Fertility & birth rates in North Korea and South Sudan

Fertility rate in North Korea vs South Sudan 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 3.86 in South Sudan in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check North Korea vs South Sudan 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	South Sudan
1960	3.57	7.16
1961	3.26	7.18
1962	3.41	7.2
1963	3.63	7.2
1964	3.55	7.22
1965	3.56	7.22
1966	3.71	7.25
1967	4.05	7.26
1968	3.87	7.26
1969	3.86	7.28
1970	3.85	7.29
1971	3.74	7.3
1972	3.89	7.31
1973	3.35	7.31
1974	3.14	7.31
1975	3.05	7.33
1976	2.84	7.33
1977	2.77	7.33
1978	2.79	7.33
1979	2.85	7.32
1980	2.84	7.33
1981	2.92	7.33
1982	2.85	7.34
1983	2.78	7.34
1984	2.71	7.35
1985	2.65	7.36
1986	2.59	7.38
1987	2.53	7.39
1988	2.47	7.38
1989	2.41	7.37
1990	2.39	7.38
1991	2.35	7.38
1992	2.29	7.37
1993	2.22	7.36
1994	2.18	7.35
1995	2.15	7.34
1996	2.09	7.32
1997	2.03	7.2
1998	1.99	7.08
1999	1.97	6.94
2000	1.94	6.8
2001	1.94	6.65
2002	1.92	6.52
2003	1.91	6.35
2004	1.9	6.19
2005	1.87	6.02
2006	1.94	5.85
2007	1.94	5.7
2008	1.97	5.57
2009	1.91	5.45
2010	1.89	5.32
2011	1.88	5.19
2012	1.88	5.06
2013	1.88	4.94
2014	1.87	4.82
2015	1.86	4.7
2016	1.86	4.58
2017	1.85	4.48
2018	1.83	4.37
2019	1.83	4.26
2020	1.82	4.16
2021	1.81	4.05
2022	1.8	3.96
2023	1.78	3.86
2024	1.78	3.79
2025	1.77	3.71
2026	1.75	3.63
2027	1.74	3.56
2028	1.73	3.49
2029	1.73	3.43
2030	1.72	3.37
2031	1.72	3.31
2032	1.71	3.26
2033	1.71	3.2
2034	1.71	3.15
2035	1.7	3.1
2036	1.7	3.06
2037	1.7	3.01
2038	1.69	2.96
2039	1.69	2.92
2040	1.69	2.88
2041	1.69	2.84
2042	1.69	2.8
2043	1.69	2.76
2044	1.68	2.73
2045	1.68	2.69
2046	1.68	2.66
2047	1.68	2.63
2048	1.67	2.6
2049	1.67	2.58
2050	1.67	2.55

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	North Korea	South Sudan
1960	37.5%	42.5%
1961	37%	42.6%
1962	36.6%	42.6%
1963	36.5%	42.8%
1964	36.6%	43%
1965	36.7%	43.3%
1966	37.3%	43.5%
1967	38.3%	43.8%
1968	39.2%	44%
1969	39.8%	44.3%
1970	40.1%	44.5%
1971	40.3%	44.7%
1972	40.2%	44.8%
1973	39.8%	45%
1974	39.3%	45.1%
1975	38.8%	45.2%
1976	38.3%	45.3%
1977	37.7%	45.4%
1978	36.9%	45.5%
1979	36%	45.7%
1980	35.1%	45.8%
1981	34.2%	46%
1982	33.1%	46.2%
1983	32%	46.3%
1984	30.9%	46.5%
1985	29.9%	46.6%
1986	29%	46.7%
1987	28%	46.9%
1988	27.3%	46.2%
1989	26.8%	45.4%
1990	26.5%	45.4%
1991	26.4%	45.5%
1992	26.3%	45.6%
1993	26.4%	45.7%
1994	26.4%	45.8%
1995	26.4%	45.8%
1996	26.3%	46%
1997	26.2%	46%
1998	26%	45.8%
1999	25.8%	45.6%
2000	25.6%	45.5%
2001	25.3%	45.5%
2002	25%	45.7%
2003	24.6%	45.9%
2004	24.3%	45.8%
2005	23.9%	45.3%
2006	23.4%	44.8%
2007	23%	44.3%
2008	22.5%	43.8%
2009	22.1%	43.4%
2010	21.6%	42.8%
2011	21.2%	42.2%
2012	20.8%	41.9%
2013	20.4%	41.9%
2014	20.1%	42.5%
2015	19.8%	43.1%
2016	19.6%	43.7%
2017	19.4%	45%
2018	19.2%	44.9%
2019	19.1%	43.6%
2020	19.1%	42.4%
2021	19.1%	41.6%
2022	19%	40.9%
2023	19%	39.9%
2024	18.9%	38.9%
2025	18.9%	38%
2026	18.9%	37.1%
2027	18.8%	36.2%
2028	18.7%	35.5%
2029	18.6%	35%
2030	18.5%	34.7%
2031	18.3%	34.5%
2032	18.1%	34.4%
2033	17.9%	34.3%
2034	17.6%	34.3%
2035	17.4%	34.2%
2036	17.1%	34.1%
2037	16.8%	34%
2038	16.6%	33.8%
2039	16.3%	33.7%
2040	16.1%	33.4%
2041	15.9%	33.2%
2042	15.7%	32.9%
2043	15.5%	32.5%
2044	15.4%	32.2%
2045	15.3%	31.8%
2046	15.2%	31.4%
2047	15.2%	31%
2048	15.2%	30.5%
2049	15.2%	30.1%
2050	15.2%	29.7%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.9% of the population in North Korea and 38.9% in South Sudan in 2024, compared to 26.5% and 45.4% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of North Korea and South Sudan compared.

