Fertility & birth rates in North Korea and Sierra Leone

Fertility rate in North Korea vs Sierra Leone 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 3.79 in Sierra Leone in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check North Korea vs Sierra Leone 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	Sierra Leone
1960	3.57	6.18
1961	3.26	6.21
1962	3.41	6.22
1963	3.63	6.26
1964	3.55	6.29
1965	3.56	6.31
1966	3.71	6.35
1967	4.05	6.38
1968	3.87	6.39
1969	3.86	6.39
1970	3.85	6.41
1971	3.74	6.43
1972	3.89	6.45
1973	3.35	6.47
1974	3.14	6.53
1975	3.05	6.55
1976	2.84	6.55
1977	2.77	6.57
1978	2.79	6.59
1979	2.85	6.58
1980	2.84	6.56
1981	2.92	6.55
1982	2.85	6.56
1983	2.78	6.57
1984	2.71	6.59
1985	2.65	6.59
1986	2.59	6.6
1987	2.53	6.61
1988	2.47	6.59
1989	2.41	6.57
1990	2.39	6.57
1991	2.35	6.55
1992	2.29	6.56
1993	2.22	6.57
1994	2.18	6.56
1995	2.15	6.56
1996	2.09	6.55
1997	2.03	6.53
1998	1.99	6.5
1999	1.97	6.42
2000	1.94	6.36
2001	1.94	6.31
2002	1.92	6.23
2003	1.91	6.09
2004	1.9	5.92
2005	1.87	5.81
2006	1.94	5.74
2007	1.94	5.64
2008	1.97	5.56
2009	1.91	5.45
2010	1.89	5.33
2011	1.88	5.21
2012	1.88	5.06
2013	1.88	4.87
2014	1.87	4.7
2015	1.86	4.55
2016	1.86	4.47
2017	1.85	4.39
2018	1.83	4.29
2019	1.83	4.19
2020	1.82	4.08
2021	1.81	3.98
2022	1.8	3.88
2023	1.78	3.79
2024	1.78	3.7
2025	1.77	3.61
2026	1.75	3.53
2027	1.74	3.47
2028	1.73	3.37
2029	1.73	3.3
2030	1.72	3.23
2031	1.72	3.18
2032	1.71	3.12
2033	1.71	3.07
2034	1.71	3.02
2035	1.7	2.97
2036	1.7	2.92
2037	1.7	2.88
2038	1.69	2.84
2039	1.69	2.79
2040	1.69	2.76
2041	1.69	2.72
2042	1.69	2.68
2043	1.69	2.65
2044	1.68	2.62
2045	1.68	2.58
2046	1.68	2.55
2047	1.68	2.53
2048	1.67	2.5
2049	1.67	2.47
2050	1.67	2.45

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	North Korea	Sierra Leone
1960	37.5%	38.2%
1961	37%	38.3%
1962	36.6%	38.3%
1963	36.5%	38.5%
1964	36.6%	38.8%
1965	36.7%	39.1%
1966	37.3%	39.4%
1967	38.3%	39.6%
1968	39.2%	39.9%
1969	39.8%	40.1%
1970	40.1%	40.3%
1971	40.3%	40.6%
1972	40.2%	40.7%
1973	39.8%	40.9%
1974	39.3%	41.1%
1975	38.8%	41.3%
1976	38.3%	41.4%
1977	37.7%	41.6%
1978	36.9%	41.7%
1979	36%	41.8%
1980	35.1%	41.9%
1981	34.2%	42%
1982	33.1%	42.1%
1983	32%	42.2%
1984	30.9%	42.3%
1985	29.9%	42.5%
1986	29%	42.6%
1987	28%	42.7%
1988	27.3%	42.8%
1989	26.8%	42.9%
1990	26.5%	42.9%
1991	26.4%	43%
1992	26.3%	43.1%
1993	26.4%	43.2%
1994	26.4%	43.3%
1995	26.4%	43.4%
1996	26.3%	43.5%
1997	26.2%	43.5%
1998	26%	43.6%
1999	25.8%	43.7%
2000	25.6%	43.8%
2001	25.3%	43.9%
2002	25%	43.9%
2003	24.6%	43.9%
2004	24.3%	43.9%
2005	23.9%	43.8%
2006	23.4%	43.7%
2007	23%	43.6%
2008	22.5%	43.5%
2009	22.1%	43.4%
2010	21.6%	43.2%
2011	21.2%	43%
2012	20.8%	42.8%
2013	20.4%	42.5%
2014	20.1%	42.2%
2015	19.8%	41.8%
2016	19.6%	41.4%
2017	19.4%	41%
2018	19.2%	40.6%
2019	19.1%	40.2%
2020	19.1%	39.8%
2021	19.1%	39.4%
2022	19%	39%
2023	19%	38.5%
2024	18.9%	38.1%
2025	18.9%	37.7%
2026	18.9%	37.2%
2027	18.8%	36.8%
2028	18.7%	36.3%
2029	18.6%	35.9%
2030	18.5%	35.5%
2031	18.3%	35.2%
2032	18.1%	34.8%
2033	17.9%	34.4%
2034	17.6%	34%
2035	17.4%	33.6%
2036	17.1%	33.2%
2037	16.8%	32.8%
2038	16.6%	32.4%
2039	16.3%	32%
2040	16.1%	31.6%
2041	15.9%	31.2%
2042	15.7%	30.9%
2043	15.5%	30.5%
2044	15.4%	30.2%
2045	15.3%	29.8%
2046	15.2%	29.5%
2047	15.2%	29.2%
2048	15.2%	28.8%
2049	15.2%	28.5%
2050	15.2%	28.2%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.9% of the population in North Korea and 38.1% in Sierra Leone in 2024, compared to 26.5% and 42.9% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of North Korea and Sierra Leone compared.

