Fertility & birth rates in Netherlands and Portugal

Fertility rate in Netherlands vs Portugal chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in the Netherlands was 1.43 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1.44 in Portugal in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check the Netherlands vs Portugal population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Netherlands	Portugal
1960	3.12	3.16
1961	3.22	3.21
1962	3.18	3.23
1963	3.19	3.12
1964	3.17	3.21
1965	3.04	3.15
1966	2.9	3.16
1967	2.81	3.16
1968	2.72	3.12
1969	2.75	3.12
1970	2.57	3.01
1971	2.36	3
1972	2.15	2.86
1973	1.9	2.77
1974	1.77	2.7
1975	1.66	2.75
1976	1.63	2.82
1977	1.58	2.69
1978	1.58	2.45
1979	1.56	2.31
1980	1.6	2.25
1981	1.56	2.13
1982	1.5	2.07
1983	1.47	1.95
1984	1.49	1.9
1985	1.51	1.72
1986	1.55	1.66
1987	1.56	1.62
1988	1.55	1.61
1989	1.55	1.57
1990	1.62	1.56
1991	1.61	1.56
1992	1.59	1.54
1993	1.57	1.52
1994	1.57	1.45
1995	1.53	1.41
1996	1.53	1.44
1997	1.56	1.47
1998	1.63	1.47
1999	1.65	1.5
2000	1.72	1.55
2001	1.71	1.45
2002	1.73	1.46
2003	1.75	1.44
2004	1.72	1.4
2005	1.71	1.41
2006	1.72	1.37
2007	1.72	1.35
2008	1.77	1.39
2009	1.79	1.34
2010	1.79	1.39
2011	1.76	1.35
2012	1.72	1.28
2013	1.68	1.21
2014	1.71	1.24
2015	1.66	1.31
2016	1.66	1.37
2017	1.62	1.38
2018	1.59	1.42
2019	1.57	1.44
2020	1.54	1.42
2021	1.62	1.35
2022	1.49	1.43
2023	1.43	1.44
2024	1.43	1.45
2025	1.44	1.45
2026	1.44	1.45
2027	1.45	1.46
2028	1.45	1.46
2029	1.45	1.46
2030	1.46	1.46
2031	1.46	1.47
2032	1.47	1.47
2033	1.47	1.47
2034	1.48	1.48
2035	1.48	1.48
2036	1.48	1.48
2037	1.48	1.48
2038	1.48	1.49
2039	1.49	1.49
2040	1.49	1.49
2041	1.49	1.49
2042	1.5	1.49
2043	1.5	1.49
2044	1.5	1.5
2045	1.5	1.5
2046	1.5	1.5
2047	1.51	1.5
2048	1.51	1.5
2049	1.51	1.5
2050	1.51	1.5

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Netherlands	Portugal
1960	30%	29.3%
1961	29.7%	29.1%
1962	29.1%	29.1%
1963	28.7%	29.1%
1964	28.5%	29.1%
1965	28.3%	29.1%
1966	28.1%	29.2%
1967	27.8%	29.2%
1968	27.6%	29.2%
1969	27.5%	29.1%
1970	27.3%	28.7%
1971	27.1%	28.4%
1972	26.8%	28.2%
1973	26.4%	27.9%
1974	25.9%	27.7%
1975	25.3%	27.4%
1976	24.8%	27.2%
1977	24.2%	27.1%
1978	23.5%	26.8%
1979	22.9%	26.4%
1980	22.3%	25.9%
1981	21.8%	25.4%
1982	21.3%	25%
1983	20.7%	24.5%
1984	20.1%	24.1%
1985	19.5%	23.7%
1986	19.1%	23.1%
1987	18.7%	22.5%
1988	18.5%	21.9%
1989	18.4%	21.2%
1990	18.4%	20.5%
1991	18.4%	19.7%
1992	18.5%	19.1%
1993	18.5%	18.6%
1994	18.6%	18.2%
1995	18.6%	17.8%
1996	18.6%	17.4%
1997	18.6%	17.1%
1998	18.6%	16.8%
1999	18.7%	16.6%
2000	18.8%	16.4%
2001	18.8%	16.2%
2002	18.8%	16.1%
2003	18.7%	16.1%
2004	18.6%	16%
2005	18.5%	15.9%
2006	18.3%	15.8%
2007	18.1%	15.6%
2008	17.9%	15.5%
2009	17.7%	15.4%
2010	17.6%	15.2%
2011	17.4%	15%
2012	17.3%	14.9%
2013	17.1%	14.8%
2014	16.9%	14.6%
2015	16.6%	14.3%
2016	16.4%	14.1%
2017	16.2%	13.9%
2018	16%	13.7%
2019	15.8%	13.5%
2020	15.6%	13.3%
2021	15.5%	13.1%
2022	15.4%	13%
2023	15.2%	12.9%
2024	15%	12.8%
2025	14.9%	12.7%
2026	14.9%	12.6%
2027	14.8%	12.6%
2028	14.8%	12.6%
2029	14.8%	12.6%
2030	14.8%	12.7%
2031	14.8%	12.7%
2032	14.7%	12.7%
2033	14.7%	12.7%
2034	14.7%	12.7%
2035	14.7%	12.8%
2036	14.7%	12.9%
2037	14.6%	12.9%
2038	14.6%	13%
2039	14.6%	13%
2040	14.5%	13.1%
2041	14.5%	13.1%
2042	14.4%	13.2%
2043	14.4%	13.2%
2044	14.3%	13.3%
2045	14.2%	13.3%
2046	14.1%	13.4%
2047	14.1%	13.4%
2048	14%	13.4%
2049	13.9%	13.5%
2050	13.8%	13.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 15% of the population in the Netherlands and 12.8% in Portugal in 2024, compared to 18.4% and 20.5% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of the Netherlands and Portugal compared.

