Fertility & birth rates in North Korea and Papua New Guinea

Fertility rate in North Korea vs Papua New Guinea 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 3.1 in Papua New Guinea in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check North Korea vs Papua New Guinea 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	Papua New Guinea
1960	3.57	6.02
1961	3.26	6.07
1962	3.41	6.14
1963	3.63	6.15
1964	3.55	6.19
1965	3.56	6.2
1966	3.71	6.23
1967	4.05	6.24
1968	3.87	6.25
1969	3.86	6.26
1970	3.85	6.25
1971	3.74	6.23
1972	3.89	6.2
1973	3.35	6.16
1974	3.14	6.11
1975	3.05	6.07
1976	2.84	6.02
1977	2.77	5.96
1978	2.79	5.88
1979	2.85	5.79
1980	2.84	5.71
1981	2.92	5.65
1982	2.85	5.59
1983	2.78	5.56
1984	2.71	5.51
1985	2.65	5.47
1986	2.59	5.42
1987	2.53	5.36
1988	2.47	5.3
1989	2.41	5.24
1990	2.39	5.18
1991	2.35	5.11
1992	2.29	5.03
1993	2.22	4.96
1994	2.18	4.87
1995	2.15	4.78
1996	2.09	4.73
1997	2.03	4.68
1998	1.99	4.63
1999	1.97	4.59
2000	1.94	4.53
2001	1.94	4.47
2002	1.92	4.42
2003	1.91	4.36
2004	1.9	4.28
2005	1.87	4.22
2006	1.94	4.15
2007	1.94	4.08
2008	1.97	4.01
2009	1.91	3.94
2010	1.89	3.88
2011	1.88	3.82
2012	1.88	3.75
2013	1.88	3.68
2014	1.87	3.63
2015	1.86	3.56
2016	1.86	3.5
2017	1.85	3.43
2018	1.83	3.38
2019	1.83	3.32
2020	1.82	3.27
2021	1.81	3.22
2022	1.8	3.17
2023	1.78	3.1
2024	1.78	3.07
2025	1.77	3.03
2026	1.75	2.99
2027	1.74	2.95
2028	1.73	2.92
2029	1.73	2.88
2030	1.72	2.84
2031	1.72	2.81
2032	1.71	2.78
2033	1.71	2.75
2034	1.71	2.73
2035	1.7	2.69
2036	1.7	2.67
2037	1.7	2.64
2038	1.69	2.61
2039	1.69	2.59
2040	1.69	2.56
2041	1.69	2.54
2042	1.69	2.51
2043	1.69	2.49
2044	1.68	2.48
2045	1.68	2.46
2046	1.68	2.44
2047	1.68	2.42
2048	1.67	2.4
2049	1.67	2.38
2050	1.67	2.36

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	North Korea	Papua New Guinea
1960	37.5%	43.4%
1961	37%	43.7%
1962	36.6%	43.9%
1963	36.5%	44.2%
1964	36.6%	44.4%
1965	36.7%	44.6%
1966	37.3%	44.9%
1967	38.3%	45.1%
1968	39.2%	45.3%
1969	39.8%	45.6%
1970	40.1%	45.8%
1971	40.3%	46%
1972	40.2%	46%
1973	39.8%	45.9%
1974	39.3%	45.8%
1975	38.8%	45.5%
1976	38.3%	45.2%
1977	37.7%	44.9%
1978	36.9%	44.4%
1979	36%	44%
1980	35.1%	43.5%
1981	34.2%	43.2%
1982	33.1%	43%
1983	32%	42.9%
1984	30.9%	42.8%
1985	29.9%	42.6%
1986	29%	42.5%
1987	28%	42.4%
1988	27.3%	42.4%
1989	26.8%	42.3%
1990	26.5%	42.1%
1991	26.4%	41.9%
1992	26.3%	41.7%
1993	26.4%	41.5%
1994	26.4%	41.2%
1995	26.4%	41%
1996	26.3%	40.8%
1997	26.2%	40.6%
1998	26%	40.4%
1999	25.8%	40.2%
2000	25.6%	40%
2001	25.3%	39.8%
2002	25%	39.5%
2003	24.6%	39.3%
2004	24.3%	39%
2005	23.9%	38.8%
2006	23.4%	38.5%
2007	23%	38.3%
2008	22.5%	38%
2009	22.1%	37.7%
2010	21.6%	37.5%
2011	21.2%	37.2%
2012	20.8%	37%
2013	20.4%	36.7%
2014	20.1%	36.5%
2015	19.8%	36.2%
2016	19.6%	35.9%
2017	19.4%	35.6%
2018	19.2%	35.3%
2019	19.1%	35%
2020	19.1%	34.7%
2021	19.1%	34.4%
2022	19%	34.1%
2023	19%	33.8%
2024	18.9%	33.5%
2025	18.9%	33.1%
2026	18.9%	32.8%
2027	18.8%	32.5%
2028	18.7%	32.1%
2029	18.6%	31.8%
2030	18.5%	31.4%
2031	18.3%	31.1%
2032	18.1%	30.7%
2033	17.9%	30.4%
2034	17.6%	30.1%
2035	17.4%	29.7%
2036	17.1%	29.4%
2037	16.8%	29.1%
2038	16.6%	28.8%
2039	16.3%	28.5%
2040	16.1%	28.3%
2041	15.9%	28%
2042	15.7%	27.8%
2043	15.5%	27.5%
2044	15.4%	27.3%
2045	15.3%	27.1%
2046	15.2%	26.9%
2047	15.2%	26.7%
2048	15.2%	26.5%
2049	15.2%	26.3%
2050	15.2%	26.1%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.9% of the population in North Korea and 33.5% in Papua New Guinea in 2024, compared to 26.5% and 42.1% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of North Korea and Papua New Guinea compared.