Natural population change in North Korea vs South Sudan by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.42% in North Korea and +1.65% in South Sudan. 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	South Sudan
1960	277,717	42,945
1961	257,788	45,186
1962	286,534	47,406
1963	321,805	46,333
1964	323,623	64,786
1965	335,587	51,682
1966	363,882	38,523
1967	414,632	41,357
1968	399,837	44,213
1969	404,189	42,015
1970	406,129	44,776
1971	393,220	72,308
1972	411,997	74,803
1973	338,600	94,765
1974	306,902	97,181
1975	288,966	99,882
1976	255,841	102,346
1977	242,870	104,886
1978	243,533	107,352
1979	251,409	109,540
1980	255,206	112,307
1981	273,800	115,163
1982	276,332	118,641
1983	279,046	104,107
1984	282,987	90,970
1985	287,714	95,342
1986	293,227	99,502
1987	296,030	5,756
1988	299,305	-125,447
1989	303,078	83,735
1990	312,460	82,900
1991	320,551	87,873
1992	324,002	28,874
1993	320,880	32,779
1994	320,861	165,407
1995	233,381	110,417
1996	226,095	116,728
1997	211,325	121,454
1998	197,589	-12,157
1999	181,613	180,721
2000	161,591	196,055
2001	143,321	204,108
2002	119,504	212,014
2003	178,775	225,822
2004	155,838	231,877
2005	132,765	239,272
2006	129,171	246,706
2007	120,521	256,546
2008	122,015	268,268
2009	111,530	278,859
2010	112,443	287,409
2011	114,798	303,181
2012	118,773	312,974
2013	122,519	315,983
2014	127,078	227,611
2015	127,365	148,542
2016	125,048	110,553
2017	120,181	72,193
2018	113,164	168,497
2019	106,208	209,708
2020	95,920	212,332
2021	99,710	213,567
2022	96,495	211,166
2023	86,203	217,966

Maternal mortality chart: North Korea vs South Sudan

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 692 deaths in South Sudan.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	North Korea	South Sudan
1985	76	3,845
1986	68	3,720
1987	62	8,045
1988	55	5,535
1989	49	5,103
1990	43	4,877
1991	38	4,764
1992	37	7,597
1993	46	7,537
1994	57	1,666
1995	127	4,430
1996	128	4,357
1997	128	4,172
1998	129	7,514
1999	129	2,048
2000	129	1,658
2001	130	1,580
2002	131	1,521
2003	76	1,199
2004	77	1,150
2005	78	1,074
2006	80	1,005
2007	80	933
2008	79	858
2009	78	823
2010	77	776
2011	76	770
2012	76	755
2013	75	771
2014	73	1,216
2015	72	1,436
2016	71	1,629
2017	70	1,662
2018	69	913
2019	66	745
2020	66	729
2021	72	749
2022	67	704
2023	67	692

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.8% in North Korea and 9.87% in South Sudan. 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	South Sudan
1960	11.6%	35.5%
1961	11.2%	35.2%
1962	10.8%	34.9%
1963	10.4%	34.6%
1964	9.92%	34.3%
1965	9.46%	34%
1966	8.96%	33.6%
1967	8.45%	33.3%
1968	7.94%	32.9%
1969	7.45%	32.6%
1970	6.99%	32.3%
1971	6.58%	31.9%
1972	6.2%	31.6%
1973	5.86%	31.3%
1974	5.56%	30.9%
1975	5.28%	30.6%
1976	5.03%	30.2%
1977	4.8%	29.9%
1978	4.59%	29.5%
1979	4.4%	29.2%
1980	4.22%	28.9%
1981	4.05%	28.5%
1982	3.91%	28.2%
1983	3.8%	27.8%
1984	3.71%	27.5%
1985	3.68%	27.1%
1986	3.68%	26.7%
1987	3.78%	36%
1988	3.83%	76.7%
1989	3.95%	30.7%
1990	4.07%	30.3%
1991	4.18%	29.7%
1992	4.25%	33.8%
1993	4.27%	33.1%
1994	4.25%	23%
1995	10.8%	27%
1996	10.6%	26.1%
1997	10.5%	25.2%
1998	10.3%	42.6%
1999	10.2%	19.2%
2000	10%	18.3%
2001	9.9%	17.4%
2002	9.78%	16.5%
2003	3.45%	15.7%
2004	3.38%	14.8%
2005	3.33%	14.1%
2006	3.28%	13.4%
2007	3.24%	12.7%
2008	3.1%	12.1%
2009	3%	11.5%
2010	2.87%	10.9%
2011	2.72%	10.5%
2012	2.57%	10.1%
2013	2.41%	9.92%
2014	2.26%	18.2%
2015	2.14%	23.7%
2016	2.06%	26.4%
2017	1.91%	27.8%
2018	1.84%	13.2%
2019	1.77%	9.87%
2020	1.74%	9.87%
2021	1.74%	9.87%
2022	1.77%	9.87%
2023	1.8%	9.87%