Fertility & birth rates in North Korea and Thailand

Fertility rate in North Korea vs Thailand 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 1.21 in Thailand in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check North Korea vs Thailand 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	Thailand
1960	3.57	6.33
1961	3.26	6.32
1962	3.41	6.33
1963	3.63	6.34
1964	3.55	6.31
1965	3.56	6.26
1966	3.71	6.18
1967	4.05	6.08
1968	3.87	5.93
1969	3.86	5.7
1970	3.85	5.45
1971	3.74	5.25
1972	3.89	5.08
1973	3.35	4.85
1974	3.14	4.6
1975	3.05	4.36
1976	2.84	4.12
1977	2.77	3.87
1978	2.79	3.62
1979	2.85	3.45
1980	2.84	3.29
1981	2.92	3.13
1982	2.85	2.94
1983	2.78	2.76
1984	2.71	2.58
1985	2.65	2.45
1986	2.59	2.36
1987	2.53	2.26
1988	2.47	2.17
1989	2.41	2.14
1990	2.39	2.07
1991	2.35	2.04
1992	2.29	2.01
1993	2.22	1.97
1994	2.18	1.93
1995	2.15	1.89
1996	2.09	1.87
1997	2.03	1.85
1998	1.99	1.82
1999	1.97	1.77
2000	1.94	1.73
2001	1.94	1.71
2002	1.92	1.69
2003	1.91	1.67
2004	1.9	1.67
2005	1.87	1.64
2006	1.94	1.63
2007	1.94	1.62
2008	1.97	1.59
2009	1.91	1.57
2010	1.89	1.56
2011	1.88	1.57
2012	1.88	1.56
2013	1.88	1.53
2014	1.87	1.48
2015	1.86	1.45
2016	1.86	1.4
2017	1.85	1.36
2018	1.83	1.32
2019	1.83	1.29
2020	1.82	1.26
2021	1.81	1.23
2022	1.8	1.22
2023	1.78	1.21
2024	1.78	1.2
2025	1.77	1.19
2026	1.75	1.19
2027	1.74	1.19
2028	1.73	1.19
2029	1.73	1.19
2030	1.72	1.2
2031	1.72	1.2
2032	1.71	1.21
2033	1.71	1.21
2034	1.71	1.22
2035	1.7	1.22
2036	1.7	1.23
2037	1.7	1.23
2038	1.69	1.24
2039	1.69	1.24
2040	1.69	1.25
2041	1.69	1.25
2042	1.69	1.26
2043	1.69	1.26
2044	1.68	1.26
2045	1.68	1.27
2046	1.68	1.27
2047	1.68	1.28
2048	1.67	1.28
2049	1.67	1.28
2050	1.67	1.29

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	North Korea	Thailand
1960	37.5%	44.3%
1961	37%	44.6%
1962	36.6%	44.8%
1963	36.5%	45.1%
1964	36.6%	45.3%
1965	36.7%	45.4%
1966	37.3%	45.4%
1967	38.3%	45.3%
1968	39.2%	45.2%
1969	39.8%	45%
1970	40.1%	44.8%
1971	40.3%	44.4%
1972	40.2%	44%
1973	39.8%	43.5%
1974	39.3%	43%
1975	38.8%	42.4%
1976	38.3%	41.8%
1977	37.7%	41.1%
1978	36.9%	40.3%
1979	36%	39.5%
1980	35.1%	38.7%
1981	34.2%	37.8%
1982	33.1%	37%
1983	32%	36%
1984	30.9%	35.1%
1985	29.9%	34.1%
1986	29%	33.2%
1987	28%	32.4%
1988	27.3%	31.5%
1989	26.8%	30.7%
1990	26.5%	30%
1991	26.4%	29.2%
1992	26.3%	28.5%
1993	26.4%	28%
1994	26.4%	27.4%
1995	26.4%	26.9%
1996	26.3%	26.4%
1997	26.2%	25.9%
1998	26%	25.4%
1999	25.8%	24.9%
2000	25.6%	24.4%
2001	25.3%	23.9%
2002	25%	23.4%
2003	24.6%	23%
2004	24.3%	22.6%
2005	23.9%	22.2%
2006	23.4%	21.7%
2007	23%	21.3%
2008	22.5%	20.9%
2009	22.1%	20.6%
2010	21.6%	20.1%
2011	21.2%	19.7%
2012	20.8%	19.2%
2013	20.4%	18.8%
2014	20.1%	18.5%
2015	19.8%	18.1%
2016	19.6%	17.7%
2017	19.4%	17.3%
2018	19.2%	16.9%
2019	19.1%	16.6%
2020	19.1%	16.2%
2021	19.1%	15.8%
2022	19%	15.4%
2023	19%	15.1%
2024	18.9%	14.7%
2025	18.9%	14.4%
2026	18.9%	14.1%
2027	18.8%	13.7%
2028	18.7%	13.4%
2029	18.6%	13.1%
2030	18.5%	12.9%
2031	18.3%	12.7%
2032	18.1%	12.5%
2033	17.9%	12.3%
2034	17.6%	12.2%
2035	17.4%	12.1%
2036	17.1%	12%
2037	16.8%	11.9%
2038	16.6%	11.9%
2039	16.3%	11.8%
2040	16.1%	11.8%
2041	15.9%	11.8%
2042	15.7%	11.8%
2043	15.5%	11.7%
2044	15.4%	11.7%
2045	15.3%	11.7%
2046	15.2%	11.7%
2047	15.2%	11.6%
2048	15.2%	11.6%
2049	15.2%	11.6%
2050	15.2%	11.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.9% of the population in North Korea and 14.7% in Thailand in 2024, compared to 26.5% and 30% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of North Korea and Thailand compared.

