Fertility & birth rates in North Korea and Zambia

Fertility rate in North Korea vs Zambia 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 4.1 in Zambia in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check North Korea vs Zambia 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	Zambia
1960	3.57	6.95
1961	3.26	6.98
1962	3.41	7.01
1963	3.63	7.06
1964	3.55	7.09
1965	3.56	7.12
1966	3.71	7.14
1967	4.05	7.15
1968	3.87	7.18
1969	3.86	7.18
1970	3.85	7.22
1971	3.74	7.26
1972	3.89	7.3
1973	3.35	7.34
1974	3.14	7.36
1975	3.05	7.42
1976	2.84	7.39
1977	2.77	7.35
1978	2.79	7.29
1979	2.85	7.22
1980	2.84	7.14
1981	2.92	7.07
1982	2.85	7.04
1983	2.78	7.01
1984	2.71	6.97
1985	2.65	6.93
1986	2.59	6.87
1987	2.53	6.8
1988	2.47	6.7
1989	2.41	6.64
1990	2.39	6.57
1991	2.35	6.46
1992	2.29	6.35
1993	2.22	6.3
1994	2.18	6.26
1995	2.15	6.23
1996	2.09	6.18
1997	2.03	6.12
1998	1.99	6.07
1999	1.97	6
2000	1.94	5.92
2001	1.94	5.85
2002	1.92	5.77
2003	1.91	5.71
2004	1.9	5.7
2005	1.87	5.7
2006	1.94	5.68
2007	1.94	5.61
2008	1.97	5.53
2009	1.91	5.45
2010	1.89	5.36
2011	1.88	5.26
2012	1.88	5.14
2013	1.88	5.01
2014	1.87	4.89
2015	1.86	4.78
2016	1.86	4.67
2017	1.85	4.57
2018	1.83	4.49
2019	1.83	4.42
2020	1.82	4.32
2021	1.81	4.25
2022	1.8	4.18
2023	1.78	4.1
2024	1.78	4.04
2025	1.77	3.97
2026	1.75	3.91
2027	1.74	3.85
2028	1.73	3.77
2029	1.73	3.72
2030	1.72	3.67
2031	1.72	3.61
2032	1.71	3.56
2033	1.71	3.5
2034	1.71	3.45
2035	1.7	3.4
2036	1.7	3.35
2037	1.7	3.3
2038	1.69	3.25
2039	1.69	3.19
2040	1.69	3.15
2041	1.69	3.11
2042	1.69	3.07
2043	1.69	3.03
2044	1.68	3
2045	1.68	2.96
2046	1.68	2.93
2047	1.68	2.9
2048	1.67	2.87
2049	1.67	2.84
2050	1.67	2.81

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	North Korea	Zambia
1960	37.5%	46%
1961	37%	46.2%
1962	36.6%	46.3%
1963	36.5%	46.5%
1964	36.6%	46.7%
1965	36.7%	46.9%
1966	37.3%	46.9%
1967	38.3%	47%
1968	39.2%	47.1%
1969	39.8%	47.2%
1970	40.1%	47.4%
1971	40.3%	47.7%
1972	40.2%	48%
1973	39.8%	48.3%
1974	39.3%	48.6%
1975	38.8%	48.8%
1976	38.3%	49.1%
1977	37.7%	49.2%
1978	36.9%	49.4%
1979	36%	49.5%
1980	35.1%	49.5%
1981	34.2%	49.4%
1982	33.1%	49.3%
1983	32%	49.1%
1984	30.9%	49%
1985	29.9%	48.9%
1986	29%	48.8%
1987	28%	48.7%
1988	27.3%	48.6%
1989	26.8%	48.5%
1990	26.5%	48.4%
1991	26.4%	48.3%
1992	26.3%	48.2%
1993	26.4%	48.2%
1994	26.4%	48.2%
1995	26.4%	48.2%
1996	26.3%	48.2%
1997	26.2%	48.2%
1998	26%	48.2%
1999	25.8%	48.1%
2000	25.6%	48%
2001	25.3%	47.8%
2002	25%	47.6%
2003	24.6%	47.4%
2004	24.3%	47.3%
2005	23.9%	47.1%
2006	23.4%	47%
2007	23%	46.8%
2008	22.5%	46.6%
2009	22.1%	46.4%
2010	21.6%	46.3%
2011	21.2%	46.1%
2012	20.8%	45.9%
2013	20.4%	45.7%
2014	20.1%	45.5%
2015	19.8%	45.2%
2016	19.6%	44.9%
2017	19.4%	44.5%
2018	19.2%	44.1%
2019	19.1%	43.8%
2020	19.1%	43.3%
2021	19.1%	42.9%
2022	19%	42.4%
2023	19%	42%
2024	18.9%	41.5%
2025	18.9%	41%
2026	18.9%	40.5%
2027	18.8%	40%
2028	18.7%	39.6%
2029	18.6%	39.2%
2030	18.5%	38.8%
2031	18.3%	38.5%
2032	18.1%	38.1%
2033	17.9%	37.8%
2034	17.6%	37.5%
2035	17.4%	37.1%
2036	17.1%	36.8%
2037	16.8%	36.5%
2038	16.6%	36.1%
2039	16.3%	35.8%
2040	16.1%	35.4%
2041	15.9%	35.1%
2042	15.7%	34.7%
2043	15.5%	34.4%
2044	15.4%	34%
2045	15.3%	33.7%
2046	15.2%	33.3%
2047	15.2%	33%
2048	15.2%	32.6%
2049	15.2%	32.3%
2050	15.2%	32%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.9% of the population in North Korea and 41.5% in Zambia in 2024, compared to 26.5% and 48.4% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of North Korea and Zambia compared.

