Fertility & birth rates in Solomon Islands and South Africa

Fertility rate in Solomon Islands vs South Africa chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in the Solomon Islands was 3.56 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 the Solomon Islands 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
	Solomon Islands	South Africa
1960	7.07	6.11
1961	7.05	6.08
1962	7.04	6.05
1963	7.03	6.01
1964	7.05	5.96
1965	7.02	5.89
1966	7	5.91
1967	6.97	5.85
1968	6.95	5.78
1969	6.97	5.72
1970	6.98	5.63
1971	6.99	5.57
1972	6.99	5.49
1973	7	5.41
1974	7.01	5.3
1975	6.99	5.19
1976	6.95	5.07
1977	6.92	4.94
1978	6.87	4.85
1979	6.82	4.82
1980	6.77	4.78
1981	6.71	4.71
1982	6.64	4.7
1983	6.57	4.63
1984	6.49	4.57
1985	6.38	4.5
1986	6.26	4.41
1987	6.12	4.35
1988	5.99	4.18
1989	5.87	3.98
1990	5.74	3.72
1991	5.62	3.62
1992	5.51	3.48
1993	5.45	3.37
1994	5.4	3.26
1995	5.34	3.17
1996	5.22	2.99
1997	5.09	2.73
1998	4.98	2.63
1999	4.86	2.56
2000	4.76	2.41
2001	4.67	2.37
2002	4.6	2.32
2003	4.54	2.36
2004	4.47	2.44
2005	4.41	2.51
2006	4.39	2.55
2007	4.37	2.55
2008	4.36	2.68
2009	4.35	2.5
2010	4.34	2.44
2011	4.34	2.44
2012	4.33	2.45
2013	4.33	2.43
2014	4.36	2.42
2015	4.29	2.36
2016	4.2	2.26
2017	4.06	2.28
2018	3.93	2.27
2019	3.8	2.26
2020	3.75	2.26
2021	3.69	2.25
2022	3.62	2.23
2023	3.56	2.22
2024	3.51	2.21
2025	3.47	2.19
2026	3.42	2.17
2027	3.37	2.15
2028	3.32	2.13
2029	3.28	2.12
2030	3.24	2.1
2031	3.2	2.09
2032	3.16	2.07
2033	3.12	2.06
2034	3.08	2.05
2035	3.04	2.04
2036	3	2.03
2037	2.97	2.02
2038	2.94	2
2039	2.91	1.99
2040	2.88	1.98
2041	2.84	1.98
2042	2.82	1.97
2043	2.79	1.96
2044	2.76	1.95
2045	2.73	1.94
2046	2.71	1.93
2047	2.68	1.92
2048	2.66	1.91
2049	2.63	1.9
2050	2.61	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Solomon Islands	South Africa
1960	46.3%	42.1%
1961	46.1%	42.1%
1962	46%	42.1%
1963	45.9%	42.1%
1964	45.8%	42.1%
1965	45.9%	42.1%
1966	46%	42.1%
1967	46.2%	42.2%
1968	46.4%	42.2%
1969	46.6%	42.2%
1970	46.7%	42.3%
1971	46.8%	42.2%
1972	46.9%	42.2%
1973	47.1%	42.1%
1974	47.5%	42%
1975	47.9%	41.9%
1976	48.2%	41.8%
1977	48.3%	41.7%
1978	48.3%	41.5%
1979	48.3%	41.3%
1980	48.3%	40.9%
1981	48.2%	40.5%
1982	48.1%	40.1%
1983	47.9%	39.8%
1984	47.8%	39.5%
1985	47.5%	39.2%
1986	47.3%	38.9%
1987	46.9%	38.7%
1988	46.6%	38.4%
1989	46.2%	38.1%
1990	45.8%	37.7%
1991	45.4%	37.5%
1992	45.1%	37.6%
1993	44.8%	37.3%
1994	44.5%	37.2%
1995	44.3%	37.5%
1996	44%	37.5%
1997	43.8%	37.2%
1998	43.5%	36.5%
1999	43.2%	35.7%
2000	42.9%	34.9%
2001	42.5%	34%
2002	42.2%	33.2%
2003	41.9%	32.3%
2004	41.7%	31.6%
2005	41.5%	31.1%
2006	41.3%	30.6%
2007	41.2%	30.2%
2008	41.2%	29.9%
2009	41.1%	29.7%
2010	41%	29.4%
2011	40.8%	29.1%
2012	40.7%	28.9%
2013	40.4%	28.7%
2014	40.2%	28.5%
2015	40%	28.3%
2016	39.7%	28.3%
2017	39.4%	28.3%
2018	39%	27.9%
2019	38.7%	27.4%
2020	38.4%	27%
2021	38.1%	26.6%
2022	37.7%	26.3%
2023	37.4%	26.1%
2024	37%	25.9%
2025	36.6%	25.7%
2026	36.1%	25.6%
2027	35.7%	25.4%
2028	35.2%	25.3%
2029	34.7%	25.2%
2030	34.3%	25.2%
2031	33.9%	25.1%
2032	33.5%	25%
2033	33.2%	24.8%
2034	32.9%	24.5%
2035	32.7%	24.3%
2036	32.4%	23.9%
2037	32.2%	23.6%
2038	31.9%	23.4%
2039	31.7%	23.1%
2040	31.5%	22.9%
2041	31.2%	22.7%
2042	31%	22.5%
2043	30.7%	22.4%
2044	30.4%	22.2%
2045	30.2%	22.1%
2046	29.9%	21.9%
2047	29.6%	21.8%
2048	29.3%	21.7%
2049	29%	21.6%
