Fertility & birth rates in Malawi and United States

Fertility rate in Malawi vs United States chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Malawi was 3.65 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1.62 in the United States in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Malawi vs the United States population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Malawi	United States
1960	7.04	3.65
1961	7.07	3.62
1962	7.1	3.46
1963	7.13	3.32
1964	7.11	3.19
1965	7.13	2.91
1966	7.17	2.72
1967	7.21	2.56
1968	7.26	2.46
1969	7.27	2.46
1970	7.3	2.48
1971	7.31	2.27
1972	7.33	2.01
1973	7.34	1.88
1974	7.34	1.84
1975	7.36	1.77
1976	7.39	1.74
1977	7.41	1.79
1978	7.43	1.76
1979	7.47	1.81
1980	7.52	1.84
1981	7.49	1.81
1982	7.45	1.83
1983	7.36	1.8
1984	7.27	1.81
1985	7.17	1.84
1986	7.07	1.84
1987	6.97	1.87
1988	6.88	1.93
1989	6.8	2.01
1990	6.74	2.08
1991	6.68	2.06
1992	6.63	2.05
1993	6.57	2.02
1994	6.49	2
1995	6.39	1.98
1996	6.29	1.98
1997	6.23	1.97
1998	6.21	2
1999	6.12	2.01
2000	6	2.06
2001	5.94	2.03
2002	5.9	2.02
2003	5.88	2.05
2004	5.86	2.05
2005	5.85	2.06
2006	5.8	2.11
2007	5.72	2.12
2008	5.61	2.07
2009	5.45	2
2010	5.26	1.93
2011	5.08	1.89
2012	4.9	1.88
2013	4.76	1.86
2014	4.57	1.86
2015	4.38	1.84
2016	4.22	1.82
2017	4.11	1.77
2018	4.02	1.73
2019	3.95	1.71
2020	3.88	1.64
2021	3.79	1.66
2022	3.72	1.66
2023	3.65	1.62
2024	3.59	1.62
2025	3.53	1.62
2026	3.45	1.62
2027	3.39	1.62
2028	3.33	1.62
2029	3.29	1.62
2030	3.23	1.62
2031	3.18	1.62
2032	3.13	1.62
2033	3.09	1.63
2034	3.05	1.62
2035	3.01	1.63
2036	2.97	1.63
2037	2.93	1.63
2038	2.89	1.63
2039	2.86	1.63
2040	2.82	1.63
2041	2.79	1.63
2042	2.76	1.63
2043	2.73	1.63
2044	2.7	1.63
2045	2.67	1.64
2046	2.64	1.64
2047	2.61	1.63
2048	2.59	1.64
2049	2.57	1.63
2050	2.54	1.64

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Malawi	United States
1960	43.1%	31.3%
1961	42.9%	31.4%
1962	42.8%	31.3%
1963	42.9%	31.1%
1964	43%	30.9%
1965	43.2%	30.7%
1966	43.4%	30.4%
1967	43.7%	30%
1968	43.9%	29.5%
1969	44.2%	29%
1970	44.4%	28.6%
1971	44.6%	28%
1972	44.8%	27.4%
1973	44.9%	26.6%
1974	45.1%	25.9%
1975	45.2%	25.2%
1976	45.2%	24.4%
1977	45.3%	23.8%
1978	45.3%	23.2%
1979	45.3%	22.8%
1980	45.4%	22.4%
1981	45.4%	22.1%
1982	45.4%	22%
1983	45.5%	21.8%
1984	45.5%	21.7%
1985	45.4%	21.5%
1986	45.4%	21.3%
1987	45.1%	21.3%
1988	45%	21.3%
1989	45.2%	21.5%
1990	45.4%	21.6%
1991	45.6%	21.7%
1992	45.8%	21.8%
1993	46%	21.9%
1994	46.1%	21.9%
1995	46.1%	21.8%
1996	46.2%	21.7%
1997	46.2%	21.5%
1998	46.2%	21.4%
1999	46.2%	21.3%
2000	46.2%	21.2%
2001	46.1%	21%
2002	46.1%	20.9%
2003	46.1%	20.7%
2004	46%	20.5%
2005	46%	20.3%
2006	46.1%	20.2%
2007	46.1%	20%
2008	46.1%	19.9%
2009	46.2%	19.8%
2010	46.2%	19.7%
2011	46.2%	19.6%
2012	46.1%	19.5%
2013	46%	19.4%
2014	45.7%	19.3%
2015	45.4%	19.2%
2016	45.1%	19.1%
2017	44.6%	18.9%
2018	44.2%	18.8%
2019	43.7%	18.6%
2020	43.1%	18.4%
2021	42.5%	18.1%
2022	41.9%	17.9%
2023	41.3%	17.6%
2024	40.7%	17.3%
2025	40.1%	17.1%
2026	39.6%	16.9%
2027	39.1%	16.7%
2028	38.6%	16.6%
2029	38.1%	16.4%
2030	37.7%	16.3%
2031	37.4%	16.1%
2032	37%	16%
2033	36.7%	16%
2034	36.4%	15.9%
2035	36%	15.9%
2036	35.7%	15.9%
2037	35.3%	15.9%
2038	35%	15.9%
2039	34.6%	15.9%
2040	34.2%	15.9%
2041	33.9%	16%
2042	33.5%	16%
2043	33.1%	16%
2044	32.7%	16%
2045	32.3%	16%
2046	31.9%	16%
2047	31.5%	16%
2048	31.2%	16%
2049	30.8%	15.9%
2050	30.5%	15.9%

Children aged 0-14 make up 40.7% of the population in Malawi and 17.3% in the United States in 2024, compared to 45.4% and 21.6% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Malawi and the United States compared.

