South Africa birth & fertility rate charts by year

Fertility rate in South Africa chart

According to the latest birth rate data available, the fertility rate in South Africa is 2.22, which is above the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. In 1993, the fertility rate was 3.37 — a -34.3% decline in 30 years.

Check population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases the historical changes in birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	South Africa	World
1960	6.11	4.69
1961	6.08	4.56
1962	6.05	5.02
1963	6.01	5.31
1964	5.96	5.13
1965	5.89	5.08
1966	5.91	4.97
1967	5.85	4.87
1968	5.78	4.98
1969	5.72	4.88
1970	5.63	4.84
1971	5.57	4.69
1972	5.49	4.55
1973	5.41	4.42
1974	5.3	4.26
1975	5.19	4.07
1976	5.07	3.97
1977	4.94	3.84
1978	4.85	3.77
1979	4.82	3.76
1980	4.78	3.73
1981	4.71	3.71
1982	4.7	3.72
1983	4.63	3.59
1984	4.57	3.57
1985	4.5	3.53
1986	4.41	3.51
1987	4.35	3.48
1988	4.18	3.39
1989	3.98	3.35
1990	3.72	3.31
1991	3.62	3.13
1992	3.48	3.04
1993	3.37	2.97
1994	3.26	2.92
1995	3.17	2.87
1996	2.99	2.82
1997	2.73	2.78
1998	2.63	2.75
1999	2.56	2.72
2000	2.41	2.73
2001	2.37	2.69
2002	2.32	2.66
2003	2.36	2.64
2004	2.44	2.63
2005	2.51	2.61
2006	2.55	2.61
2007	2.55	2.6
2008	2.68	2.6
2009	2.5	2.59
2010	2.44	2.57
2011	2.44	2.55
2012	2.45	2.56
2013	2.43	2.53
2014	2.42	2.52
2015	2.36	2.49
2016	2.26	2.49
2017	2.28	2.46
2018	2.27	2.39
2019	2.26	2.35
2020	2.26	2.28
2021	2.25	2.25
2022	2.23	2.22
2023	2.22	2.2
2024	2.21	2.19
2025	2.19	2.18
2026	2.17	2.18
2027	2.15	2.17
2028	2.13	2.16
2029	2.12	2.15
2030	2.1	2.14
2031	2.09	2.13
2032	2.07	2.12
2033	2.06	2.12
2034	2.05	2.11
2035	2.04	2.1
2036	2.03	2.09
2037	2.02	2.09
2038	2	2.08
2039	1.99	2.08
2040	1.98	2.08
2041	1.98	2.07
2042	1.97	2.07
2043	1.96	2.07
2044	1.95	2.07
2045	1.94	2.06
2046	1.93	2.06
2047	1.92	2.06
2048	1.91	2.05
2049	1.9	2.05
2050	1.89	2.05

Birth rates by women ages chart

In 2025, of all live births 12% were to women under 20 years old, 48% to women ages 20-29, and 40% to women ages 30 and above. In comparison, the percentages in 1990 were 15.9%, 52.4%, and 31.7% for the same age groups respectively. A chart displaying the historical birth rates in South Africa by maternal age is provided below.

Annual births per 1,000 women ages

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Children 0-14 as share of population
	South Africa	World
1960	42.1%	37.4%
1961	42.1%	37.5%
1962	42.1%	37.6%
1963	42.1%	37.8%
1964	42.1%	38%
1965	42.1%	38%
1966	42.1%	38%
1967	42.2%	38%
1968	42.2%	37.9%
1969	42.2%	37.8%
1970	42.3%	37.7%
1971	42.2%	37.6%
1972	42.2%	37.5%
1973	42.1%	37.3%
1974	42%	37.2%
1975	41.9%	37.1%
1976	41.8%	36.9%
1977	41.7%	36.7%
1978	41.5%	36.3%
1979	41.3%	35.9%
1980	40.9%	35.5%
1981	40.5%	35.2%
1982	40.1%	34.9%
1983	39.8%	34.6%
1984	39.5%	34.3%
1985	39.2%	34%
1986	38.9%	33.8%
1987	38.7%	33.6%
1988	38.4%	33.4%
1989	38.1%	33.2%
1990	37.7%	33%
1991	37.5%	32.9%
1992	37.6%	32.7%
1993	37.3%	32.5%
1994	37.2%	32.3%
1995	37.5%	32.1%
1996	37.5%	31.8%
1997	37.2%	31.5%
1998	36.5%	31.1%
1999	35.7%	30.8%
2000	34.9%	30.4%
2001	34%	30%
2002	33.2%	29.6%
2003	32.3%	29.2%
2004	31.6%	28.8%
2005	31.1%	28.5%
2006	30.6%	28.1%
2007	30.2%	27.9%
2008	29.9%	27.6%
2009	29.7%	27.5%
2010	29.4%	27.3%
2011	29.1%	27.1%
2012	28.9%	27%
2013	28.7%	26.9%
2014	28.5%	26.8%
2015	28.3%	26.6%
2016	28.3%	26.5%
2017	28.3%	26.4%
2018	27.9%	26.2%
2019	27.4%	26%
2020	27%	25.8%
2021	26.6%	25.6%
2022	26.3%	25.3%
2023	26.1%	25%
2024	25.9%	24.7%
2025	25.7%	24.4%
2026	25.6%	24.1%
2027	25.4%	23.8%
2028	25.3%	23.4%
2029	25.2%	23.1%
2030	25.2%	22.8%
2031	25.1%	22.6%
2032	25%	22.3%
2033	24.8%	22.1%
2034	24.5%	21.9%
2035	24.3%	21.7%
2036	23.9%	21.6%
2037	23.6%	21.5%
2038	23.4%	21.4%
2039	23.1%	21.3%
2040	22.9%	21.2%
2041	22.7%	21.1%
2042	22.5%	21%
2043	22.4%	21%
2044	22.2%	20.9%
2045	22.1%	20.8%
2046	21.9%	20.7%
2047	21.8%	20.7%
2048	21.7%	20.6%
2049	21.6%	20.5%
2050	21.5%	20.4%

