Fertility & birth rates in Lesotho and South Sudan

Fertility rate in Lesotho vs South Sudan chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Lesotho was 2.69 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 Lesotho 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
	Lesotho	South Sudan
1960	5.78	7.16
1961	5.79	7.18
1962	5.79	7.2
1963	5.78	7.2
1964	5.77	7.22
1965	5.77	7.22
1966	5.76	7.25
1967	5.75	7.26
1968	5.73	7.26
1969	5.7	7.28
1970	5.7	7.29
1971	5.7	7.3
1972	5.69	7.31
1973	5.69	7.31
1974	5.75	7.31
1975	5.83	7.33
1976	5.87	7.33
1977	5.85	7.33
1978	5.82	7.33
1979	5.79	7.32
1980	5.75	7.33
1981	5.69	7.33
1982	5.63	7.34
1983	5.56	7.34
1984	5.48	7.35
1985	5.4	7.36
1986	5.32	7.38
1987	5.22	7.39
1988	5.1	7.38
1989	4.96	7.37
1990	4.81	7.38
1991	4.68	7.38
1992	4.54	7.37
1993	4.37	7.36
1994	4.21	7.35
1995	4.13	7.34
1996	4.06	7.32
1997	3.98	7.2
1998	3.82	7.08
1999	3.67	6.94
2000	3.61	6.8
2001	3.63	6.65
2002	3.68	6.52
2003	3.62	6.35
2004	3.51	6.19
2005	3.43	6.02
2006	3.41	5.85
2007	3.44	5.7
2008	3.39	5.57
2009	3.31	5.45
2010	3.25	5.32
2011	3.34	5.19
2012	3.3	5.06
2013	3.28	4.94
2014	3.24	4.82
2015	3.22	4.7
2016	3.18	4.58
2017	3.11	4.48
2018	3.02	4.37
2019	2.92	4.26
2020	2.85	4.16
2021	2.77	4.05
2022	2.72	3.96
2023	2.69	3.86
2024	2.66	3.79
2025	2.64	3.71
2026	2.61	3.63
2027	2.58	3.56
2028	2.55	3.49
2029	2.53	3.43
2030	2.5	3.37
2031	2.47	3.31
2032	2.45	3.26
2033	2.43	3.2
2034	2.41	3.15
2035	2.38	3.1
2036	2.37	3.06
2037	2.34	3.01
2038	2.32	2.96
2039	2.3	2.92
2040	2.29	2.88
2041	2.27	2.84
2042	2.25	2.8
2043	2.24	2.76
2044	2.22	2.73
2045	2.21	2.69
2046	2.19	2.66
2047	2.18	2.63
2048	2.17	2.6
2049	2.16	2.58
2050	2.14	2.55

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Lesotho	South Sudan
1960	45.1%	42.5%
1961	45.2%	42.6%
1962	45.3%	42.6%
1963	45.2%	42.8%
1964	44.9%	43%
1965	44.8%	43.3%
1966	44.9%	43.5%
1967	44.8%	43.8%
1968	44.4%	44%
1969	44%	44.3%
1970	43.6%	44.5%
1971	43.1%	44.7%
1972	42.7%	44.8%
1973	42.3%	45%
1974	41.9%	45.1%
1975	41.6%	45.2%
1976	41.4%	45.3%
1977	41.5%	45.4%
1978	41.7%	45.5%
1979	41.9%	45.7%
1980	42.1%	45.8%
1981	42.3%	46%
1982	42.5%	46.2%
1983	42.7%	46.3%
1984	42.8%	46.5%
1985	43%	46.6%
1986	42.7%	46.7%
1987	42.5%	46.9%
1988	42.7%	46.2%
1989	42.8%	45.4%
1990	42.9%	45.4%
1991	42.9%	45.5%
1992	42.8%	45.6%
1993	42.6%	45.7%
1994	42.3%	45.8%
1995	42%	45.8%
1996	41.7%	46%
1997	41.2%	46%
1998	40.7%	45.8%
1999	40.2%	45.6%
2000	39.6%	45.5%
2001	39.1%	45.5%
2002	38.6%	45.7%
2003	38.1%	45.9%
2004	37.7%	45.8%
2005	37.4%	45.3%
2006	37.1%	44.8%
2007	36.8%	44.3%
2008	36.7%	43.8%
2009	36.6%	43.4%
2010	36.5%	42.8%
2011	36.5%	42.2%
2012	36.5%	41.9%
2013	36.5%	41.9%
2014	36.6%	42.5%
2015	36.6%	43.1%
2016	36.6%	43.7%
2017	36.5%	45%
2018	36.3%	44.9%
2019	36.1%	43.6%
2020	35.8%	42.4%
2021	35.6%	41.6%
2022	35.3%	40.9%
2023	34.9%	39.9%
2024	34.5%	38.9%
2025	34.1%	38%
2026	33.6%	37.1%
2027	33.1%	36.2%
2028	32.6%	35.5%
2029	32%	35%
2030	31.5%	34.7%
2031	31%	34.5%
2032	30.5%	34.4%
2033	30.1%	34.3%
2034	29.7%	34.3%
2035	29.3%	34.2%
2036	29%	34.1%
2037	28.8%	34%
2038	28.5%	33.8%
2039	28.3%	33.7%
2040	28.1%	33.4%
2041	27.8%	33.2%
2042	27.6%	32.9%
2043	27.4%	32.5%
2044	27.1%	32.2%
2045	26.9%	31.8%
2046	26.7%	31.4%
2047	26.4%	31%
2048	26.2%	30.5%
2049	25.9%	30.1%
2050	25.7%	29.7%

Children aged 0-14 make up 34.5% of the population in Lesotho and 38.9% in South Sudan in 2024, compared to 42.9% and 45.4% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Lesotho and South Sudan compared.

