Fertility & birth rates in Netherlands and Switzerland

Fertility rate in Netherlands vs Switzerland 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 1.33 in Switzerland in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check the Netherlands vs Switzerland 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	Switzerland
1960	3.12	2.44
1961	3.22	2.52
1962	3.18	2.58
1963	3.19	2.65
1964	3.17	2.66
1965	3.04	2.59
1966	2.9	2.5
1967	2.81	2.39
1968	2.72	2.29
1969	2.75	2.19
1970	2.57	2.1
1971	2.36	2.04
1972	2.15	1.91
1973	1.9	1.81
1974	1.77	1.73
1975	1.66	1.61
1976	1.63	1.55
1977	1.58	1.53
1978	1.58	1.51
1979	1.56	1.52
1980	1.6	1.55
1981	1.56	1.55
1982	1.5	1.56
1983	1.47	1.52
1984	1.49	1.53
1985	1.51	1.52
1986	1.55	1.53
1987	1.56	1.52
1988	1.55	1.57
1989	1.55	1.56
1990	1.62	1.58
1991	1.61	1.58
1992	1.59	1.58
1993	1.57	1.51
1994	1.57	1.49
1995	1.53	1.48
1996	1.53	1.5
1997	1.56	1.48
1998	1.63	1.47
1999	1.65	1.48
2000	1.72	1.5
2001	1.71	1.38
2002	1.73	1.39
2003	1.75	1.39
2004	1.72	1.42
2005	1.71	1.42
2006	1.72	1.44
2007	1.72	1.46
2008	1.77	1.48
2009	1.79	1.5
2010	1.79	1.52
2011	1.76	1.52
2012	1.72	1.52
2013	1.68	1.52
2014	1.71	1.54
2015	1.66	1.54
2016	1.66	1.54
2017	1.62	1.52
2018	1.59	1.52
2019	1.57	1.48
2020	1.54	1.46
2021	1.62	1.52
2022	1.49	1.39
2023	1.43	1.33
2024	1.43	1.33
2025	1.44	1.34
2026	1.44	1.34
2027	1.45	1.35
2028	1.45	1.35
2029	1.45	1.35
2030	1.46	1.35
2031	1.46	1.36
2032	1.47	1.36
2033	1.47	1.37
2034	1.48	1.37
2035	1.48	1.37
2036	1.48	1.38
2037	1.48	1.38
2038	1.48	1.38
2039	1.49	1.38
2040	1.49	1.39
2041	1.49	1.39
2042	1.5	1.39
2043	1.5	1.4
2044	1.5	1.4
2045	1.5	1.4
2046	1.5	1.4
2047	1.51	1.41
2048	1.51	1.41
2049	1.51	1.41
2050	1.51	1.41

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Netherlands	Switzerland
1960	30%	24%
1961	29.7%	24%
1962	29.1%	24.1%
1963	28.7%	24.1%
1964	28.5%	24.1%
1965	28.3%	24.1%
1966	28.1%	24.2%
1967	27.8%	24.1%
1968	27.6%	24%
1969	27.5%	23.8%
1970	27.3%	23.8%
1971	27.1%	23.7%
1972	26.8%	23.5%
1973	26.4%	23.2%
1974	25.9%	22.8%
1975	25.3%	22.4%
1976	24.8%	22%
1977	24.2%	21.4%
1978	23.5%	20.9%
1979	22.9%	20.3%
1980	22.3%	19.7%
1981	21.8%	19.2%
1982	21.3%	18.8%
1983	20.7%	18.3%
1984	20.1%	18%
1985	19.5%	17.6%
1986	19.1%	17.4%
1987	18.7%	17.2%
1988	18.5%	17.1%
1989	18.4%	17%
1990	18.4%	17.1%
1991	18.4%	17.2%
1992	18.5%	17.3%
1993	18.5%	17.5%
1994	18.6%	17.6%
1995	18.6%	17.6%
1996	18.6%	17.7%
1997	18.6%	17.6%
1998	18.6%	17.6%
1999	18.7%	17.5%
2000	18.8%	17.4%
2001	18.8%	17.1%
2002	18.8%	16.8%
2003	18.7%	16.6%
2004	18.6%	16.4%
2005	18.5%	16.1%
2006	18.3%	15.9%
2007	18.1%	15.6%
2008	17.9%	15.4%
2009	17.7%	15.3%
2010	17.6%	15.2%
2011	17.4%	15.1%
2012	17.3%	15%
2013	17.1%	14.9%
2014	16.9%	14.9%
2015	16.6%	14.9%
2016	16.4%	14.9%
2017	16.2%	14.9%
2018	16%	15%
2019	15.8%	15%
2020	15.6%	15.1%
2021	15.5%	15.1%
2022	15.4%	15.1%
2023	15.2%	15%
2024	15%	15%
2025	14.9%	14.9%
2026	14.9%	14.8%
2027	14.8%	14.7%
2028	14.8%	14.6%
2029	14.8%	14.5%
2030	14.8%	14.3%
2031	14.8%	14.1%
2032	14.7%	14%
2033	14.7%	13.8%
2034	14.7%	13.6%
2035	14.7%	13.5%
2036	14.7%	13.3%
2037	14.6%	13.2%
2038	14.6%	13.1%
2039	14.6%	13%
2040	14.5%	12.9%
2041	14.5%	12.8%
2042	14.4%	12.8%
2043	14.4%	12.7%
2044	14.3%	12.8%
2045	14.2%	12.8%
2046	14.1%	12.8%
2047	14.1%	12.9%
2048	14%	12.9%
2049	13.9%	13%
2050	13.8%	13.1%

