Fertility & birth rates in South Africa and South Sudan

Fertility rate in South Africa vs South Sudan chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in South Africa was 2.22 children per woman in 2023, compared to 3.86 in South Sudan in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check South Africa vs South Sudan population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	South Africa	South Sudan
1960	6.11	7.16
1961	6.08	7.18
1962	6.05	7.2
1963	6.01	7.2
1964	5.96	7.22
1965	5.89	7.22
1966	5.91	7.25
1967	5.85	7.26
1968	5.78	7.26
1969	5.72	7.28
1970	5.63	7.29
1971	5.57	7.3
1972	5.49	7.31
1973	5.41	7.31
1974	5.3	7.31
1975	5.19	7.33
1976	5.07	7.33
1977	4.94	7.33
1978	4.85	7.33
1979	4.82	7.32
1980	4.78	7.33
1981	4.71	7.33
1982	4.7	7.34
1983	4.63	7.34
1984	4.57	7.35
1985	4.5	7.36
1986	4.41	7.38
1987	4.35	7.39
1988	4.18	7.38
1989	3.98	7.37
1990	3.72	7.38
1991	3.62	7.38
1992	3.48	7.37
1993	3.37	7.36
1994	3.26	7.35
1995	3.17	7.34
1996	2.99	7.32
1997	2.73	7.2
1998	2.63	7.08
1999	2.56	6.94
2000	2.41	6.8
2001	2.37	6.65
2002	2.32	6.52
2003	2.36	6.35
2004	2.44	6.19
2005	2.51	6.02
2006	2.55	5.85
2007	2.55	5.7
2008	2.68	5.57
2009	2.5	5.45
2010	2.44	5.32
2011	2.44	5.19
2012	2.45	5.06
2013	2.43	4.94
2014	2.42	4.82
2015	2.36	4.7
2016	2.26	4.58
2017	2.28	4.48
2018	2.27	4.37
2019	2.26	4.26
2020	2.26	4.16
2021	2.25	4.05
2022	2.23	3.96
2023	2.22	3.86
2024	2.21	3.79
2025	2.19	3.71
2026	2.17	3.63
2027	2.15	3.56
2028	2.13	3.49
2029	2.12	3.43
2030	2.1	3.37
2031	2.09	3.31
2032	2.07	3.26
2033	2.06	3.2
2034	2.05	3.15
2035	2.04	3.1
2036	2.03	3.06
2037	2.02	3.01
2038	2	2.96
2039	1.99	2.92
2040	1.98	2.88
2041	1.98	2.84
2042	1.97	2.8
2043	1.96	2.76
2044	1.95	2.73
2045	1.94	2.69
2046	1.93	2.66
2047	1.92	2.63
2048	1.91	2.6
2049	1.9	2.58
2050	1.89	2.55

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Africa	South Sudan
1960	42.1%	42.5%
1961	42.1%	42.6%
1962	42.1%	42.6%
1963	42.1%	42.8%
1964	42.1%	43%
1965	42.1%	43.3%
1966	42.1%	43.5%
1967	42.2%	43.8%
1968	42.2%	44%
1969	42.2%	44.3%
1970	42.3%	44.5%
1971	42.2%	44.7%
1972	42.2%	44.8%
1973	42.1%	45%
1974	42%	45.1%
1975	41.9%	45.2%
1976	41.8%	45.3%
1977	41.7%	45.4%
1978	41.5%	45.5%
1979	41.3%	45.7%
1980	40.9%	45.8%
1981	40.5%	46%
1982	40.1%	46.2%
1983	39.8%	46.3%
1984	39.5%	46.5%
1985	39.2%	46.6%
1986	38.9%	46.7%
1987	38.7%	46.9%
1988	38.4%	46.2%
1989	38.1%	45.4%
1990	37.7%	45.4%
1991	37.5%	45.5%
1992	37.6%	45.6%
1993	37.3%	45.7%
1994	37.2%	45.8%
1995	37.5%	45.8%
1996	37.5%	46%
1997	37.2%	46%
1998	36.5%	45.8%
1999	35.7%	45.6%
2000	34.9%	45.5%
2001	34%	45.5%
2002	33.2%	45.7%
2003	32.3%	45.9%
2004	31.6%	45.8%
2005	31.1%	45.3%
2006	30.6%	44.8%
2007	30.2%	44.3%
2008	29.9%	43.8%
2009	29.7%	43.4%
2010	29.4%	42.8%
2011	29.1%	42.2%
2012	28.9%	41.9%
2013	28.7%	41.9%
2014	28.5%	42.5%
2015	28.3%	43.1%
2016	28.3%	43.7%
2017	28.3%	45%
2018	27.9%	44.9%
2019	27.4%	43.6%
2020	27%	42.4%
2021	26.6%	41.6%
2022	26.3%	40.9%
2023	26.1%	39.9%
2024	25.9%	38.9%
2025	25.7%	38%
2026	25.6%	37.1%
2027	25.4%	36.2%
2028	25.3%	35.5%
2029	25.2%	35%
2030	25.2%	34.7%
2031	25.1%	34.5%
2032	25%	34.4%
2033	24.8%	34.3%
2034	24.5%	34.3%
2035	24.3%	34.2%
2036	23.9%	34.1%
2037	23.6%	34%
2038	23.4%	33.8%
2039	23.1%	33.7%
2040	22.9%	33.4%
2041	22.7%	33.2%
2042	22.5%	32.9%
2043	22.4%	32.5%
2044	22.2%	32.2%
2045	22.1%	31.8%
2046	21.9%	31.4%
2047	21.8%	31%
2048	21.7%	30.5%
2049	21.6%	30.1%
2050	21.5%	29.7%

Children aged 0-14 make up 25.9% of the population in South Africa and 38.9% in South Sudan in 2024, compared to 37.7% and 45.4% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Africa and South Sudan compared.

