Fertility & birth rates in North Korea and Rwanda

Fertility rate in North Korea vs Rwanda 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 3.7 in Rwanda in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check North Korea vs Rwanda 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	Rwanda
1960	3.57	8.28
1961	3.26	8.28
1962	3.41	8.27
1963	3.63	8.27
1964	3.55	8.27
1965	3.56	8.25
1966	3.71	8.23
1967	4.05	8.21
1968	3.87	8.19
1969	3.86	8.18
1970	3.85	8.15
1971	3.74	8.09
1972	3.89	8.09
1973	3.35	8.09
1974	3.14	8.1
1975	3.05	8.1
1976	2.84	8.12
1977	2.77	8.14
1978	2.79	8.16
1979	2.85	8.13
1980	2.84	8.12
1981	2.92	8.1
1982	2.85	8.06
1983	2.78	8
1984	2.71	7.91
1985	2.65	7.79
1986	2.59	7.61
1987	2.53	7.43
1988	2.47	7.23
1989	2.41	7.03
1990	2.39	6.8
1991	2.35	6.62
1992	2.29	6.54
1993	2.22	6.48
1994	2.18	6.42
1995	2.15	6.35
1996	2.09	6.29
1997	2.03	6.24
1998	1.99	6.17
1999	1.97	6.06
2000	1.94	5.97
2001	1.94	5.89
2002	1.92	5.82
2003	1.91	5.74
2004	1.9	5.64
2005	1.87	5.5
2006	1.94	5.34
2007	1.94	5.14
2008	1.97	4.92
2009	1.91	4.71
2010	1.89	4.52
2011	1.88	4.33
2012	1.88	4.2
2013	1.88	4.14
2014	1.87	4.12
2015	1.86	4.11
2016	1.86	4.11
2017	1.85	4.08
2018	1.83	4.05
2019	1.83	3.99
2020	1.82	3.91
2021	1.81	3.84
2022	1.8	3.78
2023	1.78	3.7
2024	1.78	3.64
2025	1.77	3.59
2026	1.75	3.54
2027	1.74	3.49
2028	1.73	3.43
2029	1.73	3.38
2030	1.72	3.33
2031	1.72	3.28
2032	1.71	3.24
2033	1.71	3.19
2034	1.71	3.15
2035	1.7	3.11
2036	1.7	3.07
2037	1.7	3.03
2038	1.69	2.99
2039	1.69	2.95
2040	1.69	2.92
2041	1.69	2.89
2042	1.69	2.85
2043	1.69	2.81
2044	1.68	2.78
2045	1.68	2.75
2046	1.68	2.72
2047	1.68	2.69
2048	1.67	2.67
2049	1.67	2.64
2050	1.67	2.61

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	North Korea	Rwanda
1960	37.5%	49.2%
1961	37%	49.7%
1962	36.6%	50.2%
1963	36.5%	50.6%
1964	36.6%	50.8%
1965	36.7%	50.6%
1966	37.3%	50.2%
1967	38.3%	49.7%
1968	39.2%	49.2%
1969	39.8%	48.7%
1970	40.1%	48.2%
1971	40.3%	47.9%
1972	40.2%	47.5%
1973	39.8%	47.2%
1974	39.3%	46.9%
1975	38.8%	46.6%
1976	38.3%	46.4%
1977	37.7%	46.4%
1978	36.9%	46.4%
1979	36%	46.5%
1980	35.1%	46.8%
1981	34.2%	47.1%
1982	33.1%	47.4%
1983	32%	47.7%
1984	30.9%	48.1%
1985	29.9%	48.3%
1986	29%	48.6%
1987	28%	48.8%
1988	27.3%	48.9%
1989	26.8%	48.9%
1990	26.5%	49%
1991	26.4%	48.9%
1992	26.3%	48.7%
1993	26.4%	48.4%
1994	26.4%	50.1%
1995	26.4%	52.4%
1996	26.3%	51.4%
1997	26.2%	50.5%
1998	26%	49.2%
1999	25.8%	47.8%
2000	25.6%	46.4%
2001	25.3%	45.2%
2002	25%	44.3%
2003	24.6%	43.7%
2004	24.3%	43.3%
2005	23.9%	43.1%
2006	23.4%	42.9%
2007	23%	42.9%
2008	22.5%	42.8%
2009	22.1%	42.6%
2010	21.6%	42.4%
2011	21.2%	42.2%
2012	20.8%	41.9%
2013	20.4%	41.7%
2014	20.1%	41.4%
2015	19.8%	41.1%
2016	19.6%	40.9%
2017	19.4%	40.5%
2018	19.2%	40.1%
2019	19.1%	39.7%
2020	19.1%	39.2%
2021	19.1%	38.6%
2022	19%	38.2%
2023	19%	37.7%
2024	18.9%	37.4%
2025	18.9%	37%
2026	18.9%	36.7%
2027	18.8%	36.4%
2028	18.7%	36%
2029	18.6%	35.7%
2030	18.5%	35.4%
2031	18.3%	35%
2032	18.1%	34.7%
2033	17.9%	34.4%
2034	17.6%	34.1%
2035	17.4%	33.7%
2036	17.1%	33.4%
2037	16.8%	33.1%
2038	16.6%	32.9%
2039	16.3%	32.6%
2040	16.1%	32.3%
2041	15.9%	32%
2042	15.7%	31.7%
2043	15.5%	31.4%
2044	15.4%	31.1%
2045	15.3%	30.8%
2046	15.2%	30.5%
2047	15.2%	30.2%
2048	15.2%	29.9%
2049	15.2%	29.7%
2050	15.2%	29.4%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.9% of the population in North Korea and 37.4% in Rwanda in 2024, compared to 26.5% and 49% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of North Korea and Rwanda compared.