Children aged 0-14 make up 15% of the population in the Netherlands and 15% in Switzerland in 2024, compared to 18.4% and 17.1% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of the Netherlands and Switzerland compared.

Natural population change in Netherlands vs Switzerland by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.08% in the Netherlands and +0.2% in Switzerland. 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	Switzerland
1960	151,623	42,090
1961	159,450	48,365
1962	153,474	49,050
1963	154,361	52,956
1964	157,653	59,050
1965	146,308	56,222
1966	138,265	53,854
1967	138,580	52,128
1968	132,389	47,328
1969	139,082	44,182
1970	129,082	42,648
1971	116,112	38,523
1972	101,297	35,061
1973	84,668	30,906
1974	75,853	27,902
1975	64,232	22,820
1976	63,361	17,017
1977	63,739	16,959
1978	61,344	13,820
1979	63,172	14,477
1980	66,504	14,535
1981	62,688	13,979
1982	54,388	15,339
1983	51,722	12,837
1984	54,812	16,105
1985	55,069	14,882
1986	59,746	16,261
1987	64,526	15,708
1988	61,993	21,099
1989	59,396	19,941
1990	68,777	20,146
1991	69,321	23,800
1992	66,811	24,064
1993	58,103	21,509
1994	61,532	20,982
1995	54,106	19,010
1996	51,251	19,801
1997	56,198	17,722
1998	61,258	16,353
1999	60,086	16,431
2000	66,887	15,806
2001	62,580	10,845
2002	59,751	10,199
2003	58,411	8,807
2004	56,987	13,302
2005	50,592	11,899
2006	49,038	12,723
2007	49,145	13,592
2008	49,337	15,295
2009	51,244	15,487
2010	48,184	17,997
2011	45,072	18,990
2012	35,186	18,393
2013	30,248	17,797
2014	35,417	21,290
2015	23,716	19,050
2016	23,843	22,608
2017	18,844	20,284
2018	15,508	20,434
2019	17,345	18,008
2020	0	9,502
2021	7,014	18,279
2022	-1,770	7,899
2023	-5,363	7,999

Maternal mortality chart: Netherlands vs Switzerland

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 5 deaths in Switzerland.

Table

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

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.4% in the Netherlands and 0.39% in Switzerland. 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	Switzerland
1960	2.08%	2.65%
1961	2.03%	2.6%
1962	1.97%	2.53%
1963	1.92%	2.45%
1964	1.88%	2.36%
1965	1.83%	2.26%
1966	1.79%	2.16%
1967	1.74%	2.07%
1968	1.69%	1.99%
1969	1.64%	1.92%
1970	1.58%	1.84%
1971	1.53%	1.76%
1972	1.47%	1.67%
1973	1.41%	1.57%
1974	1.36%	1.48%
1975	1.31%	1.38%
1976	1.26%	1.29%
1977	1.21%	1.21%
1978	1.16%	1.14%
1979	1.12%	1.09%
1980	1.09%	1.04%
1981	1.06%	1%
1982	1.04%	0.97%
1983	1.02%	0.94%
1984	0.99%	0.92%
1985	0.97%	0.9%
1986	0.95%	0.89%
1987	0.92%	0.88%
1988	0.89%	0.86%
1989	0.86%	0.84%
1990	0.83%	0.82%
1991	0.8%	0.78%
1992	0.77%	0.75%
1993	0.74%	0.71%
1994	0.71%	0.67%
1995	0.69%	0.64%
1996	0.67%	0.62%
1997	0.66%	0.6%
1998	0.64%	0.58%
1999	0.63%	0.57%
2000	0.62%	0.56%
2001	0.61%	0.55%
2002	0.59%	0.54%
2003	0.57%	0.53%
2004	0.55%	0.52%
2005	0.53%	0.51%
2006	0.51%	0.49%
2007	0.49%	0.48%
2008	0.47%	0.47%
2009	0.46%	0.46%
2010	0.44%	0.46%
2011	0.43%	0.45%
2012	0.42%	0.44%
2013	0.42%	0.44%
2014	0.41%	0.43%
2015	0.41%	0.43%
2016	0.41%	0.42%
2017	0.4%	0.41%
2018	0.4%	0.41%
2019	0.4%	0.4%
2020	0.4%	0.4%
2021	0.4%	0.4%
2022	0.4%	0.4%
2023	0.4%	0.39%