Fertility & birth rates in North Korea and Romania

Fertility rate in North Korea vs Romania 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 1.71 in Romania in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check North Korea vs Romania 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	Romania
1960	3.57	2.34
1961	3.26	2.17
1962	3.41	2.04
1963	3.63	2.01
1964	3.55	1.96
1965	3.56	1.91
1966	3.71	1.9
1967	4.05	3.66
1968	3.87	3.63
1969	3.86	3.19
1970	3.85	2.89
1971	3.74	2.67
1972	3.89	2.55
1973	3.35	2.44
1974	3.14	2.71
1975	3.05	2.59
1976	2.84	2.54
1977	2.77	2.57
1978	2.79	2.52
1979	2.85	2.49
1980	2.84	2.43
1981	2.92	2.36
1982	2.85	2.17
1983	2.78	2.06
1984	2.71	2.26
1985	2.65	2.31
1986	2.59	2.39
1987	2.53	2.38
1988	2.47	2.3
1989	2.41	2.22
1990	2.39	1.83
1991	2.35	1.59
1992	2.29	1.51
1993	2.22	1.43
1994	2.18	1.4
1995	2.15	1.33
1996	2.09	1.3
1997	2.03	1.32
1998	1.99	1.32
1999	1.97	1.3
2000	1.94	1.31
2001	1.94	1.27
2002	1.92	1.27
2003	1.91	1.3
2004	1.9	1.33
2005	1.87	1.4
2006	1.94	1.42
2007	1.94	1.45
2008	1.97	1.6
2009	1.91	1.66
2010	1.89	1.59
2011	1.88	1.47
2012	1.88	1.52
2013	1.88	1.46
2014	1.87	1.56
2015	1.86	1.62
2016	1.86	1.69
2017	1.85	1.78
2018	1.83	1.76
2019	1.83	1.77
2020	1.82	1.8
2021	1.81	1.81
2022	1.8	1.71
2023	1.78	1.71
2024	1.78	1.71
2025	1.77	1.71
2026	1.75	1.7
2027	1.74	1.7
2028	1.73	1.7
2029	1.73	1.7
2030	1.72	1.7
2031	1.72	1.7
2032	1.71	1.7
2033	1.71	1.69
2034	1.71	1.69
2035	1.7	1.69
2036	1.7	1.69
2037	1.7	1.69
2038	1.69	1.69
2039	1.69	1.69
2040	1.69	1.69
2041	1.69	1.68
2042	1.69	1.68
2043	1.69	1.68
2044	1.68	1.68
2045	1.68	1.68
2046	1.68	1.68
2047	1.68	1.68
2048	1.67	1.68
2049	1.67	1.68
2050	1.67	1.68

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	North Korea	Romania
1960	37.5%	28.1%
1961	37%	28%
1962	36.6%	27.7%
1963	36.5%	27.3%
1964	36.6%	26.7%
1965	36.7%	26%
1966	37.3%	25.2%
1967	38.3%	25%
1968	39.2%	25.1%
1969	39.8%	25.1%
1970	40.1%	25.1%
1971	40.3%	24.9%
1972	40.2%	24.9%
1973	39.8%	24.9%
1974	39.3%	25.1%
1975	38.8%	25.3%
1976	38.3%	25.7%
1977	37.7%	26%
1978	36.9%	26.3%
1979	36%	26.5%
1980	35.1%	26.8%
1981	34.2%	27.1%
1982	33.1%	26.8%
1983	32%	25.9%
1984	30.9%	25.1%
1985	29.9%	24.6%
1986	29%	24.3%
1987	28%	24%
1988	27.3%	23.9%
1989	26.8%	23.7%
1990	26.5%	23.3%
1991	26.4%	22.8%
1992	26.3%	22.2%
1993	26.4%	21.6%
1994	26.4%	21%
1995	26.4%	20.5%
1996	26.3%	20%
1997	26.2%	19.6%
1998	26%	19.3%
1999	25.8%	19.1%
2000	25.6%	18.6%
2001	25.3%	18.1%
2002	25%	17.5%
2003	24.6%	16.9%
2004	24.3%	16.4%
2005	23.9%	16%
2006	23.4%	15.8%
2007	23%	15.7%
2008	22.5%	15.7%
2009	22.1%	15.7%
2010	21.6%	15.7%
2011	21.2%	15.8%
2012	20.8%	15.7%
2013	20.4%	15.7%
2014	20.1%	15.7%
2015	19.8%	15.7%
2016	19.6%	15.7%
2017	19.4%	15.8%
2018	19.2%	15.9%
2019	19.1%	16%
2020	19.1%	16.1%
2021	19.1%	16.1%
2022	19%	16%
2023	19%	15.9%
2024	18.9%	15.7%
2025	18.9%	15.6%
2026	18.9%	15.4%
2027	18.8%	15.3%
2028	18.7%	15.2%
2029	18.6%	15.1%
2030	18.5%	15%
2031	18.3%	14.9%
2032	18.1%	14.7%
2033	17.9%	14.6%
2034	17.6%	14.4%
2035	17.4%	14.4%
2036	17.1%	14.3%
2037	16.8%	14.3%
2038	16.6%	14.3%
2039	16.3%	14.2%
2040	16.1%	14.2%
2041	15.9%	14.3%
2042	15.7%	14.3%
2043	15.5%	14.3%
2044	15.4%	14.3%
2045	15.3%	14.4%
2046	15.2%	14.4%
2047	15.2%	14.4%
2048	15.2%	14.4%
2049	15.2%	14.4%
2050	15.2%	14.4%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.9% of the population in North Korea and 15.7% in Romania in 2024, compared to 26.5% and 23.3% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of North Korea and Romania compared.

