Fertility & birth rates in North Macedonia and Serbia

Fertility rate in North Macedonia vs Serbia chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in North Macedonia was 1.5 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1.61 in Serbia in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check North Macedonia vs Serbia 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 Macedonia	Serbia
1960	3.83	2.15
1961	3.62	2.13
1962	3.5	2.11
1963	3.62	2.08
1964	3.56	2.07
1965	3.52	2.06
1966	3.43	2.04
1967	3.33	2.02
1968	3.22	2.01
1969	3.1	1.99
1970	3.01	1.97
1971	2.93	1.96
1972	2.87	1.95
1973	2.72	1.94
1974	2.7	1.93
1975	2.69	1.92
1976	2.62	1.91
1977	2.49	1.9
1978	2.42	1.89
1979	2.4	1.88
1980	2.36	1.86
1981	2.29	1.85
1982	2.29	1.84
1983	2.25	1.83
1984	2.24	1.81
1985	2.25	1.8
1986	2.25	1.78
1987	2.32	1.75
1988	2.32	1.72
1989	2.25	1.69
1990	2.27	1.65
1991	2.31	1.61
1992	2.28	1.57
1993	2.26	1.54
1994	2.23	1.51
1995	2.13	1.47
1996	2.06	1.44
1997	1.92	1.4
1998	1.89	1.37
1999	1.77	1.35
2000	1.86	1.48
2001	1.73	1.58
2002	1.79	1.57
2003	1.75	1.59
2004	1.52	1.57
2005	1.5	1.45
2006	1.46	1.43
2007	1.46	1.38
2008	1.47	1.4
2009	1.5	1.44
2010	1.6	1.4
2011	1.46	1.4
2012	1.5	1.45
2013	1.5	1.43
2014	1.5	1.46
2015	1.49	1.46
2016	1.5	1.46
2017	1.43	1.49
2018	1.42	1.49
2019	1.34	1.52
2020	1.31	1.48
2021	1.6	1.52
2022	1.6	1.59
2023	1.5	1.61
2024	1.5	1.61
2025	1.5	1.61
2026	1.51	1.62
2027	1.51	1.62
2028	1.51	1.62
2029	1.51	1.63
2030	1.52	1.63
2031	1.52	1.63
2032	1.52	1.63
2033	1.52	1.64
2034	1.52	1.64
2035	1.52	1.65
2036	1.53	1.65
2037	1.53	1.65
2038	1.53	1.65
2039	1.53	1.65
2040	1.53	1.65
2041	1.53	1.66
2042	1.53	1.66
2043	1.54	1.66
2044	1.54	1.66
2045	1.54	1.67
2046	1.54	1.67
2047	1.55	1.67
2048	1.55	1.67
2049	1.55	1.67
2050	1.55	1.67

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	North Macedonia	Serbia
1960	37.7%	27.2%
1961	37.8%	27.1%
1962	37.6%	27%
1963	37.2%	26.7%
1964	36.7%	26.3%
1965	36.3%	25.8%
1966	35.8%	25.3%
1967	35.2%	24.7%
1968	34.7%	24.1%
1969	34.1%	23.5%
1970	33.5%	23%
1971	33%	22.5%
1972	32.6%	22.2%
1973	32.2%	22%
1974	31.7%	21.7%
1975	31.3%	21.5%
1976	30.9%	21.3%
1977	30.6%	21%
1978	30.3%	20.9%
1979	29.9%	20.7%
1980	29.5%	20.6%
1981	29.1%	20.6%
1982	28.8%	20.6%
1983	28.5%	20.5%
1984	28.3%	20.5%
1985	28.1%	20.3%
1986	27.8%	20.2%
1987	27.6%	20%
1988	27.4%	19.8%
1989	27.1%	19.6%
1990	26.9%	19.3%
1991	26.5%	19.1%
1992	26.1%	18.8%
1993	25.7%	18.6%
1994	25.5%	18.3%
1995	25.4%	18%
1996	25.1%	17.7%
1997	24.8%	17.4%
1998	24.4%	17.1%
1999	23.9%	16.7%
2000	23.4%	16.4%
2001	22.9%	16.1%
2002	22.5%	15.8%
2003	22.1%	15.6%
2004	21.7%	15.4%
2005	21.2%	15.2%
2006	20.8%	15%
2007	20.4%	14.9%
2008	20%	14.7%
2009	19.7%	14.6%
2010	19.3%	14.5%
2011	19%	14.4%
2012	18.8%	14.3%
2013	18.6%	14.3%
2014	18.3%	14.3%
2015	18%	14.3%
2016	17.8%	14.3%
2017	17.5%	14.3%
2018	17.4%	14.3%
2019	17.2%	14.3%
2020	17.2%	14.3%
2021	17.2%	14.3%
2022	17.2%	14.4%
2023	17.1%	14.4%
2024	16.8%	14.3%
2025	16.5%	14.3%
2026	16.2%	14.2%
2027	15.9%	14.1%
2028	15.6%	14.1%
2029	15.3%	14%
2030	14.9%	13.9%
2031	14.6%	13.8%
2032	14.3%	13.7%
2033	14%	13.6%
2034	13.7%	13.5%
2035	13.5%	13.4%
2036	13.3%	13.3%
2037	13.1%	13.3%
2038	13%	13.2%
2039	13%	13.2%
2040	13%	13.1%
2041	12.9%	13.1%
2042	12.9%	13.1%
2043	13%	13.1%
2044	13%	13.1%
2045	13%	13.1%
2046	13%	13.1%
2047	13%	13.1%
2048	13.1%	13.1%
2049	13.1%	13.1%
2050	13.1%	13.1%

Children aged 0-14 make up 16.8% of the population in North Macedonia and 14.3% in Serbia in 2024, compared to 26.9% and 19.3% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of North Macedonia and Serbia compared.

