Fertility & birth rates in Romania and South Africa

Fertility rate in Romania vs South Africa chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Romania was 1.71 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 Romania 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
	Romania	South Africa
1960	2.34	6.11
1961	2.17	6.08
1962	2.04	6.05
1963	2.01	6.01
1964	1.96	5.96
1965	1.91	5.89
1966	1.9	5.91
1967	3.66	5.85
1968	3.63	5.78
1969	3.19	5.72
1970	2.89	5.63
1971	2.67	5.57
1972	2.55	5.49
1973	2.44	5.41
1974	2.71	5.3
1975	2.59	5.19
1976	2.54	5.07
1977	2.57	4.94
1978	2.52	4.85
1979	2.49	4.82
1980	2.43	4.78
1981	2.36	4.71
1982	2.17	4.7
1983	2.06	4.63
1984	2.26	4.57
1985	2.31	4.5
1986	2.39	4.41
1987	2.38	4.35
1988	2.3	4.18
1989	2.22	3.98
1990	1.83	3.72
1991	1.59	3.62
1992	1.51	3.48
1993	1.43	3.37
1994	1.4	3.26
1995	1.33	3.17
1996	1.3	2.99
1997	1.32	2.73
1998	1.32	2.63
1999	1.3	2.56
2000	1.31	2.41
2001	1.27	2.37
2002	1.27	2.32
2003	1.3	2.36
2004	1.33	2.44
2005	1.4	2.51
2006	1.42	2.55
2007	1.45	2.55
2008	1.6	2.68
2009	1.66	2.5
2010	1.59	2.44
2011	1.47	2.44
2012	1.52	2.45
2013	1.46	2.43
2014	1.56	2.42
2015	1.62	2.36
2016	1.69	2.26
2017	1.78	2.28
2018	1.76	2.27
2019	1.77	2.26
2020	1.8	2.26
2021	1.81	2.25
2022	1.71	2.23
2023	1.71	2.22
2024	1.71	2.21
2025	1.71	2.19
2026	1.7	2.17
2027	1.7	2.15
2028	1.7	2.13
2029	1.7	2.12
2030	1.7	2.1
2031	1.7	2.09
2032	1.7	2.07
2033	1.69	2.06
2034	1.69	2.05
2035	1.69	2.04
2036	1.69	2.03
2037	1.69	2.02
2038	1.69	2
2039	1.69	1.99
2040	1.69	1.98
2041	1.68	1.98
2042	1.68	1.97
2043	1.68	1.96
2044	1.68	1.95
2045	1.68	1.94
2046	1.68	1.93
2047	1.68	1.92
2048	1.68	1.91
2049	1.68	1.9
2050	1.68	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Romania	South Africa
1960	28.1%	42.1%
1961	28%	42.1%
1962	27.7%	42.1%
1963	27.3%	42.1%
1964	26.7%	42.1%
1965	26%	42.1%
1966	25.2%	42.1%
1967	25%	42.2%
1968	25.1%	42.2%
1969	25.1%	42.2%
1970	25.1%	42.3%
1971	24.9%	42.2%
1972	24.9%	42.2%
1973	24.9%	42.1%
1974	25.1%	42%
1975	25.3%	41.9%
1976	25.7%	41.8%
1977	26%	41.7%
1978	26.3%	41.5%
1979	26.5%	41.3%
1980	26.8%	40.9%
1981	27.1%	40.5%
1982	26.8%	40.1%
1983	25.9%	39.8%
1984	25.1%	39.5%
1985	24.6%	39.2%
1986	24.3%	38.9%
1987	24%	38.7%
1988	23.9%	38.4%
1989	23.7%	38.1%
1990	23.3%	37.7%
1991	22.8%	37.5%
1992	22.2%	37.6%
1993	21.6%	37.3%
1994	21%	37.2%
1995	20.5%	37.5%
1996	20%	37.5%
1997	19.6%	37.2%
1998	19.3%	36.5%
1999	19.1%	35.7%
2000	18.6%	34.9%
2001	18.1%	34%
2002	17.5%	33.2%
2003	16.9%	32.3%
2004	16.4%	31.6%
2005	16%	31.1%
2006	15.8%	30.6%
2007	15.7%	30.2%
2008	15.7%	29.9%
2009	15.7%	29.7%
2010	15.7%	29.4%
2011	15.8%	29.1%
2012	15.7%	28.9%
2013	15.7%	28.7%
2014	15.7%	28.5%
2015	15.7%	28.3%
2016	15.7%	28.3%
2017	15.8%	28.3%
2018	15.9%	27.9%
2019	16%	27.4%
2020	16.1%	27%
2021	16.1%	26.6%
2022	16%	26.3%
2023	15.9%	26.1%
2024	15.7%	25.9%
2025	15.6%	25.7%
2026	15.4%	25.6%
2027	15.3%	25.4%
2028	15.2%	25.3%
2029	15.1%	25.2%
2030	15%	25.2%
2031	14.9%	25.1%
2032	14.7%	25%
2033	14.6%	24.8%
2034	14.4%	24.5%
2035	14.4%	24.3%
2036	14.3%	23.9%
2037	14.3%	23.6%
2038	14.3%	23.4%
2039	14.2%	23.1%
2040	14.2%	22.9%
2041	14.3%	22.7%
2042	14.3%	22.5%
2043	14.3%	22.4%
2044	14.3%	22.2%
2045	14.4%	22.1%
2046	14.4%	21.9%
2047	14.4%	21.8%
2048	14.4%	21.7%
2049	14.4%	21.6%
2050	14.4%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 15.7% of the population in Romania and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 23.3% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Romania and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in Romania vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been -0.4% in Romania 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
