe compared.

Natural population change in Kenya vs Zimbabwe by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.16% in Kenya and +2.34% in Zimbabwe. 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
	Kenya	Zimbabwe
1960	280,032	126,959
1961	298,463	131,531
1962	315,797	136,317
1963	332,763	140,984
1964	349,322	145,848
1965	366,444	151,164
1966	382,891	156,014
1967	396,920	161,205
1968	411,948	166,865
1969	427,819	172,626
1970	443,065	178,979
1971	459,897	185,427
1972	472,557	193,725
1973	485,556	201,885
1974	500,008	208,806
1975	517,579	216,947
1976	536,740	221,419
1977	554,124	225,139
1978	574,695	222,979
1979	595,390	223,657
1980	616,390	241,179
1981	642,379	271,361
1982	663,109	279,934
1983	684,587	286,545
1984	709,639	290,052
1985	732,739	290,756
1986	755,606	289,894
1987	775,124	286,766
1988	785,652	277,498
1989	795,622	270,838
1990	789,087	265,444
1991	790,030	260,943
1992	785,018	255,291
1993	788,579	228,045
1994	792,702	216,343
1995	812,391	206,695
1996	827,326	205,269
1997	847,493	216,288
1998	875,511	225,614
1999	898,484	232,393
2000	928,357	236,343
2001	963,721	227,909
2002	992,044	244,170
2003	1,018,182	243,057
2004	1,048,590	248,307
2005	1,080,446	248,545
2006	1,113,357	248,963
2007	1,147,063	261,805
2008	1,174,818	280,527
2009	1,193,598	309,316
2010	1,199,786	335,570
2011	1,185,863	359,572
2012	1,161,548	371,135
2013	1,136,006	374,757
2014	1,123,333	366,350
2015	1,119,200	356,203
2016	1,108,801	348,772
2017	1,105,769	344,035
2018	1,097,075	345,883
2019	1,071,777	348,798
2020	1,036,253	354,790
2021	1,037,082	349,908
2022	1,092,102	371,243
2023	1,100,970	372,505

Maternal mortality chart: Kenya vs Zimbabwe

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 149 deaths per 100,000 live births in Kenya, compared to 358 deaths in Zimbabwe.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Kenya	Zimbabwe
1985	1,375	573
1986	1,059	525
1987	960	480
1988	756	431
1989	663	382
1990	586	353
1991	493	332
1992	419	333
1993	363	331
1994	342	332
1995	308	332
1996	275	352
1997	253	357
1998	250	368
1999	217	399
2000	206	405
2001	188	467
2002	182	418
2003	177	455
2004	177	451
2005	178	454
2006	188	480
2007	198	519
2008	197	526
2009	208	540
2010	210	567
2011	209	564
2012	214	558
2013	206	525
2014	203	468
2015	203	428
2016	196	411
2017	186	389
2018	183	386
2019	176	388
2020	184	380
2021	183	446
2022	155	368
2023	149	358

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.99% in Kenya and 4.42% in Zimbabwe. 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
	Kenya	Zimbabwe
1960	19.6%	15.2%
1961	18.8%	14.8%
1962	18.1%	14.4%
1963	17.5%	14%
1964	17%	13.5%
1965	16.6%	13.1%
1966	16.3%	12.7%
1967	16%	12.4%
1968	15.7%	12.1%
1969	15.4%	11.8%
1970	15%	11.7%
1971	14.7%	11.5%
1972	14.3%	11.5%
1973	14%	11.4%
1974	13.5%	11.4%
1975	13.1%	11.4%
1976	12.7%	11.5%
1977	12.2%	11.5%
1978	11.8%	11.5%
1979	11.4%	11.3%
1980	11%	11.1%
1981	10.6%	10.7%
1982	10.3%	10.1%
1983	9.98%	9.5%
1984	9.74%	8.87%
1985	9.57%	8.31%
1986	9.49%	7.86%
1987	9.51%	7.61%
1988	9.63%	7.55%
1989	9.85%	7.69%
1990	10.1%	7.97%
1991	10.5%	8.33%
1992	10.7%	8.73%
1993	10.9%	9.16%
1994	11%	9.52%
1995	11%	9.83%
1996	10.9%	10%
1997	10.7%	10.1%
1998	10.4%	10%
1999	10.1%	9.92%
2000	9.63%	9.83%
2001	9.16%	9.79%
2002	8.66%	8.48%
2003	8.16%	8.85%
2004	7.66%	9.17%
2005	7.15%	9.23%
2006	6.71%	9.4%
2007	6.32%	9.47%
2008	5.82%	9.34%
2009	5.54%	9.03%
2010	5.35%	8.5%
2011	5.22%	7.88%
2012	5.12%	7.14%
2013	5%	6.55%
2014	4.88%	6.18%
2015	4.74%	5.98%
2016	4.6%	5.69%
2017	4.53%	5.5%
2018	4.43%	5.23%
2019	4.33%	5.11%
2020	4.28%	5.01%
2021	4.19%	4.76%
2022	4.11%	4.6%
2023	3.99%	4.42%