Fertility & birth rates in Papua New Guinea and South Africa

Fertility rate in Papua New Guinea vs South Africa chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Papua New Guinea was 3.1 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 Papua New Guinea 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
	Papua New Guinea	South Africa
1960	6.02	6.11
1961	6.07	6.08
1962	6.14	6.05
1963	6.15	6.01
1964	6.19	5.96
1965	6.2	5.89
1966	6.23	5.91
1967	6.24	5.85
1968	6.25	5.78
1969	6.26	5.72
1970	6.25	5.63
1971	6.23	5.57
1972	6.2	5.49
1973	6.16	5.41
1974	6.11	5.3
1975	6.07	5.19
1976	6.02	5.07
1977	5.96	4.94
1978	5.88	4.85
1979	5.79	4.82
1980	5.71	4.78
1981	5.65	4.71
1982	5.59	4.7
1983	5.56	4.63
1984	5.51	4.57
1985	5.47	4.5
1986	5.42	4.41
1987	5.36	4.35
1988	5.3	4.18
1989	5.24	3.98
1990	5.18	3.72
1991	5.11	3.62
1992	5.03	3.48
1993	4.96	3.37
1994	4.87	3.26
1995	4.78	3.17
1996	4.73	2.99
1997	4.68	2.73
1998	4.63	2.63
1999	4.59	2.56
2000	4.53	2.41
2001	4.47	2.37
2002	4.42	2.32
2003	4.36	2.36
2004	4.28	2.44
2005	4.22	2.51
2006	4.15	2.55
2007	4.08	2.55
2008	4.01	2.68
2009	3.94	2.5
2010	3.88	2.44
2011	3.82	2.44
2012	3.75	2.45
2013	3.68	2.43
2014	3.63	2.42
2015	3.56	2.36
2016	3.5	2.26
2017	3.43	2.28
2018	3.38	2.27
2019	3.32	2.26
2020	3.27	2.26
2021	3.22	2.25
2022	3.17	2.23
2023	3.1	2.22
2024	3.07	2.21
2025	3.03	2.19
2026	2.99	2.17
2027	2.95	2.15
2028	2.92	2.13
2029	2.88	2.12
2030	2.84	2.1
2031	2.81	2.09
2032	2.78	2.07
2033	2.75	2.06
2034	2.73	2.05
2035	2.69	2.04
2036	2.67	2.03
2037	2.64	2.02
2038	2.61	2
2039	2.59	1.99
2040	2.56	1.98
2041	2.54	1.98
2042	2.51	1.97
2043	2.49	1.96
2044	2.48	1.95
2045	2.46	1.94
2046	2.44	1.93
2047	2.42	1.92
2048	2.4	1.91
2049	2.38	1.9
2050	2.36	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Papua New Guinea	South Africa
1960	43.4%	42.1%
1961	43.7%	42.1%
1962	43.9%	42.1%
1963	44.2%	42.1%
1964	44.4%	42.1%
1965	44.6%	42.1%
1966	44.9%	42.1%
1967	45.1%	42.2%
1968	45.3%	42.2%
1969	45.6%	42.2%
1970	45.8%	42.3%
1971	46%	42.2%
1972	46%	42.2%
1973	45.9%	42.1%
1974	45.8%	42%
1975	45.5%	41.9%
1976	45.2%	41.8%
1977	44.9%	41.7%
1978	44.4%	41.5%
1979	44%	41.3%
1980	43.5%	40.9%
1981	43.2%	40.5%
1982	43%	40.1%
1983	42.9%	39.8%
1984	42.8%	39.5%
1985	42.6%	39.2%
1986	42.5%	38.9%
1987	42.4%	38.7%
1988	42.4%	38.4%
1989	42.3%	38.1%
1990	42.1%	37.7%
1991	41.9%	37.5%
1992	41.7%	37.6%
1993	41.5%	37.3%
1994	41.2%	37.2%
1995	41%	37.5%
1996	40.8%	37.5%
1997	40.6%	37.2%
1998	40.4%	36.5%
1999	40.2%	35.7%
2000	40%	34.9%
2001	39.8%	34%
2002	39.5%	33.2%
2003	39.3%	32.3%
2004	39%	31.6%
2005	38.8%	31.1%
2006	38.5%	30.6%
2007	38.3%	30.2%
2008	38%	29.9%
2009	37.7%	29.7%
2010	37.5%	29.4%
2011	37.2%	29.1%
2012	37%	28.9%
2013	36.7%	28.7%
2014	36.5%	28.5%
2015	36.2%	28.3%
2016	35.9%	28.3%
2017	35.6%	28.3%
2018	35.3%	27.9%
2019	35%	27.4%
2020	34.7%	27%
2021	34.4%	26.6%
2022	34.1%	26.3%
2023	33.8%	26.1%
2024	33.5%	25.9%
2025	33.1%	25.7%
2026	32.8%	25.6%
2027	32.5%	25.4%
2028	32.1%	25.3%
2029	31.8%	25.2%
2030	31.4%	25.2%
2031	31.1%	25.1%
2032	30.7%	25%
2033	30.4%	24.8%
2034	30.1%	24.5%
2035	29.7%	24.3%
2036	29.4%	23.9%
2037	29.1%	23.6%
2038	28.8%	23.4%
2039	28.5%	23.1%
2040	28.3%	22.9%
2041	28%	22.7%
2042	27.8%	22.5%
2043	27.5%	22.4%
2044	27.3%	22.2%
2045	27.1%	22.1%
2046	26.9%	21.9%
2047	26.7%	21.8%
2048	26.5%	21.7%
2049	26.3%	21.6%
2050	26.1%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 33.5% of the population in Papua New Guinea and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 42.1% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Papua New Guinea and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in Papua New Guinea vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2% in Papua New Guinea 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