Natural population change in South Africa vs South Sudan by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.05% in South Africa and +1.65% in South Sudan. 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
	South Africa	South Sudan
1960	421,263	42,945
1961	437,851	45,186
1962	455,634	47,406
1963	473,821	46,333
1964	490,606	64,786
1965	506,632	51,682
1966	534,862	38,523
1967	553,741	41,357
1968	571,841	44,213
1969	590,794	42,015
1970	605,102	44,776
1971	624,761	72,308
1972	638,754	74,803
1973	651,596	94,765
1974	658,438	97,181
1975	667,862	99,882
1976	675,011	102,346
1977	680,929	104,886
1978	694,341	107,352
1979	716,541	109,540
1980	738,415	112,307
1981	767,833	115,163
1982	807,550	118,641
1983	837,013	104,107
1984	869,011	90,970
1985	893,889	95,342
1986	903,644	99,502
1987	922,330	5,756
1988	909,221	-125,447
1989	884,629	83,735
1990	835,421	82,900
1991	827,296	87,873
1992	794,415	28,874
1993	789,220	32,779
1994	698,609	165,407
1995	743,488	110,417
1996	710,868	116,728
1997	667,969	121,454
1998	627,027	-12,157
1999	594,643	180,721
2000	526,963	196,055
2001	484,801	204,108
2002	430,926	212,014
2003	415,018	225,822
2004	442,540	231,877
2005	464,464	239,272
2006	487,584	246,706
2007	503,567	256,546
2008	595,332	268,268
2009	554,115	278,859
2010	566,834	287,409
2011	601,708	303,181
2012	643,723	312,974
2013	652,427	315,983
2014	674,754	227,611
2015	668,771	148,542
2016	641,365	110,553
2017	645,975	72,193
2018	648,319	168,497
2019	652,130	209,708
2020	595,873	212,332
2021	456,411	213,567
2022	603,636	211,166
2023	602,793	217,966

Maternal mortality chart: South Africa vs South Sudan

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 118 deaths per 100,000 live births in South Africa, compared to 692 deaths in South Sudan.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Africa	South Sudan
1985	208	3,845
1986	200	3,720
1987	192	8,045
1988	184	5,535
1989	177	5,103
1990	170	4,877
1991	162	4,764
1992	152	7,597
1993	145	7,537
1994	133	1,666
1995	125	4,430
1996	150	4,357
1997	152	4,172
1998	152	7,514
1999	151	2,048
2000	175	1,658
2001	192	1,580
2002	225	1,521
2003	245	1,199
2004	259	1,150
2005	279	1,074
2006	283	1,005
2007	272	933
2008	272	858
2009	241	823
2010	226	776
2011	202	770
2012	194	755
2013	180	771
2014	162	1,216
2015	150	1,436
2016	141	1,629
2017	134	1,662
2018	128	913
2019	119	745
2020	118	729
2021	191	749
2022	129	704
2023	118	692

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.47% in South Africa and 9.87% in South Sudan. 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
	South Africa	South Sudan
1960	-	35.5%
1961	-	35.2%
1962	-	34.9%
1963	-	34.6%
1964	-	34.3%
1965	-	34%
1966	-	33.6%
1967	-	33.3%
1968	-	32.9%
1969	-	32.6%
1970	-	32.3%
1971	-	31.9%
1972	-	31.6%
1973	-	31.3%
1974	13.2%	30.9%
1975	12.5%	30.6%
1976	11.8%	30.2%
1977	11.1%	29.9%
1978	10.5%	29.5%
1979	9.88%	29.2%
1980	9.35%	28.9%
1981	8.84%	28.5%
1982	8.39%	28.2%
1983	7.98%	27.8%
1984	7.6%	27.5%
1985	7.24%	27.1%
1986	6.89%	26.7%
1987	6.56%	36%
1988	6.26%	76.7%
1989	6.01%	30.7%
1990	5.82%	30.3%
1991	5.7%	29.7%
1992	5.66%	33.8%
1993	5.7%	33.1%
1994	5.82%	23%
1995	5.95%	27%
1996	6.11%	26.1%
1997	6.29%	25.2%
1998	6.56%	42.6%
1999	6.85%	19.2%
2000	7.11%	18.3%
2001	7.43%	17.4%
2002	7.69%	16.5%
2003	7.93%	15.7%
2004	8.1%	14.8%
2005	8.03%	14.1%
2006	7.75%	13.4%
2007	7.19%	12.7%
2008	6.42%	12.1%
2009	5.7%	11.5%
2010	5%	10.9%
2011	4.5%	10.5%
2012	4.25%	10.1%
2013	4.1%	9.92%
2014	3.96%	18.2%
2015	3.82%	23.7%
2016	3.68%	26.4%
2017	3.58%	27.8%
2018	3.49%	13.2%
2019	3.45%	9.87%
2020	3.41%	9.87%
2021	3.41%	9.87%
2022	3.44%	9.87%
2023	3.47%	9.87%