2050	28.7%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 37% of the population in the Solomon Islands and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 45.8% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of the Solomon Islands and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in Solomon Islands vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +2.38% in the Solomon Islands 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
	Solomon Islands	South Africa
1960	4,119	421,263
1961	4,257	437,851
1962	4,408	455,634
1963	4,571	473,821
1964	4,747	490,606
1965	4,885	506,632
1966	5,028	534,862
1967	5,151	553,741
1968	5,285	571,841
1969	5,444	590,794
1970	5,575	605,102
1971	5,814	624,761
1972	6,074	638,754
1973	6,343	651,596
1974	6,612	658,438
1975	6,635	667,862
1976	7,058	675,011
1977	7,290	680,929
1978	7,598	694,341
1979	7,874	716,541
1980	8,156	738,415
1981	8,436	767,833
1982	8,720	807,550
1983	9,011	837,013
1984	9,299	869,011
1985	9,534	893,889
1986	9,656	903,644
1987	9,943	922,330
1988	10,142	909,221
1989	10,354	884,629
1990	10,561	835,421
1991	10,789	827,296
1992	11,029	794,415
1993	11,396	789,220
1994	11,771	698,609
1995	12,124	743,488
1996	12,328	710,868
1997	12,478	667,969
1998	12,658	627,027
1999	12,809	594,643
2000	12,938	526,963
2001	13,061	484,801
2002	13,195	430,926
2003	13,344	415,018
2004	13,444	442,540
2005	13,568	464,464
2006	13,799	487,584
2007	13,963	503,567
2008	14,225	595,332
2009	14,381	554,115
2010	14,604	566,834
2011	15,095	601,708
2012	15,585	643,723
2013	16,038	652,427
2014	16,652	674,754
2015	16,909	668,771
2016	17,027	641,365
2017	16,897	645,975
2018	16,790	648,319
2019	16,649	652,130
2020	16,488	595,873
2021	16,626	456,411
2022	17,253	603,636
2023	17,436	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: Solomon Islands vs South Africa

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 123 deaths per 100,000 live births in the Solomon Islands, compared to 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Solomon Islands	South Africa
1985	209	208
1986	226	200
1987	200	192
1988	193	184
1989	188	177
1990	184	170
1991	178	162
1992	174	152
1993	173	145
1994	170	133
1995	168	125
1996	166	150
1997	164	152
1998	165	152
1999	164	151
2000	166	175
2001	167	192
2002	168	225
2003	167	245
2004	164	259
2005	161	279
2006	159	283
2007	163	272
2008	153	272
2009	152	241
2010	148	226
2011	147	202
2012	146	194
2013	147	180
2014	147	162
2015	146	150
2016	143	141
2017	140	134
2018	136	128
2019	135	119
2020	131	118
2021	153	191
2022	126	129
2023	123	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 2.06% in the Solomon Islands 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
	Solomon Islands	South Africa
1960	16.7%	-
1961	16%	-
1962	15.4%	-
1963	14.7%	-
1964	14%	-
1965	13.3%	-
1966	12.7%	-
1967	12%	-
1968	11.3%	-
1969	10.6%	-
1970	9.94%	-
1971	9.29%	-
1972	8.69%	-
1973	8.12%	-
1974	7.6%	13.2%
1975	7.9%	12.5%
1976	6.68%	11.8%
1977	6.29%	11.1%
1978	5.95%	10.5%
1979	5.64%	9.88%
1980	5.38%	9.35%
1981	5.14%	8.84%
1982	4.93%	8.39%
1983	4.74%	7.98%
1984	4.58%	7.6%
1985	4.42%	7.24%
1986	4.28%	6.89%
1987	4.16%	6.56%
1988	4.04%	6.26%
1989	3.93%	6.01%
1990	3.82%	5.82%
1991	3.72%	5.7%
1992	3.62%	5.66%
1993	3.52%	5.7%
1994	3.43%	5.82%
1995	3.35%	5.95%
1996	3.27%	6.11%
1997	3.21%	6.29%
1998	3.16%	6.56%
1999	3.11%	6.85%
2000	3.07%	7.11%
2001	3.03%	7.43%
2002	2.99%	7.69%
2003	2.97%	7.93%
2004	2.94%	8.1%
2005	2.91%	8.03%
2006	2.88%	7.75%
2007	2.85%	7.19%
2008	2.81%	6.42%
2009	2.76%	5.7%
2010	2.72%	5%
2011	2.67%	4.5%
2012	2.62%	4.25%
2013	2.58%	4.1%
2014	2.53%	3.96%
2015	2.49%	3.82%
2016	2.45%	3.68%
2017	2.41%	3.58%
2018	2.36%	3.49%
2019	2.3%	3.45%
2020	2.24%	3.41%
2021	2.18%	3.41%
2022	2.12%	3.44%
2023	2.06%	3.47%