Natural population change in Lesotho vs South Sudan by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.44% in Lesotho 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
	Lesotho	South Sudan
1960	19,981	42,945
1961	20,581	45,186
1962	21,132	47,406
1963	21,585	46,333
1964	22,116	64,786
1965	22,755	51,682
1966	23,326	38,523
1967	23,911	41,357
1968	24,490	44,213
1969	25,137	42,015
1970	25,935	44,776
1971	26,838	72,308
1972	27,841	74,803
1973	28,859	94,765
1974	30,444	97,181
1975	32,311	99,882
1976	34,117	102,346
1977	35,654	104,886
1978	37,084	107,352
1979	38,440	109,540
1980	39,617	112,307
1981	40,808	115,163
1982	41,941	118,641
1983	42,899	104,107
1984	43,785	90,970
1985	44,575	95,342
1986	45,232	99,502
1987	47,718	5,756
1988	47,158	-125,447
1989	46,264	83,735
1990	45,060	82,900
1991	44,026	87,873
1992	42,579	28,874
1993	40,505	32,779
1994	38,629	165,407
1995	37,370	110,417
1996	36,228	116,728
1997	34,637	121,454
1998	30,889	-12,157
1999	27,393	180,721
2000	24,786	196,055
2001	23,190	204,108
2002	22,274	212,014
2003	20,133	225,822
2004	17,271	231,877
2005	15,831	239,272
2006	15,234	246,706
2007	17,763	256,546
2008	19,349	268,268
2009	20,335	278,859
2010	21,877	287,409
2011	25,647	303,181
2012	27,592	312,974
2013	29,789	315,983
2014	30,922	227,611
2015	32,087	148,542
2016	33,390	110,553
2017	33,601	72,193
2018	33,112	168,497
2019	32,279	209,708
2020	30,721	212,332
2021	27,806	213,567
2022	30,803	211,166
2023	31,115	217,966

Maternal mortality chart: Lesotho vs South Sudan

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 478 deaths per 100,000 live births in Lesotho, compared to 692 deaths in South Sudan.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Lesotho	South Sudan
1985	711	3,845
1986	680	3,720
1987	686	8,045
1988	680	5,535
1989	680	5,103
1990	665	4,877
1991	641	4,764
1992	601	7,597
1993	542	7,537
1994	423	1,666
1995	357	4,430
1996	319	4,357
1997	312	4,172
1998	332	7,514
1999	371	2,048
2000	413	1,658
2001	465	1,580
2002	484	1,521
2003	508	1,199
2004	499	1,150
2005	549	1,074
2006	696	1,005
2007	891	933
2008	1,205	858
2009	1,387	823
2010	1,311	776
2011	1,210	770
2012	1,000	755
2013	855	771
2014	707	1,216
2015	594	1,436
2016	518	1,629
2017	468	1,662
2018	491	913
2019	467	745
2020	529	729
2021	577	749
2022	477	704
2023	478	692

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 5.89% in Lesotho 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
	Lesotho	South Sudan
1960	18.6%	35.5%
1961	18.5%	35.2%
1962	18.5%	34.9%
1963	18.6%	34.6%
1964	18.6%	34.3%
1965	18.7%	34%
1966	18.6%	33.6%
1967	18.5%	33.3%
1968	18.3%	32.9%
1969	18%	32.6%
1970	17.7%	32.3%
1971	17.3%	31.9%
1972	16.9%	31.6%
1973	16.5%	31.3%
1974	16%	30.9%
1975	15.5%	30.6%
1976	14.9%	30.2%
1977	14.2%	29.9%
1978	13.6%	29.5%
1979	12.9%	29.2%
1980	12.3%	28.9%
1981	11.7%	28.5%
1982	11.1%	28.2%
1983	10.6%	27.8%
1984	10.1%	27.5%
1985	9.72%	27.1%
1986	9.36%	26.7%
1987	9.06%	36%
1988	8.8%	76.7%
1989	8.6%	30.7%
1990	8.47%	30.3%
1991	8.43%	29.7%
1992	8.51%	33.8%
1993	8.73%	33.1%
1994	9.07%	23%
1995	9.45%	27%
1996	9.83%	26.1%
1997	10.2%	25.2%
1998	10.5%	42.6%
1999	10.7%	19.2%
2000	10.9%	18.3%
2001	11.1%	17.4%
2002	11.2%	16.5%
2003	11.4%	15.7%
2004	11.5%	14.8%
2005	11.6%	14.1%
2006	11.5%	13.4%
2007	11.2%	12.7%
2008	10.9%	12.1%
2009	9.64%	11.5%
2010	9.01%	10.9%
2011	8.59%	10.5%
2012	8.26%	10.1%
2013	8.02%	9.92%
2014	7.82%	18.2%
2015	7.51%	23.7%
2016	7.18%	26.4%
2017	7.12%	27.8%
2018	6.91%	13.2%
2019	6.87%	9.87%
2020	6.68%	9.87%
2021	6.44%	9.87%
2022	6.15%	9.87%
2023	5.89%	9.87%