Fertility & birth rates in North Korea and Panama

Fertility rate in North Korea vs Panama chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in North Korea was 1.78 children per woman in 2023, compared to 2.12 in Panama in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check North Korea vs Panama population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	North Korea	Panama
1960	3.57	5.83
1961	3.26	5.87
1962	3.41	5.87
1963	3.63	5.87
1964	3.55	5.81
1965	3.56	5.73
1966	3.71	5.65
1967	4.05	5.53
1968	3.87	5.41
1969	3.86	5.29
1970	3.85	5.18
1971	3.74	5.05
1972	3.89	4.91
1973	3.35	4.74
1974	3.14	4.58
1975	3.05	4.41
1976	2.84	4.26
1977	2.77	4.12
1978	2.79	3.98
1979	2.85	3.88
1980	2.84	3.8
1981	2.92	3.72
1982	2.85	3.66
1983	2.78	3.6
1984	2.71	3.52
1985	2.65	3.43
1986	2.59	3.34
1987	2.53	3.25
1988	2.47	3.17
1989	2.41	3.12
1990	2.39	3.07
1991	2.35	3
1992	2.29	2.95
1993	2.22	2.91
1994	2.18	2.88
1995	2.15	2.85
1996	2.09	2.83
1997	2.03	2.81
1998	1.99	2.79
1999	1.97	2.77
2000	1.94	2.74
2001	1.94	2.72
2002	1.92	2.7
2003	1.91	2.68
2004	1.9	2.68
2005	1.87	2.64
2006	1.94	2.62
2007	1.94	2.61
2008	1.97	2.61
2009	1.91	2.59
2010	1.89	2.59
2011	1.88	2.6
2012	1.88	2.59
2013	1.88	2.57
2014	1.87	2.55
2015	1.86	2.53
2016	1.86	2.5
2017	1.85	2.46
2018	1.83	2.4
2019	1.83	2.29
2020	1.82	2.18
2021	1.81	2.15
2022	1.8	2.14
2023	1.78	2.12
2024	1.78	2.11
2025	1.77	2.09
2026	1.75	2.07
2027	1.74	2.06
2028	1.73	2.04
2029	1.73	2.02
2030	1.72	2.01
2031	1.72	2
2032	1.71	1.99
2033	1.71	1.97
2034	1.71	1.96
2035	1.7	1.95
2036	1.7	1.95
2037	1.7	1.94
2038	1.69	1.93
2039	1.69	1.92
2040	1.69	1.91
2041	1.69	1.91
2042	1.69	1.9
2043	1.69	1.89
2044	1.68	1.89
2045	1.68	1.88
2046	1.68	1.88
2047	1.68	1.87
2048	1.67	1.87
2049	1.67	1.86
2050	1.67	1.86

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	North Korea	Panama
1960	37.5%	44.2%
1961	37%	44.3%
1962	36.6%	44.5%
1963	36.5%	44.6%
1964	36.6%	44.7%
1965	36.7%	44.8%
1966	37.3%	44.8%
1967	38.3%	44.8%
1968	39.2%	44.7%
1969	39.8%	44.6%
1970	40.1%	44.5%
1971	40.3%	44.3%
1972	40.2%	44.1%
1973	39.8%	43.9%
1974	39.3%	43.6%
1975	38.8%	43.3%
1976	38.3%	42.9%
1977	37.7%	42.4%
1978	36.9%	41.9%
1979	36%	41.4%
1980	35.1%	40.8%
1981	34.2%	40.3%
1982	33.1%	39.8%
1983	32%	39.3%
1984	30.9%	38.8%
1985	29.9%	38.3%
1986	29%	37.8%
1987	28%	37.4%
1988	27.3%	36.9%
1989	26.8%	36.5%
1990	26.5%	36.1%
1991	26.4%	35.7%
1992	26.3%	35.3%
1993	26.4%	34.9%
1994	26.4%	34.6%
1995	26.4%	34.2%
1996	26.3%	33.9%
1997	26.2%	33.5%
1998	26%	33.1%
1999	25.8%	32.8%
2000	25.6%	32.4%
2001	25.3%	32%
2002	25%	31.6%
2003	24.6%	31.3%
2004	24.3%	31%
2005	23.9%	30.6%
2006	23.4%	30.3%
2007	23%	30%
2008	22.5%	29.7%
2009	22.1%	29.5%
2010	21.6%	29.2%
2011	21.2%	28.9%
2012	20.8%	28.7%
2013	20.4%	28.4%
2014	20.1%	28.2%
2015	19.8%	27.9%
2016	19.6%	27.6%
2017	19.4%	27.4%
2018	19.2%	27.1%
2019	19.1%	26.7%
2020	19.1%	26.4%
2021	19.1%	26%
2022	19%	25.7%
2023	19%	25.3%
2024	18.9%	24.9%
2025	18.9%	24.5%
2026	18.9%	24.1%
2027	18.8%	23.8%
2028	18.7%	23.4%
2029	18.6%	23%
2030	18.5%	22.6%
2031	18.3%	22.2%
2032	18.1%	21.9%
2033	17.9%	21.6%
2034	17.6%	21.3%
2035	17.4%	21%
2036	17.1%	20.9%
2037	16.8%	20.7%
2038	16.6%	20.5%
2039	16.3%	20.3%
2040	16.1%	20.1%
2041	15.9%	20%
2042	15.7%	19.8%
2043	15.5%	19.6%
2044	15.4%	19.4%
2045	15.3%	19.3%
2046	15.2%	19.1%
2047	15.2%	18.9%
2048	15.2%	18.8%
2049	15.2%	18.6%
2050	15.2%	18.4%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.9% of the population in North Korea and 24.9% in Panama in 2024, compared to 26.5% and 36.1% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of North Korea and Panama compared.

