Fertility & birth rates in Madagascar and South Africa

Fertility rate in Madagascar vs South Africa chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Madagascar was 3.97 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 Madagascar 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
	Madagascar	South Africa
1960	7.34	6.11
1961	7.3	6.08
1962	7.26	6.05
1963	7.21	6.01
1964	7.19	5.96
1965	7.17	5.89
1966	7.16	5.91
1967	7.14	5.85
1968	7.13	5.78
1969	7.12	5.72
1970	7.1	5.63
1971	7.07	5.57
1972	7.04	5.49
1973	7.01	5.41
1974	6.99	5.3
1975	6.97	5.19
1976	6.95	5.07
1977	6.93	4.94
1978	6.9	4.85
1979	6.87	4.82
1980	6.84	4.78
1981	6.77	4.71
1982	6.7	4.7
1983	6.63	4.63
1984	6.55	4.57
1985	6.46	4.5
1986	6.34	4.41
1987	6.24	4.35
1988	6.18	4.18
1989	6.15	3.98
1990	6.14	3.72
1991	6.12	3.62
1992	6.08	3.48
1993	6.06	3.37
1994	6.04	3.26
1995	6.04	3.17
1996	6.03	2.99
1997	6.02	2.73
1998	5.99	2.63
1999	5.84	2.56
2000	5.67	2.41
2001	5.53	2.37
2002	5.41	2.32
2003	5.33	2.36
2004	5.26	2.44
2005	5.2	2.51
2006	5.13	2.55
2007	5.08	2.55
2008	5.04	2.68
2009	5	2.5
2010	4.9	2.44
2011	4.74	2.44
2012	4.61	2.45
2013	4.53	2.43
2014	4.42	2.42
2015	4.34	2.36
2016	4.29	2.26
2017	4.26	2.28
2018	4.25	2.27
2019	4.22	2.26
2020	4.17	2.26
2021	4.1	2.25
2022	4.04	2.23
2023	3.97	2.22
2024	3.91	2.21
2025	3.84	2.19
2026	3.78	2.17
2027	3.72	2.15
2028	3.66	2.13
2029	3.61	2.12
2030	3.56	2.1
2031	3.51	2.09
2032	3.46	2.07
2033	3.41	2.06
2034	3.36	2.05
2035	3.32	2.04
2036	3.28	2.03
2037	3.24	2.02
2038	3.2	2
2039	3.16	1.99
2040	3.12	1.98
2041	3.09	1.98
2042	3.05	1.97
2043	3.02	1.96
2044	2.99	1.95
2045	2.95	1.94
2046	2.92	1.93
2047	2.9	1.92
2048	2.87	1.91
2049	2.84	1.9
2050	2.82	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Madagascar	South Africa
1960	45.2%	42.1%
1961	45.8%	42.1%
1962	46.3%	42.1%
1963	46.7%	42.1%
1964	46.8%	42.1%
1965	46.7%	42.1%
1966	46.6%	42.1%
1967	46.5%	42.2%
1968	46.5%	42.2%
1969	46.4%	42.2%
1970	46.4%	42.3%
1971	46.4%	42.2%
1972	46.4%	42.2%
1973	46.4%	42.1%
1974	46.5%	42%
1975	46.5%	41.9%
1976	46.6%	41.8%
1977	46.7%	41.7%
1978	46.8%	41.5%
1979	46.9%	41.3%
1980	47%	40.9%
1981	47.1%	40.5%
1982	47.1%	40.1%
1983	47%	39.8%
1984	46.9%	39.5%
1985	46.8%	39.2%
1986	46.7%	38.9%
1987	46.5%	38.7%
1988	46.3%	38.4%
1989	46.1%	38.1%
1990	45.9%	37.7%
1991	45.7%	37.5%
1992	45.6%	37.6%
1993	45.5%	37.3%
1994	45.4%	37.2%
1995	45.3%	37.5%
1996	45.3%	37.5%
1997	45.3%	37.2%
1998	45.4%	36.5%
1999	45.4%	35.7%
2000	45.4%	34.9%
2001	45.4%	34%
2002	45.4%	33.2%
2003	45.4%	32.3%
2004	45.3%	31.6%
2005	45.2%	31.1%
2006	45%	30.6%
2007	44.8%	30.2%
2008	44.6%	29.9%
2009	44.3%	29.7%
2010	44%	29.4%
2011	43.7%	29.1%
2012	43.3%	28.9%
2013	42.8%	28.7%
2014	42.4%	28.5%
2015	42%	28.3%
2016	41.6%	28.3%
2017	41.2%	28.3%
2018	40.9%	27.9%
2019	40.7%	27.4%
2020	40.4%	27%
2021	40.1%	26.6%
2022	39.9%	26.3%
2023	39.6%	26.1%
2024	39.3%	25.9%
2025	38.9%	25.7%
2026	38.6%	25.6%
2027	38.4%	25.4%
2028	38.1%	25.3%
2029	37.8%	25.2%
2030	37.6%	25.2%
2031	37.3%	25.1%
2032	37%	25%
2033	36.7%	24.8%
2034	36.4%	24.5%
2035	36%	24.3%
2036	35.7%	23.9%
2037	35.3%	23.6%
2038	35%	23.4%
2039	34.6%	23.1%
2040	34.3%	22.9%
2041	34%	22.7%
2042	33.6%	22.5%
2043	33.3%	22.4%
2044	33%	22.2%
2045	32.7%	22.1%
2046	32.4%	21.9%
2047	32.1%	21.8%
2048	31.8%	21.7%
2049	31.6%	21.6%