Natural population change in Malawi vs United States by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.67% in Malawi and +0.25% in the United States. 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
	Malawi	United States
1960	85,718	2,565,530
1961	89,091	2,571,681
1962	92,463	2,406,337
1963	95,933	2,289,826
1964	97,658	2,245,099
1965	100,040	1,943,030
1966	103,512	1,749,387
1967	106,668	1,669,181
1968	110,329	1,565,507
1969	113,120	1,702,487
1970	116,822	1,824,965
1971	121,015	1,640,519
1972	125,728	1,301,355
1973	131,529	1,165,499
1974	137,819	1,218,968
1975	145,254	1,252,644
1976	153,422	1,264,604
1977	161,930	1,431,556
1978	172,503	1,402,283
1979	182,123	1,597,894
1980	192,746	1,608,450
1981	199,436	1,652,153
1982	205,386	1,714,317
1983	209,422	1,636,544
1984	212,146	1,627,192
1985	216,179	1,689,258
1986	218,519	1,656,917
1987	220,566	1,720,252
1988	226,911	1,735,943
1989	237,967	1,875,826
1990	250,159	2,026,068
1991	260,193	1,926,543
1992	269,066	1,875,328
1993	276,538	1,717,685
1994	275,439	1,633,302
1995	266,745	1,546,031
1996	270,048	1,510,137
1997	277,433	1,501,014
1998	285,407	1,573,857
1999	295,629	1,564,050
2000	300,439	1,664,758
2001	310,833	1,595,826
2002	322,863	1,581,938
2003	341,133	1,653,615
2004	361,133	1,698,271
2005	381,130	1,684,445
2006	397,123	1,849,955
2007	410,290	1,897,757
2008	421,781	1,794,154
2009	434,811	1,717,920
2010	444,468	1,548,182
2011	454,149	1,441,697
2012	460,684	1,411,822
2013	470,293	1,322,711
2014	472,418	1,357,281
2015	472,484	1,270,126
2016	474,779	1,197,627
2017	484,655	1,028,037
2018	494,348	955,022
2019	506,104	887,476
2020	514,659	208,862
2021	517,400	199,137
2022	533,450	399,926
2023	549,096	502,372

Maternal mortality chart: Malawi vs United States

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 225 deaths per 100,000 live births in Malawi, compared to 17 deaths in the United States.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Malawi	United States
1985	1,115	11
1986	1,118	11
1987	1,123	11
1988	1,154	12
1989	1,136	12
1990	1,112	12
1991	1,080	12
1992	1,042	11
1993	1,000	12
1994	912	11
1995	782	12
1996	713	11
1997	672	11
1998	658	11
1999	576	12
2000	506	12
2001	447	13
2002	404	13
2003	346	13
2004	304	13
2005	283	13
2006	286	13
2007	333	13
2008	430	14
2009	512	15
2010	517	15
2011	486	15
2012	447	16
2013	410	16
2014	367	17
2015	354	17
2016	312	18
2017	284	18
2018	267	18
2019	260	18
2020	256	22
2021	286	31
2022	239	20
2023	225	17

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.83% in Malawi and 0.65% in the United States. 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
	Malawi	United States
1960	-	3.01%
1961	35.9%	2.95%
1962	35.8%	2.89%
1963	35.7%	2.83%
1964	35.5%	2.77%
1965	35.4%	2.71%
1966	35.3%	2.64%
1967	35.1%	2.57%
1968	35%	2.49%
1969	34.7%	2.41%
1970	34.4%	2.32%
1971	33.9%	2.24%
1972	33.2%	2.15%
1973	32.4%	2.06%
1974	31.5%	1.97%
1975	30.6%	1.88%
1976	29.7%	1.79%
1977	28.7%	1.71%
1978	27.6%	1.63%
1979	26.5%	1.56%
1980	25.6%	1.5%
1981	24.9%	1.44%
1982	24.5%	1.39%
1983	24.5%	1.34%
1984	24.8%	1.3%
1985	25.1%	1.27%
1986	25.4%	1.24%
1987	25.5%	1.21%
1988	25.3%	1.19%
1989	24.9%	1.16%
1990	24.3%	1.12%
1991	23.6%	1.09%
1992	22.8%	1.05%
1993	22%	1.01%
1994	21.3%	0.98%
1995	20.7%	0.95%
1996	20.2%	0.92%
1997	19.7%	0.89%
1998	19.2%	0.87%
1999	18.4%	0.86%
2000	17.3%	0.84%
2001	16%	0.83%
2002	14.6%	0.82%
2003	13.2%	0.81%
2004	11.9%	0.81%
2005	11%	0.8%
2006	10.3%	0.79%
2007	9.83%	0.77%
2008	9.31%	0.76%
2009	8.81%	0.75%
2010	8.3%	0.73%
2011	7.67%	0.72%
2012	6.98%	0.7%
2013	6.4%	0.69%
2014	6.02%	0.68%
2015	5.67%	0.68%
2016	5.35%	0.67%
2017	5.06%	0.66%
2018	4.75%	0.65%
2019	4.55%	0.65%
2020	4.31%	0.65%
2021	4.15%	0.65%
2022	3.99%	0.65%
2023	3.83%	0.65%