Natural population change in North Korea vs Sierra Leone by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.42% in North Korea and +2.31% in Sierra Leone. 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	Sierra Leone
1960	277,717	38,192
1961	257,788	40,022
1962	286,534	41,603
1963	321,805	43,569
1964	323,623	45,487
1965	335,587	47,223
1966	363,882	49,486
1967	414,632	51,734
1968	399,837	53,126
1969	404,189	54,768
1970	406,129	56,513
1971	393,220	58,484
1972	411,997	60,279
1973	338,600	62,443
1974	306,902	65,357
1975	288,966	67,560
1976	255,841	69,506
1977	242,870	71,663
1978	243,533	74,130
1979	251,409	75,992
1980	255,206	77,932
1981	273,800	80,111
1982	276,332	82,457
1983	279,046	84,628
1984	282,987	87,072
1985	287,714	88,869
1986	293,227	90,902
1987	296,030	94,235
1988	299,305	96,344
1989	303,078	98,298
1990	312,460	100,778
1991	320,551	105,477
1992	324,002	103,251
1993	320,880	103,317
1994	320,861	101,486
1995	233,381	100,885
1996	226,095	104,140
1997	211,325	105,433
1998	197,589	103,906
1999	181,613	102,295
2000	161,591	110,754
2001	143,321	116,647
2002	119,504	126,429
2003	178,775	130,312
2004	155,838	132,661
2005	132,765	137,234
2006	129,171	144,127
2007	120,521	145,740
2008	122,015	149,855
2009	111,530	152,669
2010	112,443	155,338
2011	114,798	158,858
2012	118,773	160,915
2013	122,519	161,265
2014	127,078	160,137
2015	127,365	162,275
2016	125,048	168,784
2017	120,181	173,259
2018	113,164	178,772
2019	106,208	181,068
2020	95,920	181,015
2021	99,710	183,326
2022	96,495	186,625
2023	86,203	188,788

Maternal mortality chart: North Korea vs Sierra Leone

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 354 deaths in Sierra Leone.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	North Korea	Sierra Leone
1985	76	1,506
1986	68	1,530
1987	62	1,533
1988	55	1,549
1989	49	1,575
1990	43	1,572
1991	38	1,699
1992	37	1,681
1993	46	1,696
1994	57	1,755
1995	127	1,777
1996	128	1,726
1997	128	1,721
1998	129	1,753
1999	129	1,731
2000	129	1,603
2001	130	1,518
2002	131	1,492
2003	76	1,433
2004	77	1,366
2005	78	1,294
2006	80	1,168
2007	80	1,132
2008	79	1,093
2009	78	1,054
2010	77	1,018
2011	76	967
2012	76	915
2013	75	842
2014	73	821
2015	72	730
2016	71	633
2017	70	578
2018	69	491
2019	66	464
2020	66	422
2021	72	403
2022	67	370
2023	67	354

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.8% in North Korea and 9.43% in Sierra Leone. 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	Sierra Leone
1960	11.6%	39.1%
1961	11.2%	38.5%
1962	10.8%	38%
1963	10.4%	37.4%
1964	9.92%	36.8%
1965	9.46%	36.2%
1966	8.96%	35.6%
1967	8.45%	35%
1968	7.94%	34.5%
1969	7.45%	33.9%
1970	6.99%	33.4%
1971	6.58%	32.9%
1972	6.2%	32.3%
1973	5.86%	31.9%
1974	5.56%	31.4%
1975	5.28%	30.9%
1976	5.03%	30.5%
1977	4.8%	30%
1978	4.59%	29.6%
1979	4.4%	29.2%
1980	4.22%	28.9%
1981	4.05%	28.5%
1982	3.91%	28.1%
1983	3.8%	27.8%
1984	3.71%	27.5%
1985	3.68%	27.2%
1986	3.68%	26.9%
1987	3.78%	26.6%
1988	3.83%	26.4%
1989	3.95%	26.2%
1990	4.07%	25.9%
1991	4.18%	25.7%
1992	4.25%	25.5%
1993	4.27%	25.3%
1994	4.25%	25%
1995	10.8%	24.7%
1996	10.6%	24.3%
1997	10.5%	23.9%
1998	10.3%	23.4%
1999	10.2%	22.9%
2000	10%	22.4%
2001	9.9%	21.8%
2002	9.78%	21.3%
2003	3.45%	20.7%
2004	3.38%	20.1%
2005	3.33%	19.4%
2006	3.28%	18.8%
2007	3.24%	18.1%
2008	3.1%	17.3%
2009	3%	16.6%
2010	2.87%	15.9%
2011	2.72%	15.2%
2012	2.57%	14.5%
2013	2.41%	13.9%
2014	2.26%	13.7%
2015	2.14%	13.8%
2016	2.06%	12.3%
2017	1.91%	11.8%
2018	1.84%	11.3%
2019	1.77%	10.9%
2020	1.74%	10.5%
2021	1.74%	10.1%
2022	1.77%	9.77%
2023	1.8%	9.43%