The share of children aged 0-14 in South Africa was 42.1% in 1960, 37.3% in 1993, and 25.9% as of the latest data in 2025.

More about the demographics of South Africa.

Natural population change by year

For the past 10 years, the natural population change in South Africa, excluding migration, has been +1.05% annually. On average, 619,002 more people were born each year than died.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	South Africa
1960	421,263
1961	437,851
1962	455,634
1963	473,821
1964	490,606
1965	506,632
1966	534,862
1967	553,741
1968	571,841
1969	590,794
1970	605,102
1971	624,761
1972	638,754
1973	651,596
1974	658,438
1975	667,862
1976	675,011
1977	680,929
1978	694,341
1979	716,541
1980	738,415
1981	767,833
1982	807,550
1983	837,013
1984	869,011
1985	893,889
1986	903,644
1987	922,330
1988	909,221
1989	884,629
1990	835,421
1991	827,296
1992	794,415
1993	789,220
1994	698,609
1995	743,488
1996	710,868
1997	667,969
1998	627,027
1999	594,643
2000	526,963
2001	484,801
2002	430,926
2003	415,018
2004	442,540
2005	464,464
2006	487,584
2007	503,567
2008	595,332
2009	554,115
2010	566,834
2011	601,708
2012	643,723
2013	652,427
2014	674,754
2015	668,771
2016	641,365
2017	645,975
2018	648,319
2019	652,130
2020	595,873
2021	456,411
2022	603,636
2023	602,793

Maternal mortality chart

The maternal mortality rate in South Africa was 118 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023 — a 0.12% chance of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination. This is a -32.6% decrease compared to the year 2000.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Africa	World
1985	208	460
1986	200	438
1987	192	429
1988	184	414
1989	177	401
1990	170	391
1991	162	395
1992	152	395
1993	145	389
1994	133	382
1995	125	371
1996	150	366
1997	152	358
1998	152	360
1999	151	340
2000	175	328
2001	192	321
2002	225	311
2003	245	301
2004	259	291
2005	279	283
2006	283	276
2007	272	269
2008	272	264
2009	241	258
2010	226	253
2011	202	247
2012	194	239
2013	180	235
2014	162	231
2015	150	228
2016	141	220
2017	134	215
2018	128	211
2019	119	207
2020	118	211
2021	191	242
2022	129	203
2023	118	197

Under-five mortality rate chart

The under-5 mortality rate in South Africa was 34.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023 — a 3.47% chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five. This is down from 71.1 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	South Africa	World
1960	-	18.5%
1961	-	18.1%
1962	-	17.8%
1963	-	17.5%
1964	-	17.7%
1965	-	17.5%
1966	-	17.3%
1967	-	17%
1968	-	16.5%
1969	-	15.5%
1970	-	15.2%
1971	-	15.1%
1972	-	14.4%
1973	-	14.1%
1974	13.2%	13.7%
1975	12.5%	13.4%
1976	11.8%	13%
1977	11.1%	12.5%
1978	10.5%	12.1%
1979	9.88%	11.7%
1980	9.35%	11.4%
1981	8.84%	11%
1982	8.39%	10.8%
1983	7.98%	10.6%
1984	7.6%	10.4%
1985	7.24%	10.1%
1986	6.89%	9.81%
1987	6.56%	9.47%
1988	6.26%	9.31%
1989	6.01%	9.02%
1990	5.82%	8.81%
1991	5.7%	8.66%
1992	5.66%	8.46%
1993	5.7%	8.19%
1994	5.82%	7.98%
1995	5.95%	7.76%
1996	6.11%	7.52%
1997	6.29%	7.28%
1998	6.56%	7.05%
1999	6.85%	6.76%
2000	7.11%	6.48%
2001	7.43%	6.21%
2002	7.69%	5.94%
2003	7.93%	5.65%
2004	8.1%	5.43%
2005	8.03%	5.16%
2006	7.75%	4.92%
2007	7.19%	4.7%
2008	6.42%	4.5%
2009	5.7%	4.31%
2010	5%	4.11%
2011	4.5%	3.97%
2012	4.25%	3.77%
2013	4.1%	3.61%
2014	3.96%	3.48%
2015	3.82%	3.35%
2016	3.68%	3.23%
2017	3.58%	3.11%
2018	3.49%	2.97%
2019	3.45%	2.86%
2020	3.41%	2.75%
2021	3.41%	2.66%
2022	3.44%	2.59%
2023	3.47%	2.49%