Natural population change in North Korea vs Thailand by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.42% in North Korea and +0.18% in Thailand. 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	Thailand
1960	277,717	774,190
1961	257,788	801,140
1962	286,534	828,741
1963	321,805	860,728
1964	323,623	885,137
1965	335,587	909,000
1966	363,882	929,469
1967	414,632	944,980
1968	399,837	953,806
1969	404,189	948,314
1970	406,129	937,116
1971	393,220	936,215
1972	411,997	940,420
1973	338,600	933,540
1974	306,902	923,151
1975	288,966	911,980
1976	255,841	894,072
1977	242,870	871,232
1978	243,533	847,799
1979	251,409	843,434
1980	255,206	845,575
1981	273,800	839,297
1982	276,332	817,951
1983	279,046	794,239
1984	282,987	779,856
1985	287,714	776,935
1986	293,227	783,430
1987	296,030	774,498
1988	299,305	765,252
1989	303,078	774,563
1990	312,460	760,808
1991	320,551	760,508
1992	324,002	754,999
1993	320,880	737,696
1994	320,861	712,589
1995	233,381	682,703
1996	226,095	661,397
1997	211,325	644,834
1998	197,589	617,318
1999	181,613	578,073
2000	161,591	543,884
2001	143,321	524,230
2002	119,504	504,299
2003	178,775	488,003
2004	155,838	466,542
2005	132,765	456,378
2006	129,171	441,211
2007	120,521	425,362
2008	122,015	401,730
2009	111,530	382,636
2010	112,443	370,466
2011	114,798	365,670
2012	118,773	351,485
2013	122,519	325,059
2014	127,078	294,628
2015	127,365	266,362
2016	125,048	226,255
2017	120,181	194,695
2018	113,164	159,383
2019	106,208	116,867
2020	95,920	84,107
2021	99,710	57,382
2022	96,495	-61,046
2023	86,203	-46,105

Maternal mortality chart: North Korea vs Thailand

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 34 deaths in Thailand.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	North Korea	Thailand
1985	76	88
1986	68	78
1987	62	72
1988	55	67
1989	49	64
1990	43	60
1991	38	59
1992	37	58
1993	46	57
1994	57	54
1995	127	52
1996	128	49
1997	128	48
1998	129	47
1999	129	48
2000	129	49
2001	130	47
2002	131	44
2003	76	42
2004	77	44
2005	78	40
2006	80	38
2007	80	38
2008	79	37
2009	78	37
2010	77	37
2011	76	37
2012	76	36
2013	75	35
2014	73	34
2015	72	34
2016	71	34
2017	70	34
2018	69	34
2019	66	34
2020	66	36
2021	72	38
2022	67	112
2023	67	34

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.8% in North Korea and 0.92% in Thailand. 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	Thailand
1960	11.6%	14.7%
1961	11.2%	14.2%
1962	10.8%	13.7%
1963	10.4%	13.2%
1964	9.92%	12.8%
1965	9.46%	12.3%
1966	8.96%	11.8%
1967	8.45%	11.4%
1968	7.94%	10.9%
1969	7.45%	10.4%
1970	6.99%	9.95%
1971	6.58%	9.47%
1972	6.2%	9.01%
1973	5.86%	8.56%
1974	5.56%	8.14%
1975	5.28%	7.73%
1976	5.03%	7.35%
1977	4.8%	7%
1978	4.59%	6.67%
1979	4.4%	6.36%
1980	4.22%	6.07%
1981	4.05%	5.79%
1982	3.91%	5.53%
1983	3.8%	5.28%
1984	3.71%	5.03%
1985	3.68%	4.8%
1986	3.68%	4.57%
1987	3.78%	4.34%
1988	3.83%	4.12%
1989	3.95%	3.91%
1990	4.07%	3.69%
1991	4.18%	3.49%
1992	4.25%	3.3%
1993	4.27%	3.12%
1994	4.25%	2.96%
1995	10.8%	2.81%
1996	10.6%	2.67%
1997	10.5%	2.53%
1998	10.3%	2.41%
1999	10.2%	2.29%
2000	10%	2.18%
2001	9.9%	2.08%
2002	9.78%	1.98%
2003	3.45%	1.89%
2004	3.38%	1.81%
2005	3.33%	1.73%
2006	3.28%	1.66%
2007	3.24%	1.59%
2008	3.1%	1.53%
2009	3%	1.47%
2010	2.87%	1.42%
2011	2.72%	1.37%
2012	2.57%	1.32%
2013	2.41%	1.27%
2014	2.26%	1.23%
2015	2.14%	1.19%
2016	2.06%	1.15%
2017	1.91%	1.11%
2018	1.84%	1.08%
2019	1.77%	1.04%
2020	1.74%	1.01%
2021	1.74%	0.98%
2022	1.77%	0.95%
2023	1.8%	0.92%