Natural population change in North Korea vs Romania by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.42% in North Korea and -0.4% in Romania. 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	Romania
1960	277,717	191,431
1961	257,788	163,286
1962	286,534	130,736
1963	321,805	139,104
1964	323,623	134,326
1965	335,587	114,190
1966	363,882	115,293
1967	414,632	347,709
1968	399,837	338,577
1969	404,189	264,120
1970	406,129	234,905
1971	393,220	206,662
1972	411,997	198,316
1973	338,600	175,020
1974	306,902	235,530
1975	288,966	219,324
1976	255,841	213,361
1977	242,870	215,385
1978	243,533	204,148
1979	251,409	194,397
1980	255,206	168,776
1981	273,800	156,472
1982	276,332	119,121
1983	279,046	87,986
1984	282,987	117,731
1985	287,714	111,392
1986	293,227	134,737
1987	296,030	128,517
1988	299,305	126,817
1989	303,078	122,756
1990	312,460	69,605
1991	320,551	25,301
1992	324,002	-4,559
1993	320,880	-13,658
1994	320,861	-18,184
1995	233,381	-36,295
1996	226,095	-56,548
1997	211,325	-42,853
1998	197,589	-33,761
1999	181,613	-31,461
2000	161,591	-22,443
2001	143,321	-37,625
2002	119,504	-58,673
2003	178,775	-56,093
2004	155,838	-42,904
2005	132,765	-40,508
2006	129,171	-38,148
2007	120,521	-37,590
2008	122,015	-30,806
2009	111,530	-34,625
2010	112,443	-46,567
2011	114,798	-56,413
2012	118,773	-54,157
2013	122,519	-59,951
2014	127,078	-55,745
2015	127,365	-59,447
2016	125,048	-53,196
2017	120,181	-50,930
2018	113,164	-62,316
2019	106,208	-60,053
2020	95,920	-100,179
2021	99,710	-141,504
2022	96,495	-93,338
2023	86,203	-89,580

Maternal mortality chart: North Korea vs Romania

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 12 deaths in Romania.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	North Korea	Romania
1985	76	184
1986	68	180
1987	62	173
1988	55	159
1989	49	143
1990	43	118
1991	38	104
1992	37	95
1993	46	87
1994	57	80
1995	127	75
1996	128	72
1997	128	66
1998	129	58
1999	129	51
2000	129	45
2001	130	41
2002	131	38
2003	76	35
2004	77	32
2005	78	30
2006	80	27
2007	80	25
2008	79	25
2009	78	25
2010	77	23
2011	76	20
2012	76	19
2013	75	18
2014	73	18
2015	72	18
2016	71	17
2017	70	17
2018	69	15
2019	66	14
2020	66	16
2021	72	20
2022	67	13
2023	67	12

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.8% in North Korea and 0.66% in Romania. 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	Romania
1960	11.6%	8.82%
1961	11.2%	7.98%
1962	10.8%	6.98%
1963	10.4%	6.03%
1964	9.92%	5.45%
1965	9.46%	5.44%
1966	8.96%	5.83%
1967	8.45%	6.27%
1968	7.94%	6.44%
1969	7.45%	6.23%
1970	6.99%	5.69%
1971	6.58%	5.06%
1972	6.2%	4.64%
1973	5.86%	4.49%
1974	5.56%	4.43%
1975	5.28%	4.27%
1976	5.03%	4.05%
1977	4.8%	3.86%
1978	4.59%	3.76%
1979	4.4%	3.68%
1980	4.22%	3.57%
1981	4.05%	3.44%
1982	3.91%	3.28%
1983	3.8%	3.14%
1984	3.71%	3.08%
1985	3.68%	3.16%
1986	3.68%	3.33%
1987	3.78%	3.45%
1988	3.83%	3.43%
1989	3.95%	3.31%
1990	4.07%	3.14%
1991	4.18%	2.97%
1992	4.25%	2.84%
1993	4.27%	2.79%
1994	4.25%	2.76%
1995	10.8%	2.73%
1996	10.6%	2.68%
1997	10.5%	2.58%
1998	10.3%	2.44%
1999	10.2%	2.29%
2000	10%	2.16%
2001	9.9%	2.06%
2002	9.78%	2.01%
2003	3.45%	1.99%
2004	3.38%	1.94%
2005	3.33%	1.82%
2006	3.28%	1.66%
2007	3.24%	1.51%
2008	3.1%	1.4%
2009	3%	1.31%
2010	2.87%	1.24%
2011	2.72%	1.18%
2012	2.57%	1.12%
2013	2.41%	1.05%
2014	2.26%	0.99%
2015	2.14%	0.92%
2016	2.06%	0.85%
2017	1.91%	0.79%
2018	1.84%	0.73%
2019	1.77%	0.68%
2020	1.74%	0.66%
2021	1.74%	0.65%
2022	1.77%	0.66%
2023	1.8%	0.66%