2050	31.3%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 39.3% of the population in Madagascar and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 45.9% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Madagascar and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in Madagascar vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.57% in Madagascar 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
	Madagascar	South Africa
1960	133,684	421,263
1961	136,578	437,851
1962	139,412	455,634
1963	142,666	473,821
1964	146,894	490,606
1965	152,362	506,632
1966	159,483	534,862
1967	167,287	553,741
1968	175,869	571,841
1969	184,562	590,794
1970	194,889	605,102
1971	204,617	624,761
1972	213,138	638,754
1973	221,768	651,596
1974	230,233	658,438
1975	238,774	667,862
1976	247,026	675,011
1977	255,399	680,929
1978	263,684	694,341
1979	270,752	716,541
1980	275,287	738,415
1981	277,535	767,833
1982	284,733	807,550
1983	290,085	837,013
1984	296,892	869,011
1985	304,199	893,889
1986	307,074	903,644
1987	317,621	922,330
1988	330,510	909,221
1989	344,279	884,629
1990	360,621	835,421
1991	375,040	827,296
1992	388,430	794,415
1993	408,801	789,220
1994	428,169	698,609
1995	450,259	743,488
1996	471,453	710,868
1997	490,905	667,969
1998	508,408	627,027
1999	516,976	594,643
2000	520,860	526,963
2001	529,656	484,801
2002	535,518	430,926
2003	544,903	415,018
2004	556,319	442,540
2005	568,143	464,464
2006	581,489	487,584
2007	597,772	503,567
2008	615,580	595,332
2009	634,008	554,115
2010	641,543	566,834
2011	640,577	601,708
2012	644,255	643,723
2013	654,230	652,427
2014	660,837	674,754
2015	668,977	668,771
2016	682,801	641,365
2017	699,498	645,975
2018	719,267	648,319
2019	735,853	652,130
2020	736,607	595,873
2021	741,416	456,411
2022	753,931	603,636
2023	766,391	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: Madagascar vs South Africa

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 445 deaths per 100,000 live births in Madagascar, compared to 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Madagascar	South Africa
1985	751	208
1986	730	200
1987	702	192
1988	687	184
1989	684	177
1990	692	170
1991	691	162
1992	699	152
1993	688	145
1994	688	133
1995	684	125
1996	680	150
1997	676	152
1998	663	152
1999	647	151
2000	638	175
2001	611	192
2002	593	225
2003	571	245
2004	555	259
2005	540	279
2006	528	283
2007	522	272
2008	510	272
2009	507	241
2010	500	226
2011	492	202
2012	487	194
2013	481	180
2014	477	162
2015	474	150
2016	470	141
2017	469	134
2018	466	128
2019	462	119
2020	447	118
2021	467	191
2022	439	129
2023	445	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 6.48% in Madagascar 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
	Madagascar	South Africa
1968	14.6%	-
1969	14.7%	-
1970	14.9%	-
1971	15.1%	-
1972	15.3%	-
1973	15.6%	-
1974	15.8%	13.2%
1975	16.1%	12.5%
1976	16.3%	11.8%
1977	16.5%	11.1%
1978	16.7%	10.5%
1979	16.9%	9.88%
1980	17.1%	9.35%
1981	17.4%	8.84%
1982	17.6%	8.39%
1983	17.8%	7.98%
1984	17.8%	7.6%
1985	17.7%	7.24%
1986	17.5%	6.89%
1987	17.1%	6.56%
1988	16.6%	6.26%
1989	16.1%	6.01%
1990	15.6%	5.82%
1991	15%	5.7%
1992	14.5%	5.66%
1993	14%	5.7%
1994	13.5%	5.82%
1995	13.1%	5.95%
1996	12.6%	6.11%
1997	12%	6.29%
1998	11.5%	6.56%
1999	11%	6.85%
2000	10.5%	7.11%
2001	10%	7.43%
2002	9.6%	7.69%
2003	9.2%	7.93%
2004	8.82%	8.1%
2005	8.46%	8.03%
2006	8.12%	7.75%
2007	7.81%	7.19%
2008	7.53%	6.42%
2009	7.28%	5.7%
2010	7.07%	5%
2011	6.9%	4.5%
2012	6.77%	4.25%
2013	6.69%	4.1%
2014	6.62%	3.96%
2015	6.58%	3.82%
2016	6.57%	3.68%
2017	6.57%	3.58%
2018	6.58%	3.49%
2019	6.61%	3.45%
2020	6.63%	3.41%
2021	6.62%	3.41%
2022	6.57%	3.44%
2023	6.48%	3.47%