Fertility & birth rates in North Korea and Sao Tome and Principe

Fertility rate in North Korea vs Sao Tome and Principe 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 3.64 in Sao Tome and Principe in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check North Korea vs Sao Tome and Principe 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	Sao Tome
1960	3.57	6.24
1961	3.26	6.26
1962	3.41	6.28
1963	3.63	6.31
1964	3.55	6.33
1965	3.56	6.35
1966	3.71	6.37
1967	4.05	6.39
1968	3.87	6.42
1969	3.86	6.44
1970	3.85	6.47
1971	3.74	6.49
1972	3.89	6.51
1973	3.35	6.53
1974	3.14	6.53
1975	3.05	6.53
1976	2.84	6.52
1977	2.77	6.5
1978	2.79	6.47
1979	2.85	6.43
1980	2.84	6.39
1981	2.92	6.33
1982	2.85	6.28
1983	2.78	6.22
1984	2.71	6.16
1985	2.65	6.1
1986	2.59	6.05
1987	2.53	5.99
1988	2.47	5.94
1989	2.41	5.88
1990	2.39	5.83
1991	2.35	5.77
1992	2.29	5.7
1993	2.22	5.64
1994	2.18	5.56
1995	2.15	5.55
1996	2.09	5.47
1997	2.03	5.4
1998	1.99	5.3
1999	1.97	5.23
2000	1.94	5.16
2001	1.94	5.1
2002	1.92	5.06
2003	1.91	5.01
2004	1.9	4.96
2005	1.87	4.94
2006	1.94	4.93
2007	1.94	4.96
2008	1.97	4.91
2009	1.91	4.84
2010	1.89	4.77
2011	1.88	4.72
2012	1.88	4.66
2013	1.88	4.58
2014	1.87	4.49
2015	1.86	4.35
2016	1.86	4.2
2017	1.85	4.07
2018	1.83	3.98
2019	1.83	3.9
2020	1.82	3.83
2021	1.81	3.76
2022	1.8	3.7
2023	1.78	3.64
2024	1.78	3.6
2025	1.77	3.53
2026	1.75	3.47
2027	1.74	3.42
2028	1.73	3.36
2029	1.73	3.32
2030	1.72	3.26
2031	1.72	3.21
2032	1.71	3.17
2033	1.71	3.13
2034	1.71	3.09
2035	1.7	3.04
2036	1.7	3.01
2037	1.7	2.97
2038	1.69	2.94
2039	1.69	2.9
2040	1.69	2.87
2041	1.69	2.83
2042	1.69	2.8
2043	1.69	2.78
2044	1.68	2.75
2045	1.68	2.73
2046	1.68	2.7
2047	1.68	2.67
2048	1.67	2.64
2049	1.67	2.62
2050	1.67	2.59

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	North Korea	Sao Tome
1960	37.5%	32.9%
1961	37%	34.3%
1962	36.6%	36.6%
1963	36.5%	38.5%
1964	36.6%	40.2%
1965	36.7%	41.6%
1966	37.3%	42.9%
1967	38.3%	44%
1968	39.2%	44.9%
1969	39.8%	45.8%
1970	40.1%	46.2%
1971	40.3%	46.1%
1972	40.2%	45.9%
1973	39.8%	45.7%
1974	39.3%	45.6%
1975	38.8%	45.5%
1976	38.3%	45.4%
1977	37.7%	45.3%
1978	36.9%	45.2%
1979	36%	45.1%
1980	35.1%	44.9%
1981	34.2%	44.7%
1982	33.1%	44.5%
1983	32%	44.5%
1984	30.9%	44.4%
1985	29.9%	44.5%
1986	29%	44.7%
1987	28%	44.9%
1988	27.3%	45%
1989	26.8%	45%
1990	26.5%	45.1%
1991	26.4%	45.1%
1992	26.3%	45.2%
1993	26.4%	45.2%
1994	26.4%	45.1%
1995	26.4%	44.9%
1996	26.3%	44.7%
1997	26.2%	44.3%
1998	26%	43.9%
1999	25.8%	43.4%
2000	25.6%	42.8%
2001	25.3%	42.5%
2002	25%	42.3%
2003	24.6%	42.2%
2004	24.3%	42.1%
2005	23.9%	42%
2006	23.4%	42%
2007	23%	42%
2008	22.5%	42.1%
2009	22.1%	42.1%
2010	21.6%	42.1%
2011	21.2%	42%
2012	20.8%	42%
2013	20.4%	42%
2014	20.1%	42%
2015	19.8%	41.9%
2016	19.6%	41.7%
2017	19.4%	41.4%
2018	19.2%	40.9%
2019	19.1%	40.5%
2020	19.1%	39.9%
2021	19.1%	39.4%
2022	19%	38.8%
2023	19%	38.3%
2024	18.9%	37.8%
2025	18.9%	37.5%
2026	18.9%	37.2%
2027	18.8%	36.8%
2028	18.7%	36.4%
2029	18.6%	36%
2030	18.5%	35.6%
2031	18.3%	35.4%
2032	18.1%	35.2%
2033	17.9%	35%
2034	17.6%	34.8%
2035	17.4%	34.7%
2036	17.1%	34.5%
2037	16.8%	34.2%
2038	16.6%	34%
2039	16.3%	33.8%
2040	16.1%	33.5%
2041	15.9%	33.2%
2042	15.7%	32.9%
2043	15.5%	32.6%
2044	15.4%	32.3%
2045	15.3%	32%
2046	15.2%	31.6%
2047	15.2%	31.3%
2048	15.2%	31%
2049	15.2%	30.6%
2050	15.2%	30.2%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.9% of the population in North Korea and 37.8% in Sao Tome and Principe in 2024, compared to 26.5% and 45.1% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of North Korea and Sao Tome and Principe compared.

