Fertility & birth rates in North Macedonia and South Africa

Fertility rate in North Macedonia vs South Africa 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 2.22 in South Africa in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check North Macedonia vs South Africa 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	South Africa
1960	3.83	6.11
1961	3.62	6.08
1962	3.5	6.05
1963	3.62	6.01
1964	3.56	5.96
1965	3.52	5.89
1966	3.43	5.91
1967	3.33	5.85
1968	3.22	5.78
1969	3.1	5.72
1970	3.01	5.63
1971	2.93	5.57
1972	2.87	5.49
1973	2.72	5.41
1974	2.7	5.3
1975	2.69	5.19
1976	2.62	5.07
1977	2.49	4.94
1978	2.42	4.85
1979	2.4	4.82
1980	2.36	4.78
1981	2.29	4.71
1982	2.29	4.7
1983	2.25	4.63
1984	2.24	4.57
1985	2.25	4.5
1986	2.25	4.41
1987	2.32	4.35
1988	2.32	4.18
1989	2.25	3.98
1990	2.27	3.72
1991	2.31	3.62
1992	2.28	3.48
1993	2.26	3.37
1994	2.23	3.26
1995	2.13	3.17
1996	2.06	2.99
1997	1.92	2.73
1998	1.89	2.63
1999	1.77	2.56
2000	1.86	2.41
2001	1.73	2.37
2002	1.79	2.32
2003	1.75	2.36
2004	1.52	2.44
2005	1.5	2.51
2006	1.46	2.55
2007	1.46	2.55
2008	1.47	2.68
2009	1.5	2.5
2010	1.6	2.44
2011	1.46	2.44
2012	1.5	2.45
2013	1.5	2.43
2014	1.5	2.42
2015	1.49	2.36
2016	1.5	2.26
2017	1.43	2.28
2018	1.42	2.27
2019	1.34	2.26
2020	1.31	2.26
2021	1.6	2.25
2022	1.6	2.23
2023	1.5	2.22
2024	1.5	2.21
2025	1.5	2.19
2026	1.51	2.17
2027	1.51	2.15
2028	1.51	2.13
2029	1.51	2.12
2030	1.52	2.1
2031	1.52	2.09
2032	1.52	2.07
2033	1.52	2.06
2034	1.52	2.05
2035	1.52	2.04
2036	1.53	2.03
2037	1.53	2.02
2038	1.53	2
2039	1.53	1.99
2040	1.53	1.98
2041	1.53	1.98
2042	1.53	1.97
2043	1.54	1.96
2044	1.54	1.95
2045	1.54	1.94
2046	1.54	1.93
2047	1.55	1.92
2048	1.55	1.91
2049	1.55	1.9
2050	1.55	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	North Macedonia	South Africa
1960	37.7%	42.1%
1961	37.8%	42.1%
1962	37.6%	42.1%
1963	37.2%	42.1%
1964	36.7%	42.1%
1965	36.3%	42.1%
1966	35.8%	42.1%
1967	35.2%	42.2%
1968	34.7%	42.2%
1969	34.1%	42.2%
1970	33.5%	42.3%
1971	33%	42.2%
1972	32.6%	42.2%
1973	32.2%	42.1%
1974	31.7%	42%
1975	31.3%	41.9%
1976	30.9%	41.8%
1977	30.6%	41.7%
1978	30.3%	41.5%
1979	29.9%	41.3%
1980	29.5%	40.9%
1981	29.1%	40.5%
1982	28.8%	40.1%
1983	28.5%	39.8%
1984	28.3%	39.5%
1985	28.1%	39.2%
1986	27.8%	38.9%
1987	27.6%	38.7%
1988	27.4%	38.4%
1989	27.1%	38.1%
1990	26.9%	37.7%
1991	26.5%	37.5%
1992	26.1%	37.6%
1993	25.7%	37.3%
1994	25.5%	37.2%
1995	25.4%	37.5%
1996	25.1%	37.5%
1997	24.8%	37.2%
1998	24.4%	36.5%
1999	23.9%	35.7%
2000	23.4%	34.9%
2001	22.9%	34%
2002	22.5%	33.2%
2003	22.1%	32.3%
2004	21.7%	31.6%
2005	21.2%	31.1%
2006	20.8%	30.6%
2007	20.4%	30.2%
2008	20%	29.9%
2009	19.7%	29.7%
2010	19.3%	29.4%
2011	19%	29.1%
2012	18.8%	28.9%
2013	18.6%	28.7%
2014	18.3%	28.5%
2015	18%	28.3%
2016	17.8%	28.3%
2017	17.5%	28.3%
2018	17.4%	27.9%
2019	17.2%	27.4%
2020	17.2%	27%
2021	17.2%	26.6%
2022	17.2%	26.3%
2023	17.1%	26.1%
2024	16.8%	25.9%
2025	16.5%	25.7%
2026	16.2%	25.6%
2027	15.9%	25.4%
2028	15.6%	25.3%
2029	15.3%	25.2%
2030	14.9%	25.2%
2031	14.6%	25.1%
2032	14.3%	25%
2033	14%	24.8%
2034	13.7%	24.5%
2035	13.5%	24.3%
2036	13.3%	23.9%
2037	13.1%	23.6%
2038	13%	23.4%
2039	13%	23.1%
2040	13%	22.9%
2041	12.9%	22.7%
2042	12.9%	22.5%
2043	13%	22.4%
2044	13%	22.2%
2045	13%	22.1%
2046	13%	21.9%
2047	13%	21.8%
2048	13.1%	21.7%
2049	13.1%	21.6%
