Fertility & birth rates in South Africa and Spain

Fertility rate in South Africa vs Spain 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 1.12 in Spain in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check South Africa vs Spain 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	Spain
1960	6.11	2.86
1961	6.08	2.77
1962	6.05	2.8
1963	6.01	2.88
1964	5.96	3.01
1965	5.89	2.94
1966	5.91	2.91
1967	5.85	2.94
1968	5.78	2.87
1969	5.72	2.86
1970	5.63	2.84
1971	5.57	2.9
1972	5.49	2.87
1973	5.41	2.84
1974	5.3	2.88
1975	5.19	2.77
1976	5.07	2.77
1977	4.94	2.65
1978	4.85	2.54
1979	4.82	2.37
1980	4.78	2.22
1981	4.71	2.04
1982	4.7	1.94
1983	4.63	1.8
1984	4.57	1.73
1985	4.5	1.64
1986	4.41	1.56
1987	4.35	1.49
1988	4.18	1.45
1989	3.98	1.4
1990	3.72	1.36
1991	3.62	1.33
1992	3.48	1.31
1993	3.37	1.26
1994	3.26	1.19
1995	3.17	1.16
1996	2.99	1.14
1997	2.73	1.15
1998	2.63	1.13
1999	2.56	1.17
2000	2.41	1.22
2001	2.37	1.23
2002	2.32	1.25
2003	2.36	1.3
2004	2.44	1.31
2005	2.51	1.33
2006	2.55	1.36
2007	2.55	1.38
2008	2.68	1.45
2009	2.5	1.38
2010	2.44	1.37
2011	2.44	1.34
2012	2.45	1.32
2013	2.43	1.27
2014	2.42	1.32
2015	2.36	1.33
2016	2.26	1.33
2017	2.28	1.31
2018	2.27	1.26
2019	2.26	1.23
2020	2.26	1.18
2021	2.25	1.18
2022	2.23	1.16
2023	2.22	1.12
2024	2.21	1.13
2025	2.19	1.14
2026	2.17	1.14
2027	2.15	1.15
2028	2.13	1.16
2029	2.12	1.16
2030	2.1	1.17
2031	2.09	1.17
2032	2.07	1.18
2033	2.06	1.18
2034	2.05	1.19
2035	2.04	1.19
2036	2.03	1.2
2037	2.02	1.2
2038	2	1.2
2039	1.99	1.21
2040	1.98	1.21
2041	1.98	1.22
2042	1.97	1.23
2043	1.96	1.23
2044	1.95	1.24
2045	1.94	1.24
2046	1.93	1.24
2047	1.92	1.25
2048	1.91	1.25
2049	1.9	1.25
2050	1.89	1.26

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Africa	Spain
1960	42.1%	27.4%
1961	42.1%	27.4%
1962	42.1%	27.4%
1963	42.1%	27.4%
1964	42.1%	27.4%
1965	42.1%	27.5%
1966	42.1%	27.6%
1967	42.2%	27.7%
1968	42.2%	27.8%
1969	42.2%	27.8%
1970	42.3%	27.9%
1971	42.2%	27.8%
1972	42.2%	27.8%
1973	42.1%	27.7%
1974	42%	27.5%
1975	41.9%	27.3%
1976	41.8%	27.2%
1977	41.7%	27%
1978	41.5%	26.8%
1979	41.3%	26.4%
1980	40.9%	26%
1981	40.5%	25.5%
1982	40.1%	24.9%
1983	39.8%	24.4%
1984	39.5%	23.8%
1985	39.2%	23.2%
1986	38.9%	22.5%
1987	38.7%	21.9%
1988	38.4%	21.2%
1989	38.1%	20.5%
1990	37.7%	19.8%
1991	37.5%	19.1%
1992	37.6%	18.4%
1993	37.3%	17.8%
1994	37.2%	17.2%
1995	37.5%	16.6%
1996	37.5%	16.1%
1997	37.2%	15.7%
1998	36.5%	15.3%
1999	35.7%	15%
2000	34.9%	14.8%
2001	34%	14.7%
2002	33.2%	14.6%
2003	32.3%	14.5%
2004	31.6%	14.5%
2005	31.1%	14.5%
2006	30.6%	14.5%
2007	30.2%	14.6%
2008	29.9%	14.7%
2009	29.7%	14.8%
2010	29.4%	14.9%
2011	29.1%	15%
2012	28.9%	15.1%
2013	28.7%	15.1%
2014	28.5%	15.1%
2015	28.3%	15%
2016	28.3%	14.9%
2017	28.3%	14.8%
2018	27.9%	14.7%
2019	27.4%	14.4%
2020	27%	14.2%
2021	26.6%	13.9%
2022	26.3%	13.6%
2023	26.1%	13.3%
2024	25.9%	12.9%
2025	25.7%	12.6%
2026	25.6%	12.3%
2027	25.4%	12.1%
2028	25.3%	11.8%
2029	25.2%	11.6%
2030	25.2%	11.4%
2031	25.1%	11.2%
2032	25%	11%
2033	24.8%	10.9%
2034	24.5%	10.8%
2035	24.3%	10.7%
2036	23.9%	10.7%
2037	23.6%	10.7%
2038	23.4%	10.8%
2039	23.1%	10.8%
2040	22.9%	10.8%
2041	22.7%	10.9%
2042	22.5%	11%
2043	22.4%	11%
2044	22.2%	11.1%
2045	22.1%	11.2%
2046	21.9%	11.3%
2047	21.8%	11.3%
2048	21.7%	11.4%
2049	21.6%	11.5%
2050	21.5%	11.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 25.9% of the population in South Africa and 12.9% in Spain in 2024, compared to 37.7% and 19.8% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Africa and Spain compared.