Natural population change in North Korea vs Sao Tome and Principe by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.42% in North Korea and +2.4% in Sao Tome and Principe. 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	Sao Tome
1960	277,717	1,547
1961	257,788	1,657
1962	286,534	1,625
1963	321,805	1,609
1964	323,623	1,600
1965	335,587	1,611
1966	363,882	1,642
1967	414,632	1,693
1968	399,837	1,767
1969	404,189	1,862
1970	406,129	1,980
1971	393,220	2,127
1972	411,997	2,232
1973	338,600	2,329
1974	306,902	2,422
1975	288,966	2,515
1976	255,841	2,608
1977	242,870	2,705
1978	243,533	2,800
1979	251,409	2,893
1980	255,206	2,965
1981	273,800	3,015
1982	276,332	3,047
1983	279,046	3,100
1984	282,987	3,163
1985	287,714	3,242
1986	293,227	3,180
1987	296,030	3,440
1988	299,305	3,544
1989	303,078	3,576
1990	312,460	3,719
1991	320,551	3,801
1992	324,002	3,822
1993	320,880	3,841
1994	320,861	3,860
1995	233,381	3,948
1996	226,095	3,993
1997	211,325	4,041
1998	197,589	4,120
1999	181,613	4,221
2000	161,591	4,334
2001	143,321	4,471
2002	119,504	4,591
2003	178,775	4,702
2004	155,838	4,810
2005	132,765	4,897
2006	129,171	5,057
2007	120,521	5,226
2008	122,015	5,297
2009	111,530	5,349
2010	112,443	5,391
2011	114,798	5,445
2012	118,773	5,501
2013	122,519	5,449
2014	127,078	5,381
2015	127,365	5,269
2016	125,048	5,125
2017	120,181	5,007
2018	113,164	4,957
2019	106,208	4,932
2020	95,920	4,874
2021	99,710	4,954
2022	96,495	5,102
2023	86,203	5,221

Maternal mortality chart: North Korea vs Sao Tome and Principe

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 75 deaths in Sao Tome and Principe.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	North Korea	Sao Tome
1985	76	159
1986	68	175
1987	62	161
1988	55	157
1989	49	167
1990	43	164
1991	38	166
1992	37	164
1993	46	166
1994	57	168
1995	127	172
1996	128	171
1997	128	173
1998	129	175
1999	129	179
2000	129	180
2001	130	178
2002	131	179
2003	76	178
2004	77	177
2005	78	181
2006	80	177
2007	80	174
2008	79	174
2009	78	172
2010	77	170
2011	76	164
2012	76	158
2013	75	150
2014	73	138
2015	72	128
2016	71	119
2017	70	110
2018	69	100
2019	66	95
2020	66	92
2021	72	98
2022	67	82
2023	67	75

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.8% in North Korea and 1.39% in Sao Tome and Principe. 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	Sao Tome
1960	11.6%	-
1961	11.2%	-
1962	10.8%	-
1963	10.4%	-
1964	9.92%	-
1965	9.46%	9.56%
1966	8.96%	9.29%
1967	8.45%	9.04%
1968	7.94%	8.85%
1969	7.45%	8.71%
1970	6.99%	8.64%
1971	6.58%	8.63%
1972	6.2%	8.67%
1973	5.86%	8.73%
1974	5.56%	8.79%
1975	5.28%	8.85%
1976	5.03%	8.89%
1977	4.8%	8.93%
1978	4.59%	8.96%
1979	4.4%	9.02%
1980	4.22%	9.1%
1981	4.05%	9.21%
1982	3.91%	9.37%
1983	3.8%	9.56%
1984	3.71%	9.77%
1985	3.68%	9.99%
1986	3.68%	11.4%
1987	3.78%	10.4%
1988	3.83%	10.6%
1989	3.95%	10.7%
1990	4.07%	10.8%
1991	4.18%	10.9%
1992	4.25%	10.9%
1993	4.27%	10.8%
1994	4.25%	10.7%
1995	10.8%	10.4%
1996	10.6%	10.1%
1997	10.5%	9.73%
1998	10.3%	9.26%
1999	10.2%	8.76%
2000	10%	8.21%
2001	9.9%	7.66%
2002	9.78%	7.1%
2003	3.45%	6.57%
2004	3.38%	6.05%
2005	3.33%	5.56%
2006	3.28%	5.11%
2007	3.24%	4.68%
2008	3.1%	4.3%
2009	3%	3.95%
2010	2.87%	3.63%
2011	2.72%	3.33%
2012	2.57%	3.04%
2013	2.41%	2.77%
2014	2.26%	2.54%
2015	2.14%	2.31%
2016	2.06%	2.11%
2017	1.91%	1.95%
2018	1.84%	1.81%
2019	1.77%	1.7%
2020	1.74%	1.6%
2021	1.74%	1.53%
2022	1.77%	1.46%
2023	1.8%	1.39%