Natural population change in North Macedonia vs Serbia by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been -0.07% in North Macedonia and -0.63% in Serbia. 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 Macedonia	Serbia
1960	28,816	63,642
1961	27,846	61,065
1962	25,317	59,307
1963	28,124	55,580
1964	27,889	54,185
1965	28,564	53,383
1966	28,766	53,338
1967	28,401	53,120
1968	28,378	51,653
1969	27,464	50,304
1970	28,022	48,343
1971	28,010	47,424
1972	28,236	48,248
1973	28,032	49,596
1974	28,400	51,583
1975	28,983	52,502
1976	28,799	51,399
1977	27,410	48,105
1978	27,150	43,636
1979	27,096	39,022
1980	26,547	36,273
1981	25,689	34,304
1982	25,810	30,603
1983	24,690	27,515
1984	24,436	23,815
1985	24,167	22,090
1986	23,720	19,407
1987	24,359	16,711
1988	24,064	13,852
1989	22,912	11,872
1990	22,868	7,416
1991	23,387	2,210
1992	21,659	-3,779
1993	20,797	-5,703
1994	19,103	-7,157
1995	17,239	-7,628
1996	14,806	-16,007
1997	12,979	-18,389
1998	12,446	-23,006
1999	10,489	-29,408
2000	12,159	-30,065
2001	10,174	-20,259
2002	9,697	-24,750
2003	8,900	-24,686
2004	5,444	-26,121
2005	4,011	-34,227
2006	3,988	-31,870
2007	2,974	-34,693
2008	3,746	-33,590
2009	4,309	-33,676
2010	4,866	-34,999
2011	3,100	-36,906
2012	3,087	-35,288
2013	3,653	-34,399
2014	3,644	-34,946
2015	2,294	-37,605
2016	2,374	-35,998
2017	1,329	-39,317
2018	1,512	-37,707
2019	-375	-36,810
2020	-5,939	-55,193
2021	-9,737	-74,494
2022	-4,397	-46,651
2023	-3,290	-36,427

Maternal mortality chart: North Macedonia vs Serbia

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 3 deaths per 100,000 live births in North Macedonia, compared to 11 deaths in Serbia.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	North Macedonia	Serbia
1985	17	15
1986	16	15
1987	15	15
1988	16	14
1989	14	14
1990	16	14
1991	15	14
1992	14	15
1993	14	16
1994	13	16
1995	13	17
1996	14	17
1997	13	17
1998	13	19
1999	12	17
2000	11	16
2001	9	15
2002	10	14
2003	8	14
2004	8	13
2005	7	13
2006	7	12
2007	7	12
2008	6	12
2009	6	12
2010	5	13
2011	5	13
2012	5	13
2013	5	13
2014	4	13
2015	4	13
2016	4	13
2017	4	13
2018	3	12
2019	3	12
2020	7	16
2021	12	26
2022	3	14
2023	3	11

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.33% in North Macedonia and 0.52% in Serbia. 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 Macedonia	Serbia
1981	5.79%	-
1982	5.53%	-
1983	5.25%	-
1984	5.06%	4.07%
1985	5%	3.93%
1986	4.91%	3.78%
1987	4.69%	3.59%
1988	4.36%	3.36%
1989	4.01%	3.1%
1990	3.7%	2.85%
1991	3.46%	2.61%
1992	3.3%	2.43%
1993	3.13%	2.29%
1994	2.85%	2.14%
1995	2.45%	1.95%
1996	2.12%	1.74%
1997	1.93%	1.56%
1998	1.83%	1.42%
1999	1.73%	1.32%
2000	1.59%	1.26%
2001	1.48%	1.2%
2002	1.43%	1.14%
2003	1.43%	1.05%
2004	1.42%	0.97%
2005	1.37%	0.9%
2006	1.3%	0.85%
2007	1.23%	0.82%
2008	1.17%	0.79%
2009	1.1%	0.78%
2010	1.04%	0.76%
2011	1%	0.73%
2012	1.02%	0.71%
2013	1.07%	0.68%
2014	1.11%	0.66%
2015	1.13%	0.63%
2016	1.08%	0.61%
2017	0.97%	0.59%
2018	0.83%	0.58%
2019	0.7%	0.57%
2020	0.59%	0.55%
2021	0.5%	0.54%
2022	0.41%	0.53%
2023	0.33%	0.52%