Natural population change in North Korea vs Rwanda by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.42% in North Korea and +2.45% in Rwanda. 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	Rwanda
1960	277,717	100,627
1961	257,788	102,051
1962	286,534	102,548
1963	321,805	94,296
1964	323,623	102,562
1965	335,587	103,422
1966	363,882	105,128
1967	414,632	108,053
1968	399,837	111,422
1969	404,189	115,394
1970	406,129	119,273
1971	393,220	122,567
1972	411,997	126,403
1973	338,600	131,021
1974	306,902	135,743
1975	288,966	140,596
1976	255,841	147,665
1977	242,870	155,011
1978	243,533	163,779
1979	251,409	174,477
1980	255,206	184,988
1981	273,800	195,769
1982	276,332	205,147
1983	279,046	212,750
1984	282,987	219,337
1985	287,714	223,794
1986	293,227	225,526
1987	296,030	225,744
1988	299,305	223,759
1989	303,078	217,632
1990	312,460	207,895
1991	320,551	196,431
1992	324,002	188,025
1993	320,880	183,926
1994	320,861	-719,479
1995	233,381	121,137
1996	226,095	140,455
1997	211,325	174,687
1998	197,589	197,185
1999	181,613	210,518
2000	161,591	221,276
2001	143,321	230,845
2002	119,504	239,036
2003	178,775	251,243
2004	155,838	265,273
2005	132,765	275,121
2006	129,171	282,149
2007	120,521	285,791
2008	122,015	287,334
2009	111,530	287,034
2010	112,443	286,848
2011	114,798	282,922
2012	118,773	282,584
2013	122,519	286,331
2014	127,078	292,779
2015	127,365	299,114
2016	125,048	305,549
2017	120,181	310,323
2018	113,164	312,512
2019	106,208	313,525
2020	95,920	312,692
2021	99,710	309,895
2022	96,495	312,145
2023	86,203	312,762

Maternal mortality chart: North Korea vs Rwanda

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 229 deaths in Rwanda.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	North Korea	Rwanda
1985	76	1,116
1986	68	1,126
1987	62	1,145
1988	55	1,188
1989	49	1,238
1990	43	1,309
1991	38	1,386
1992	37	1,530
1993	46	1,619
1994	57	5,721
1995	127	1,505
1996	128	1,295
1997	128	1,318
1998	129	1,268
1999	129	1,073
2000	129	885
2001	130	769
2002	131	677
2003	76	551
2004	77	460
2005	78	465
2006	80	494
2007	80	494
2008	79	454
2009	78	418
2010	77	393
2011	76	358
2012	76	331
2013	75	317
2014	73	301
2015	72	292
2016	71	278
2017	70	275
2018	69	269
2019	66	261
2020	66	252
2021	72	254
2022	67	234
2023	67	229

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.8% in North Korea and 4% in Rwanda. 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	Rwanda
1960	11.6%	22.4%
1961	11.2%	21.9%
1962	10.8%	21.5%
1963	10.4%	21.3%
1964	9.92%	21.1%
1965	9.46%	21.1%
1966	8.96%	21.2%
1967	8.45%	21.4%
1968	7.94%	21.7%
1969	7.45%	22%
1970	6.99%	22.3%
1971	6.58%	22.6%
1972	6.2%	23%
1973	5.86%	23.4%
1974	5.56%	24%
1975	5.28%	24.6%
1976	5.03%	25.1%
1977	4.8%	25.1%
1978	4.59%	24.6%
1979	4.4%	23.4%
1980	4.22%	21.8%
1981	4.05%	20.1%
1982	3.91%	18.6%
1983	3.8%	17.4%
1984	3.71%	16.6%
1985	3.68%	16.1%
1986	3.68%	15.6%
1987	3.78%	15.2%
1988	3.83%	14.8%
1989	3.95%	14.8%
1990	4.07%	15.1%
1991	4.18%	16%
1992	4.25%	17.5%
1993	4.27%	19.3%
1994	4.25%	38.9%
1995	10.8%	21.8%
1996	10.6%	22.2%
1997	10.5%	22.2%
1998	10.3%	21.5%
1999	10.2%	20.2%
2000	10%	18.5%
2001	9.9%	16.7%
2002	9.78%	14.9%
2003	3.45%	13.3%
2004	3.38%	11.8%
2005	3.33%	10.5%
2006	3.28%	9.37%
2007	3.24%	8.45%
2008	3.1%	7.62%
2009	3%	6.92%
2010	2.87%	6.33%
2011	2.72%	5.81%
2012	2.57%	5.45%
2013	2.41%	5.17%
2014	2.26%	4.96%
2015	2.14%	4.78%
2016	2.06%	4.63%
2017	1.91%	4.52%
2018	1.84%	4.43%
2019	1.77%	4.34%
2020	1.74%	4.25%
2021	1.74%	4.16%
2022	1.77%	4.08%
2023	1.8%	4%