	Romania	South Africa
1960	191,431	421,263
1961	163,286	437,851
1962	130,736	455,634
1963	139,104	473,821
1964	134,326	490,606
1965	114,190	506,632
1966	115,293	534,862
1967	347,709	553,741
1968	338,577	571,841
1969	264,120	590,794
1970	234,905	605,102
1971	206,662	624,761
1972	198,316	638,754
1973	175,020	651,596
1974	235,530	658,438
1975	219,324	667,862
1976	213,361	675,011
1977	215,385	680,929
1978	204,148	694,341
1979	194,397	716,541
1980	168,776	738,415
1981	156,472	767,833
1982	119,121	807,550
1983	87,986	837,013
1984	117,731	869,011
1985	111,392	893,889
1986	134,737	903,644
1987	128,517	922,330
1988	126,817	909,221
1989	122,756	884,629
1990	69,605	835,421
1991	25,301	827,296
1992	-4,559	794,415
1993	-13,658	789,220
1994	-18,184	698,609
1995	-36,295	743,488
1996	-56,548	710,868
1997	-42,853	667,969
1998	-33,761	627,027
1999	-31,461	594,643
2000	-22,443	526,963
2001	-37,625	484,801
2002	-58,673	430,926
2003	-56,093	415,018
2004	-42,904	442,540
2005	-40,508	464,464
2006	-38,148	487,584
2007	-37,590	503,567
2008	-30,806	595,332
2009	-34,625	554,115
2010	-46,567	566,834
2011	-56,413	601,708
2012	-54,157	643,723
2013	-59,951	652,427
2014	-55,745	674,754
2015	-59,447	668,771
2016	-53,196	641,365
2017	-50,930	645,975
2018	-62,316	648,319
2019	-60,053	652,130
2020	-100,179	595,873
2021	-141,504	456,411
2022	-93,338	603,636
2023	-89,580	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: Romania vs South Africa

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 12 deaths per 100,000 live births in Romania, compared to 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Romania	South Africa
1985	184	208
1986	180	200
1987	173	192
1988	159	184
1989	143	177
1990	118	170
1991	104	162
1992	95	152
1993	87	145
1994	80	133
1995	75	125
1996	72	150
1997	66	152
1998	58	152
1999	51	151
2000	45	175
2001	41	192
2002	38	225
2003	35	245
2004	32	259
2005	30	279
2006	27	283
2007	25	272
2008	25	272
2009	25	241
2010	23	226
2011	20	202
2012	19	194
2013	18	180
2014	18	162
2015	18	150
2016	17	141
2017	17	134
2018	15	128
2019	14	119
2020	16	118
2021	20	191
2022	13	129
2023	12	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.66% in Romania 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
	Romania	South Africa
1960	8.82%	-
1961	7.98%	-
1962	6.98%	-
1963	6.03%	-
1964	5.45%	-
1965	5.44%	-
1966	5.83%	-
1967	6.27%	-
1968	6.44%	-
1969	6.23%	-
1970	5.69%	-
1971	5.06%	-
1972	4.64%	-
1973	4.49%	-
1974	4.43%	13.2%
1975	4.27%	12.5%
1976	4.05%	11.8%
1977	3.86%	11.1%
1978	3.76%	10.5%
1979	3.68%	9.88%
1980	3.57%	9.35%
1981	3.44%	8.84%
1982	3.28%	8.39%
1983	3.14%	7.98%
1984	3.08%	7.6%
1985	3.16%	7.24%
1986	3.33%	6.89%
1987	3.45%	6.56%
1988	3.43%	6.26%
1989	3.31%	6.01%
1990	3.14%	5.82%
1991	2.97%	5.7%
1992	2.84%	5.66%
1993	2.79%	5.7%
1994	2.76%	5.82%
1995	2.73%	5.95%
1996	2.68%	6.11%
1997	2.58%	6.29%
1998	2.44%	6.56%
1999	2.29%	6.85%
2000	2.16%	7.11%
2001	2.06%	7.43%
2002	2.01%	7.69%
2003	1.99%	7.93%
2004	1.94%	8.1%
2005	1.82%	8.03%
2006	1.66%	7.75%
2007	1.51%	7.19%
2008	1.4%	6.42%
2009	1.31%	5.7%
2010	1.24%	5%
2011	1.18%	4.5%
2012	1.12%	4.25%
2013	1.05%	4.1%
2014	0.99%	3.96%
2015	0.92%	3.82%
2016	0.85%	3.68%
2017	0.79%	3.58%
2018	0.73%	3.49%
2019	0.68%	3.45%
2020	0.66%	3.41%
2021	0.65%	3.41%
2022	0.66%	3.44%
2023	0.66%	3.47%