2050	13.1%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 16.8% of the population in North Macedonia and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 26.9% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of North Macedonia and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in North Macedonia vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been -0.07% in North Macedonia and +1.05% in South Africa. 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	South Africa
1960	28,816	421,263
1961	27,846	437,851
1962	25,317	455,634
1963	28,124	473,821
1964	27,889	490,606
1965	28,564	506,632
1966	28,766	534,862
1967	28,401	553,741
1968	28,378	571,841
1969	27,464	590,794
1970	28,022	605,102
1971	28,010	624,761
1972	28,236	638,754
1973	28,032	651,596
1974	28,400	658,438
1975	28,983	667,862
1976	28,799	675,011
1977	27,410	680,929
1978	27,150	694,341
1979	27,096	716,541
1980	26,547	738,415
1981	25,689	767,833
1982	25,810	807,550
1983	24,690	837,013
1984	24,436	869,011
1985	24,167	893,889
1986	23,720	903,644
1987	24,359	922,330
1988	24,064	909,221
1989	22,912	884,629
1990	22,868	835,421
1991	23,387	827,296
1992	21,659	794,415
1993	20,797	789,220
1994	19,103	698,609
1995	17,239	743,488
1996	14,806	710,868
1997	12,979	667,969
1998	12,446	627,027
1999	10,489	594,643
2000	12,159	526,963
2001	10,174	484,801
2002	9,697	430,926
2003	8,900	415,018
2004	5,444	442,540
2005	4,011	464,464
2006	3,988	487,584
2007	2,974	503,567
2008	3,746	595,332
2009	4,309	554,115
2010	4,866	566,834
2011	3,100	601,708
2012	3,087	643,723
2013	3,653	652,427
2014	3,644	674,754
2015	2,294	668,771
2016	2,374	641,365
2017	1,329	645,975
2018	1,512	648,319
2019	-375	652,130
2020	-5,939	595,873
2021	-9,737	456,411
2022	-4,397	603,636
2023	-3,290	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: North Macedonia vs South Africa

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 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	North Macedonia	South Africa
1985	17	208
1986	16	200
1987	15	192
1988	16	184
1989	14	177
1990	16	170
1991	15	162
1992	14	152
1993	14	145
1994	13	133
1995	13	125
1996	14	150
1997	13	152
1998	13	152
1999	12	151
2000	11	175
2001	9	192
2002	10	225
2003	8	245
2004	8	259
2005	7	279
2006	7	283
2007	7	272
2008	6	272
2009	6	241
2010	5	226
2011	5	202
2012	5	194
2013	5	180
2014	4	162
2015	4	150
2016	4	141
2017	4	134
2018	3	128
2019	3	119
2020	7	118
2021	12	191
2022	3	129
2023	3	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.33% in North Macedonia and 3.47% in South Africa. 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	South Africa
1974	-	13.2%
1975	-	12.5%
1976	-	11.8%
1977	-	11.1%
1978	-	10.5%
1979	-	9.88%
1980	-	9.35%
1981	5.79%	8.84%
1982	5.53%	8.39%
1983	5.25%	7.98%
1984	5.06%	7.6%
1985	5%	7.24%
1986	4.91%	6.89%
1987	4.69%	6.56%
1988	4.36%	6.26%
1989	4.01%	6.01%
1990	3.7%	5.82%
1991	3.46%	5.7%
1992	3.3%	5.66%
1993	3.13%	5.7%
1994	2.85%	5.82%
1995	2.45%	5.95%
1996	2.12%	6.11%
1997	1.93%	6.29%
1998	1.83%	6.56%
1999	1.73%	6.85%
2000	1.59%	7.11%
2001	1.48%	7.43%
2002	1.43%	7.69%
2003	1.43%	7.93%
2004	1.42%	8.1%
2005	1.37%	8.03%
2006	1.3%	7.75%
2007	1.23%	7.19%
2008	1.17%	6.42%
2009	1.1%	5.7%
2010	1.04%	5%
2011	1%	4.5%
2012	1.02%	4.25%
2013	1.07%	4.1%
2014	1.11%	3.96%
2015	1.13%	3.82%
2016	1.08%	3.68%
2017	0.97%	3.58%
2018	0.83%	3.49%
2019	0.7%	3.45%
2020	0.59%	3.41%
2021	0.5%	3.41%
2022	0.41%	3.44%
2023	0.33%	3.47%