Natural population change in North Korea vs Zambia by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.42% in North Korea and +2.87% in Zambia. 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	Zambia
1960	277,717	102,335
1961	257,788	106,318
1962	286,534	110,173
1963	321,805	114,555
1964	323,623	117,197
1965	335,587	122,814
1966	363,882	127,164
1967	414,632	131,938
1968	399,837	137,315
1969	404,189	142,660
1970	406,129	149,380
1971	393,220	155,249
1972	411,997	161,648
1973	338,600	168,258
1974	306,902	174,484
1975	288,966	182,258
1976	255,841	186,762
1977	242,870	191,557
1978	243,533	194,933
1979	251,409	197,578
1980	255,206	198,817
1981	273,800	202,822
1982	276,332	207,621
1983	279,046	212,712
1984	282,987	216,695
1985	287,714	221,351
1986	293,227	224,768
1987	296,030	227,813
1988	299,305	230,118
1989	303,078	233,429
1990	312,460	235,835
1991	320,551	237,957
1992	324,002	239,953
1993	320,880	245,917
1994	320,861	252,023
1995	233,381	257,897
1996	226,095	262,468
1997	211,325	268,198
1998	197,589	275,568
1999	181,613	283,297
2000	161,591	293,186
2001	143,321	302,682
2002	119,504	316,041
2003	178,775	331,189
2004	155,838	349,352
2005	132,765	368,756
2006	129,171	387,891
2007	120,521	403,729
2008	122,015	419,560
2009	111,530	434,458
2010	112,443	448,337
2011	114,798	459,743
2012	118,773	469,406
2013	122,519	476,846
2014	127,078	483,663
2015	127,365	491,021
2016	125,048	497,521
2017	120,181	504,630
2018	113,164	515,644
2019	106,208	528,089
2020	95,920	536,484
2021	99,710	535,629
2022	96,495	563,456
2023	86,203	577,660

Maternal mortality chart: North Korea vs Zambia

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 85 deaths in Zambia.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	North Korea	Zambia
1985	76	596
1986	68	619
1987	62	630
1988	55	635
1989	49	635
1990	43	625
1991	38	611
1992	37	581
1993	46	532
1994	57	507
1995	127	466
1996	128	433
1997	128	403
1998	129	392
1999	129	378
2000	129	340
2001	130	306
2002	131	274
2003	76	250
2004	77	260
2005	78	264
2006	80	262
2007	80	324
2008	79	394
2009	78	406
2010	77	332
2011	76	291
2012	76	256
2013	75	213
2014	73	174
2015	72	154
2016	71	158
2017	70	141
2018	69	117
2019	66	103
2020	66	99
2021	72	140
2022	67	89
2023	67	85

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 1.8% in North Korea and 4.47% in Zambia. 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	Zambia
1960	11.6%	20.5%
1961	11.2%	20.1%
1962	10.8%	19.8%
1963	10.4%	19.5%
1964	9.92%	19.2%
1965	9.46%	19%
1966	8.96%	18.9%
1967	8.45%	18.7%
1968	7.94%	18.5%
1969	7.45%	18.3%
1970	6.99%	17.9%
1971	6.58%	17.4%
1972	6.2%	16.9%
1973	5.86%	16.3%
1974	5.56%	15.9%
1975	5.28%	15.5%
1976	5.03%	15.4%
1977	4.8%	15.3%
1978	4.59%	15.3%
1979	4.4%	15.4%
1980	4.22%	15.5%
1981	4.05%	15.6%
1982	3.91%	15.7%
1983	3.8%	15.9%
1984	3.71%	16.2%
1985	3.68%	16.6%
1986	3.68%	17%
1987	3.78%	17.3%
1988	3.83%	17.7%
1989	3.95%	17.9%
1990	4.07%	18.1%
1991	4.18%	18.1%
1992	4.25%	18.1%
1993	4.27%	17.9%
1994	4.25%	17.7%
1995	10.8%	17.3%
1996	10.6%	17%
1997	10.5%	16.7%
1998	10.3%	16.3%
1999	10.2%	15.9%
2000	10%	15.3%
2001	9.9%	14.4%
2002	9.78%	13.4%
2003	3.45%	12.4%
2004	3.38%	11.4%
2005	3.33%	10.5%
2006	3.28%	9.71%
2007	3.24%	9.14%
2008	3.1%	8.62%
2009	3%	8%
2010	2.87%	7.57%
2011	2.72%	7.31%
2012	2.57%	7.04%
2013	2.41%	6.72%
2014	2.26%	6.38%
2015	2.14%	6.15%
2016	2.06%	5.9%
2017	1.91%	5.61%
2018	1.84%	5.52%
2019	1.77%	5.41%
2020	1.74%	5.24%
2021	1.74%	4.92%
2022	1.77%	4.67%
2023	1.8%	4.47%