Fertility & birth rates in Somalia and South Africa

Fertility rate in Somalia vs South Africa chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Somalia was 6.13 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 Somalia 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
	Somalia	South Africa
1960	7.25	6.11
1961	7.25	6.08
1962	7.26	6.05
1963	7.26	6.01
1964	7.26	5.96
1965	7.26	5.89
1966	7.26	5.91
1967	7.25	5.85
1968	7.23	5.78
1969	7.21	5.72
1970	7.18	5.63
1971	7.15	5.57
1972	7.12	5.49
1973	7.09	5.41
1974	7.06	5.3
1975	7.03	5.19
1976	7.02	5.07
1977	7	4.94
1978	7.13	4.85
1979	7.16	4.82
1980	7.18	4.78
1981	7.23	4.71
1982	7.25	4.7
1983	7.28	4.63
1984	7.3	4.57
1985	7.33	4.5
1986	7.35	4.41
1987	7.37	4.35
1988	7.4	4.18
1989	7.42	3.98
1990	7.44	3.72
1991	7.47	3.62
1992	7.5	3.48
1993	7.53	3.37
1994	7.54	3.26
1995	7.58	3.17
1996	7.62	2.99
1997	7.66	2.73
1998	7.66	2.63
1999	7.66	2.56
2000	7.65	2.41
2001	7.64	2.37
2002	7.63	2.32
2003	7.6	2.36
2004	7.57	2.44
2005	7.53	2.51
2006	7.49	2.55
2007	7.46	2.55
2008	7.42	2.68
2009	7.38	2.5
2010	7.32	2.44
2011	7.27	2.44
2012	7.21	2.45
2013	7.14	2.43
2014	7.06	2.42
2015	6.98	2.36
2016	6.88	2.26
2017	6.77	2.28
2018	6.66	2.27
2019	6.56	2.26
2020	6.45	2.26
2021	6.35	2.25
2022	6.26	2.23
2023	6.13	2.22
2024	6.01	2.21
2025	5.91	2.19
2026	5.8	2.17
2027	5.68	2.15
2028	5.58	2.13
2029	5.47	2.12
2030	5.35	2.1
2031	5.25	2.09
2032	5.14	2.07
2033	5.04	2.06
2034	4.94	2.05
2035	4.84	2.04
2036	4.74	2.03
2037	4.63	2.02
2038	4.52	2
2039	4.44	1.99
2040	4.35	1.98
2041	4.26	1.98
2042	4.16	1.97
2043	4.07	1.96
2044	3.99	1.95
2045	3.91	1.94
2046	3.84	1.93
2047	3.78	1.92
2048	3.71	1.91
2049	3.65	1.9
2050	3.6	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Somalia	South Africa
1960	44.4%	42.1%
1961	44.7%	42.1%
1962	44.8%	42.1%
1963	45%	42.1%
1964	45.1%	42.1%
1965	45.1%	42.1%
1966	44.9%	42.1%
1967	44.8%	42.2%
1968	44.7%	42.2%
1969	44.6%	42.2%
1970	44.5%	42.3%
1971	44.5%	42.2%
1972	44.4%	42.2%
1973	44.4%	42.1%
1974	44.4%	42%
1975	44.3%	41.9%
1976	44.3%	41.8%
1977	44.3%	41.7%
1978	44.4%	41.5%
1979	44.5%	41.3%
1980	44.6%	40.9%
1981	44.8%	40.5%
1982	45%	40.1%
1983	45.2%	39.8%
1984	45.4%	39.5%
1985	45.6%	39.2%
1986	45.8%	38.9%
1987	46%	38.7%
1988	46.3%	38.4%
1989	46.7%	38.1%
1990	47%	37.7%
1991	47%	37.5%
1992	46.5%	37.6%
1993	46.4%	37.3%
1994	46.5%	37.2%
1995	46.7%	37.5%
1996	46.9%	37.5%
1997	47%	37.2%
1998	47.1%	36.5%
1999	47.2%	35.7%
2000	47.4%	34.9%
2001	47.5%	34%
2002	47.6%	33.2%
2003	47.7%	32.3%
2004	47.9%	31.6%
2005	48.2%	31.1%
2006	48.6%	30.6%
2007	48.9%	30.2%
2008	48.9%	29.9%
2009	48.8%	29.7%
2010	48.7%	29.4%
2011	48.3%	29.1%
2012	47.9%	28.9%
2013	47.8%	28.7%
2014	47.7%	28.5%
2015	47.6%	28.3%
2016	47.5%	28.3%
2017	47.4%	28.3%
2018	47.3%	27.9%
2019	47.1%	27.4%
2020	47%	27%
2021	47%	26.6%
2022	46.8%	26.3%
2023	46.7%	26.1%
2024	46.6%	25.9%
2025	46.6%	25.7%
2026	46.5%	25.6%
2027	46.4%	25.4%
2028	46.1%	25.3%
2029	45.8%	25.2%
2030	45.4%	25.2%
2031	45.1%	25.1%
2032	44.7%	25%
2033	44.3%	24.8%
2034	43.9%	24.5%
2035	43.5%	24.3%
2036	43.1%	23.9%
2037	42.6%	23.6%
2038	42.1%	23.4%
2039	41.7%	23.1%
2040	41.2%	22.9%
2041	40.8%	22.7%
2042	40.3%	22.5%
2043	39.9%	22.4%
2044	39.4%	22.2%
2045	39%	22.1%
2046	38.6%	21.9%
2047	38.2%	21.8%
2048	37.8%	21.7%
2049	37.4%	21.6%