	Papua New Guinea	South Africa
1960	56,326	421,263
1961	58,151	437,851
1962	59,974	455,634
1963	62,260	473,821
1964	64,558	490,606
1965	66,693	506,632
1966	69,206	534,862
1967	71,519	553,741
1968	73,983	571,841
1969	76,454	590,794
1970	78,712	605,102
1971	80,599	624,761
1972	82,672	638,754
1973	83,821	651,596
1974	84,829	658,438
1975	85,809	667,862
1976	86,965	675,011
1977	87,954	680,929
1978	88,747	694,341
1979	89,330	716,541
1980	90,266	738,415
1981	91,767	767,833
1982	93,522	807,550
1983	95,982	837,013
1984	98,103	869,011
1985	100,333	893,889
1986	102,346	903,644
1987	104,367	922,330
1988	106,256	909,221
1989	108,199	884,629
1990	110,033	835,421
1991	111,453	827,296
1992	114,818	794,415
1993	118,668	789,220
1994	122,113	698,609
1995	125,410	743,488
1996	129,802	710,868
1997	134,458	667,969
1998	136,677	627,027
1999	143,592	594,643
2000	147,496	526,963
2001	151,431	484,801
2002	155,091	430,926
2003	158,611	415,018
2004	161,023	442,540
2005	163,888	464,464
2006	166,540	487,584
2007	169,306	503,567
2008	172,823	595,332
2009	175,421	554,115
2010	178,998	566,834
2011	181,842	601,708
2012	183,658	643,723
2013	185,790	652,427
2014	187,592	674,754
2015	188,600	668,771
2016	189,281	641,365
2017	189,715	645,975
2018	190,662	648,319
2019	190,662	652,130
2020	189,130	595,873
2021	183,766	456,411
2022	186,861	603,636
2023	187,637	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: Papua New Guinea vs South Africa

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 189 deaths per 100,000 live births in Papua New Guinea, compared to 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Papua New Guinea	South Africa
1985	393	208
1986	386	200
1987	379	192
1988	377	184
1989	369	177
1990	360	170
1991	354	162
1992	340	152
1993	333	145
1994	324	133
1995	318	125
1996	316	150
1997	316	152
1998	325	152
1999	321	151
2000	323	175
2001	325	192
2002	329	225
2003	328	245
2004	326	259
2005	326	279
2006	325	283
2007	326	272
2008	315	272
2009	302	241
2010	289	226
2011	271	202
2012	257	194
2013	243	180
2014	232	162
2015	221	150
2016	214	141
2017	207	134
2018	205	128
2019	199	119
2020	194	118
2021	223	191
2022	189	129
2023	189	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 4.03% in Papua New Guinea 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
	Papua New Guinea	South Africa
1960	19.8%	-
1961	19.2%	-
1962	18.6%	-
1963	18%	-
1964	17.4%	-
1965	16.9%	-
1966	16.3%	-
1967	15.8%	-
1968	15.2%	-
1969	14.7%	-
1970	14.2%	-
1971	13.7%	-
1972	13.3%	-
1973	12.9%	-
1974	12.4%	13.2%
1975	12.1%	12.5%
1976	11.7%	11.8%
1977	11.3%	11.1%
1978	11%	10.5%
1979	10.7%	9.88%
1980	10.4%	9.35%
1981	10.2%	8.84%
1982	9.94%	8.39%
1983	9.71%	7.98%
1984	9.5%	7.6%
1985	9.3%	7.24%
1986	9.12%	6.89%
1987	8.96%	6.56%
1988	8.78%	6.26%
1989	8.63%	6.01%
1990	8.47%	5.82%
1991	8.31%	5.7%
1992	8.17%	5.66%
1993	8.03%	5.7%
1994	7.89%	5.82%
1995	7.77%	5.95%
1996	7.64%	6.11%
1997	7.52%	6.29%
1998	7.41%	6.56%
1999	7.3%	6.85%
2000	7.19%	7.11%
2001	7.08%	7.43%
2002	6.96%	7.69%
2003	6.84%	7.93%
2004	6.71%	8.1%
2005	6.58%	8.03%
2006	6.44%	7.75%
2007	6.31%	7.19%
2008	6.16%	6.42%
2009	6.02%	5.7%
2010	5.88%	5%
2011	5.73%	4.5%
2012	5.59%	4.25%
2013	5.44%	4.1%
2014	5.3%	3.96%
2015	5.17%	3.82%
2016	5.02%	3.68%
2017	4.87%	3.58%
2018	4.72%	3.49%
2019	4.59%	3.45%
2020	4.45%	3.41%
2021	4.31%	3.41%
2022	4.17%	3.44%
2023	4.03%	3.47%