Natural population change in Netherlands vs Portugal by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.08% in the Netherlands and -0.29% in Portugal. 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
	Netherlands	Portugal
1960	151,623	118,693
1961	159,450	117,867
1962	153,474	123,217
1963	154,361	113,783
1964	157,653	120,170
1965	146,308	115,182
1966	138,265	107,171
1967	138,580	106,495
1968	132,389	100,737
1969	139,082	89,329
1970	129,082	87,672
1971	116,112	82,980
1972	101,297	83,715
1973	84,668	76,835
1974	75,853	74,412
1975	64,232	81,841
1976	63,361	85,138
1977	63,739	84,156
1978	61,344	70,731
1979	63,172	67,628
1980	66,504	63,481
1981	62,688	56,152
1982	54,388	58,479
1983	51,722	47,798
1984	54,812	45,983
1985	55,069	33,077
1986	59,746	31,102
1987	64,526	28,084
1988	61,993	24,047
1989	59,396	22,011
1990	68,777	13,976
1991	69,321	12,948
1992	66,811	13,933
1993	58,103	7,972
1994	61,532	9,991
1995	54,106	4,011
1996	51,251	4,026
1997	56,198	8,087
1998	61,258	7,112
1999	60,086	8,175
2000	66,887	15,435
2001	62,580	8,290
2002	59,751	8,335
2003	58,411	4,184
2004	56,987	7,339
2005	50,592	2,101
2006	49,038	3,156
2007	49,145	-1,055
2008	49,337	0
2009	51,244	-5,284
2010	48,184	-4,230
2011	45,072	-5,279
2012	35,186	-17,875
2013	30,248	-24,052
2014	35,417	-22,882
2015	23,716	-23,823
2016	23,843	-23,749
2017	18,844	-23,691
2018	15,508	-25,709
2019	17,345	-24,687
2020	0	-39,129
2021	7,014	-45,592
2022	-1,770	-40,694
2023	-5,363	-32,792

Maternal mortality chart: Netherlands vs Portugal

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 the Netherlands, compared to 15 deaths in Portugal.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Netherlands	Portugal
1985	12	20
1986	12	19
1987	12	19
1988	12	18
1989	12	18
1990	12	17
1991	12	17
1992	12	16
1993	12	15
1994	12	13
1995	12	12
1996	12	12
1997	13	12
1998	12	11
1999	13	10
2000	13	9
2001	13	9
2002	13	9
2003	12	8
2004	11	8
2005	10	8
2006	9	8
2007	8	8
2008	8	9
2009	7	9
2010	6	10
2011	7	10
2012	6	10
2013	6	10
2014	5	11
2015	5	11
2016	5	12
2017	5	13
2018	5	14
2019	5	15
2020	4	14
2021	5	19
2022	4	16
2023	4	15

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.4% in the Netherlands and 0.32% in Portugal. 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
	Netherlands	Portugal
1960	2.08%	11.4%
1961	2.03%	11%
1962	1.97%	10.4%
1963	1.92%	9.76%
1964	1.88%	9.1%
1965	1.83%	8.53%
1966	1.79%	8.09%
1967	1.74%	7.76%
1968	1.69%	7.51%
1969	1.64%	7.22%
1970	1.58%	6.81%
1971	1.53%	6.3%
1972	1.47%	5.78%
1973	1.41%	5.27%
1974	1.36%	4.79%
1975	1.31%	4.35%
1976	1.26%	3.94%
1977	1.21%	3.57%
1978	1.16%	3.24%
1979	1.12%	2.97%
1980	1.09%	2.75%
1981	1.06%	2.58%
1982	1.04%	2.43%
1983	1.02%	2.29%
1984	0.99%	2.16%
1985	0.97%	2.04%
1986	0.95%	1.93%
1987	0.92%	1.82%
1988	0.89%	1.7%
1989	0.86%	1.59%
1990	0.83%	1.47%
1991	0.8%	1.36%
1992	0.77%	1.25%
1993	0.74%	1.14%
1994	0.71%	1.05%
1995	0.69%	0.98%
1996	0.67%	0.92%
1997	0.66%	0.86%
1998	0.64%	0.82%
1999	0.63%	0.77%
2000	0.62%	0.72%
2001	0.61%	0.66%
2002	0.59%	0.61%
2003	0.57%	0.55%
2004	0.55%	0.5%
2005	0.53%	0.47%
2006	0.51%	0.44%
2007	0.49%	0.42%
2008	0.47%	0.4%
2009	0.46%	0.39%
2010	0.44%	0.38%
2011	0.43%	0.37%
2012	0.42%	0.37%
2013	0.42%	0.36%
2014	0.41%	0.36%
2015	0.41%	0.36%
2016	0.41%	0.36%
2017	0.4%	0.36%
2018	0.4%	0.35%
2019	0.4%	0.35%
2020	0.4%	0.34%
2021	0.4%	0.33%
2022	0.4%	0.32%
2023	0.4%	0.32%