Natural population change in North Korea vs Papua New Guinea by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.42% in North Korea and +2% in Papua New Guinea. 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	Papua New Guinea
1960	277,717	56,326
1961	257,788	58,151
1962	286,534	59,974
1963	321,805	62,260
1964	323,623	64,558
1965	335,587	66,693
1966	363,882	69,206
1967	414,632	71,519
1968	399,837	73,983
1969	404,189	76,454
1970	406,129	78,712
1971	393,220	80,599
1972	411,997	82,672
1973	338,600	83,821
1974	306,902	84,829
1975	288,966	85,809
1976	255,841	86,965
1977	242,870	87,954
1978	243,533	88,747
1979	251,409	89,330
1980	255,206	90,266
1981	273,800	91,767
1982	276,332	93,522
1983	279,046	95,982
1984	282,987	98,103
1985	287,714	100,333
1986	293,227	102,346
1987	296,030	104,367
1988	299,305	106,256
1989	303,078	108,199
1990	312,460	110,033
1991	320,551	111,453
1992	324,002	114,818
1993	320,880	118,668
1994	320,861	122,113
1995	233,381	125,410
1996	226,095	129,802
1997	211,325	134,458
1998	197,589	136,677
1999	181,613	143,592
2000	161,591	147,496
2001	143,321	151,431
2002	119,504	155,091
2003	178,775	158,611
2004	155,838	161,023
2005	132,765	163,888
2006	129,171	166,540
2007	120,521	169,306
2008	122,015	172,823
2009	111,530	175,421
2010	112,443	178,998
2011	114,798	181,842
2012	118,773	183,658
2013	122,519	185,790
2014	127,078	187,592
2015	127,365	188,600
2016	125,048	189,281
2017	120,181	189,715
2018	113,164	190,662
2019	106,208	190,662
2020	95,920	189,130
2021	99,710	183,766
2022	96,495	186,861
2023	86,203	187,637

Maternal mortality chart: North Korea vs Papua New Guinea

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 189 deaths in Papua New Guinea.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	North Korea	Papua New Guinea
1985	76	393
1986	68	386
1987	62	379
1988	55	377
1989	49	369
1990	43	360
1991	38	354
1992	37	340
1993	46	333
1994	57	324
1995	127	318
1996	128	316
1997	128	316
1998	129	325
1999	129	321
2000	129	323
2001	130	325
2002	131	329
2003	76	328
2004	77	326
2005	78	326
2006	80	325
2007	80	326
2008	79	315
2009	78	302
2010	77	289
2011	76	271
2012	76	257
2013	75	243
2014	73	232
2015	72	221
2016	71	214
2017	70	207
2018	69	205
2019	66	199
2020	66	194
2021	72	223
2022	67	189
2023	67	189

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.8% in North Korea and 4.03% in Papua New Guinea. 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	Papua New Guinea
1960	11.6%	19.8%
1961	11.2%	19.2%
1962	10.8%	18.6%
1963	10.4%	18%
1964	9.92%	17.4%
1965	9.46%	16.9%
1966	8.96%	16.3%
1967	8.45%	15.8%
1968	7.94%	15.2%
1969	7.45%	14.7%
1970	6.99%	14.2%
1971	6.58%	13.7%
1972	6.2%	13.3%
1973	5.86%	12.9%
1974	5.56%	12.4%
1975	5.28%	12.1%
1976	5.03%	11.7%
1977	4.8%	11.3%
1978	4.59%	11%
1979	4.4%	10.7%
1980	4.22%	10.4%
1981	4.05%	10.2%
1982	3.91%	9.94%
1983	3.8%	9.71%
1984	3.71%	9.5%
1985	3.68%	9.3%
1986	3.68%	9.12%
1987	3.78%	8.96%
1988	3.83%	8.78%
1989	3.95%	8.63%
1990	4.07%	8.47%
1991	4.18%	8.31%
1992	4.25%	8.17%
1993	4.27%	8.03%
1994	4.25%	7.89%
1995	10.8%	7.77%
1996	10.6%	7.64%
1997	10.5%	7.52%
1998	10.3%	7.41%
1999	10.2%	7.3%
2000	10%	7.19%
2001	9.9%	7.08%
2002	9.78%	6.96%
2003	3.45%	6.84%
2004	3.38%	6.71%
2005	3.33%	6.58%
2006	3.28%	6.44%
2007	3.24%	6.31%
2008	3.1%	6.16%
2009	3%	6.02%
2010	2.87%	5.88%
2011	2.72%	5.73%
2012	2.57%	5.59%
2013	2.41%	5.44%
2014	2.26%	5.3%
2015	2.14%	5.17%
2016	2.06%	5.02%
2017	1.91%	4.87%
2018	1.84%	4.72%
2019	1.77%	4.59%
2020	1.74%	4.45%
2021	1.74%	4.31%
2022	1.77%	4.17%
2023	1.8%	4.03%