2050	37%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 46.6% of the population in Somalia and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 47% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Somalia and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in Somalia vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +3.34% in Somalia 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
	Somalia	South Africa
1960	73,850	421,263
1961	75,513	437,851
1962	77,737	455,634
1963	79,859	473,821
1964	82,042	490,606
1965	84,448	506,632
1966	86,930	534,862
1967	89,497	553,741
1968	92,208	571,841
1969	95,045	590,794
1970	98,025	605,102
1971	101,196	624,761
1972	104,493	638,754
1973	108,038	651,596
1974	104,813	658,438
1975	108,998	667,862
1976	113,319	675,011
1977	124,818	680,929
1978	132,689	694,341
1979	151,016	716,541
1980	174,790	738,415
1981	185,211	767,833
1982	182,793	807,550
1983	190,775	837,013
1984	199,017	869,011
1985	207,960	893,889
1986	218,416	903,644
1987	231,580	922,330
1988	215,599	909,221
1989	225,255	884,629
1990	225,162	835,421
1991	53,052	827,296
1992	57,495	794,415
1993	232,960	789,220
1994	246,950	698,609
1995	254,509	743,488
1996	264,807	710,868
1997	271,894	667,969
1998	284,779	627,027
1999	295,523	594,643
2000	306,651	526,963
2001	319,059	484,801
2002	331,215	430,926
2003	341,192	415,018
2004	351,959	442,540
2005	363,117	464,464
2006	372,597	487,584
2007	380,303	503,567
2008	394,258	595,332
2009	405,784	554,115
2010	385,571	566,834
2011	203,213	601,708
2012	399,468	643,723
2013	448,518	652,427
2014	464,481	674,754
2015	481,573	668,771
2016	495,132	641,365
2017	478,556	645,975
2018	514,244	648,319
2019	548,756	652,130
2020	561,311	595,873
2021	566,399	456,411
2022	551,450	603,636
2023	608,203	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: Somalia vs South Africa

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 563 deaths per 100,000 live births in Somalia, compared to 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Somalia	South Africa
1985	1,465	208
1986	1,452	200
1987	1,393	192
1988	1,423	184
1989	1,395	177
1990	1,358	170
1991	1,431	162
1992	1,339	152
1993	1,195	145
1994	1,254	133
1995	1,210	125
1996	1,225	150
1997	1,206	152
1998	1,177	152
1999	1,170	151
2000	1,150	175
2001	1,129	192
2002	1,121	225
2003	1,111	245
2004	1,104	259
2005	1,086	279
2006	1,085	283
2007	1,074	272
2008	1,035	272
2009	995	241
2010	1,062	226
2011	972	202
2012	894	194
2013	855	180
2014	816	162
2015	784	150
2016	754	141
2017	716	134
2018	727	128
2019	656	119
2020	655	118
2021	726	191
2022	622	129
2023	563	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 10.4% in Somalia 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
	Somalia	South Africa
1974	-	13.2%
1975	-	12.5%
1976	-	11.8%
1977	-	11.1%
1978	-	10.5%
1979	-	9.88%
1980	-	9.35%
1981	-	8.84%
1982	20.1%	8.39%
1983	19.8%	7.98%
1984	19.5%	7.6%
1985	19.3%	7.24%
1986	19%	6.89%
1987	18.8%	6.56%
1988	18.6%	6.26%
1989	18.3%	6.01%
1990	18%	5.82%
1991	44.3%	5.7%
1992	45.6%	5.66%
1993	17.3%	5.7%
1994	17.2%	5.82%
1995	17.2%	5.95%
1996	17.2%	6.11%
1997	17.2%	6.29%
1998	17.2%	6.56%
1999	17.2%	6.85%
2000	17.2%	7.11%
2001	17.2%	7.43%
2002	17.2%	7.69%
2003	17.2%	7.93%
2004	17.2%	8.1%
2005	17.2%	8.03%
2006	17.2%	7.75%
2007	17%	7.19%
2008	16.6%	6.42%
2009	16.2%	5.7%
2010	18.6%	5%
2011	35.9%	4.5%
2012	18.4%	4.25%
2013	14.3%	4.1%
2014	13.8%	3.96%
2015	13.4%	3.82%
2016	13%	3.68%
2017	15.5%	3.58%
2018	13.6%	3.49%
2019	11.8%	3.45%
2020	11.4%	3.41%
2021	11.1%	3.41%
2022	14.3%	3.44%
2023	10.4%	3.47%