Natural population change in North Korea vs Panama by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.42% in North Korea and +1.31% in Panama. 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
	North Korea	Panama
1960	277,717	35,431
1961	257,788	37,100
1962	286,534	38,537
1963	321,805	39,872
1964	323,623	40,806
1965	335,587	41,604
1966	363,882	42,457
1967	414,632	43,054
1968	399,837	43,641
1969	404,189	44,278
1970	406,129	45,075
1971	393,220	45,867
1972	411,997	46,311
1973	338,600	46,540
1974	306,902	46,932
1975	288,966	47,149
1976	255,841	47,307
1977	242,870	47,438
1978	243,533	47,694
1979	251,409	48,362
1980	255,206	49,077
1981	273,800	50,018
1982	276,332	50,858
1983	279,046	51,880
1984	282,987	52,436
1985	287,714	52,573
1986	293,227	52,681
1987	296,030	52,690
1988	299,305	52,767
1989	303,078	52,295
1990	312,460	53,451
1991	320,551	53,079
1992	324,002	53,186
1993	320,880	53,591
1994	320,861	53,845
1995	233,381	54,069
1996	226,095	54,512
1997	211,325	55,060
1998	197,589	55,482
1999	181,613	55,911
2000	161,591	56,236
2001	143,321	56,654
2002	119,504	57,011
2003	178,775	57,458
2004	155,838	58,281
2005	132,765	58,014
2006	129,171	58,067
2007	120,521	58,454
2008	122,015	58,961
2009	111,530	59,168
2010	112,443	59,418
2011	114,798	60,411
2012	118,773	60,471
2013	122,519	60,295
2014	127,078	60,227
2015	127,365	59,896
2016	125,048	59,454
2017	120,181	58,607
2018	113,164	57,508
2019	106,208	54,420
2020	95,920	46,599
2021	99,710	46,747
2022	96,495	50,556
2023	86,203	50,197

Maternal mortality chart: North Korea vs Panama

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 67 deaths per 100,000 live births in North Korea, compared to 37 deaths in Panama.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	North Korea	Panama
1985	76	95
1986	68	94
1987	62	93
1988	55	93
1989	49	96
1990	43	89
1991	38	87
1992	37	85
1993	46	81
1994	57	78
1995	127	77
1996	128	73
1997	128	70
1998	129	68
1999	129	65
2000	129	64
2001	130	62
2002	131	59
2003	76	58
2004	77	57
2005	78	57
2006	80	56
2007	80	55
2008	79	55
2009	78	55
2010	77	56
2011	76	55
2012	76	53
2013	75	52
2014	73	49
2015	72	48
2016	71	47
2017	70	47
2018	69	43
2019	66	41
2020	66	74
2021	72	59
2022	67	40
2023	67	37

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.8% in North Korea and 1.33% in Panama. 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
	North Korea	Panama
1960	11.6%	9.31%
1961	11.2%	9.04%
1962	10.8%	8.78%
1963	10.4%	8.52%
1964	9.92%	8.28%
1965	9.46%	8.05%
1966	8.96%	7.83%
1967	8.45%	7.62%
1968	7.94%	7.38%
1969	7.45%	7.1%
1970	6.99%	6.78%
1971	6.58%	6.43%
1972	6.2%	6.07%
1973	5.86%	5.72%
1974	5.56%	5.41%
1975	5.28%	5.15%
1976	5.03%	4.93%
1977	4.8%	4.76%
1978	4.59%	4.61%
1979	4.4%	4.47%
1980	4.22%	4.34%
1981	4.05%	4.19%
1982	3.91%	4.05%
1983	3.8%	3.9%
1984	3.71%	3.75%
1985	3.68%	3.61%
1986	3.68%	3.47%
1987	3.78%	3.35%
1988	3.83%	3.24%
1989	3.95%	3.14%
1990	4.07%	3.05%
1991	4.18%	2.97%
1992	4.25%	2.91%
1993	4.27%	2.87%
1994	4.25%	2.83%
1995	10.8%	2.8%
1996	10.6%	2.77%
1997	10.5%	2.73%
1998	10.3%	2.68%
1999	10.2%	2.63%
2000	10%	2.56%
2001	9.9%	2.49%
2002	9.78%	2.41%
2003	3.45%	2.33%
2004	3.38%	2.25%
2005	3.33%	2.17%
2006	3.28%	2.1%
2007	3.24%	2.03%
2008	3.1%	1.97%
2009	3%	1.91%
2010	2.87%	1.86%
2011	2.72%	1.81%
2012	2.57%	1.77%
2013	2.41%	1.75%
2014	2.26%	1.73%
2015	2.14%	1.72%
2016	2.06%	1.7%
2017	1.91%	1.68%
2018	1.84%	1.65%
2019	1.77%	1.59%
2020	1.74%	1.52%
2021	1.74%	1.45%
2022	1.77%	1.39%
2023	1.8%	1.33%