Natural population change in South Africa vs Spain by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.05% in South Africa and -0.13% in Spain. 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	Spain
1960	421,263	398,960
1961	437,851	396,537
1962	455,634	384,690
1963	473,821	394,338
1964	490,606	429,885
1965	506,632	405,819
1966	534,862	397,084
1967	553,741	402,001
1968	571,841	387,423
1969	590,794	367,851
1970	605,102	378,723
1971	624,761	369,625
1972	638,754	391,030
1973	651,596	374,381
1974	658,438	396,182
1975	667,862	371,882
1976	675,011	375,834
1977	680,929	361,465
1978	694,341	339,157
1979	716,541	312,407
1980	738,415	281,184
1981	767,833	237,879
1982	807,550	231,714
1983	837,013	183,223
1984	869,011	172,487
1985	893,889	146,184
1986	903,644	131,188
1987	922,330	116,054
1988	909,221	100,794
1989	884,629	81,538
1990	835,421	66,075
1991	827,296	58,450
1992	794,415	62,652
1993	789,220	47,234
1994	698,609	31,639
1995	743,488	15,889
1996	710,868	11,967
1997	667,969	20,028
1998	627,027	4,022
1999	594,643	8,077
2000	526,963	36,512
2001	484,801	44,936
2002	430,926	53,861
2003	415,018	54,844
2004	442,540	85,844
2005	464,464	78,576
2006	487,584	110,994
2007	503,567	108,545
2008	595,332	133,267
2009	554,115	106,635
2010	566,834	102,469
2011	601,708	84,137
2012	643,723	51,450
2013	652,427	37,284
2014	674,754	32,522
2015	668,771	-4,642
2016	641,365	0
2017	645,975	-32,600
2018	648,319	-56,139
2019	652,130	-56,542
2020	595,873	-151,551
2021	456,411	-113,865
2022	603,636	-133,801
2023	602,793	-111,201

Maternal mortality chart: South Africa vs Spain

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 3 deaths in Spain.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Africa	Spain
1985	208	6
1986	200	7
1987	192	7
1988	184	7
1989	177	7
1990	170	6
1991	162	6
1992	152	6
1993	145	6
1994	133	6
1995	125	6
1996	150	6
1997	152	5
1998	152	5
1999	151	5
2000	175	5
2001	192	5
2002	225	5
2003	245	4
2004	259	5
2005	279	5
2006	283	4
2007	272	4
2008	272	4
2009	241	4
2010	226	4
2011	202	4
2012	194	4
2013	180	4
2014	162	4
2015	150	4
2016	141	3
2017	134	3
2018	128	3
2019	119	3
2020	118	4
2021	191	4
2022	129	4
2023	118	3

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.47% in South Africa and 0.31% in Spain. 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	Spain
1960	-	5.47%
1961	-	5.2%
1962	-	4.94%
1963	-	4.68%
1964	-	4.45%
1965	-	4.23%
1966	-	4.03%
1967	-	3.83%
1968	-	3.61%
1969	-	3.39%
1970	-	3.16%
1971	-	2.94%
1972	-	2.72%
1973	-	2.52%
1974	13.2%	2.33%
1975	12.5%	2.17%
1976	11.8%	2.02%
1977	11.1%	1.87%
1978	10.5%	1.74%
1979	9.88%	1.61%
1980	9.35%	1.49%
1981	8.84%	1.38%
1982	8.39%	1.3%
1983	7.98%	1.23%
1984	7.6%	1.17%
1985	7.24%	1.11%
1986	6.89%	1.07%
1987	6.56%	1.03%
1988	6.26%	0.99%
1989	6.01%	0.95%
1990	5.82%	0.92%
1991	5.7%	0.88%
1992	5.66%	0.83%
1993	5.7%	0.79%
1994	5.82%	0.74%
1995	5.95%	0.69%
1996	6.11%	0.65%
1997	6.29%	0.61%
1998	6.56%	0.58%
1999	6.85%	0.56%
2000	7.11%	0.54%
2001	7.43%	0.53%
2002	7.69%	0.51%
2003	7.93%	0.5%
2004	8.1%	0.49%
2005	8.03%	0.47%
2006	7.75%	0.45%
2007	7.19%	0.44%
2008	6.42%	0.42%
2009	5.7%	0.4%
2010	5%	0.38%
2011	4.5%	0.37%
2012	4.25%	0.36%
2013	4.1%	0.35%
2014	3.96%	0.34%
2015	3.82%	0.33%
2016	3.68%	0.33%
2017	3.58%	0.32%
2018	3.49%	0.32%
2019	3.45%	0.32%
2020	3.41%	0.32%
2021	3.41%	0.31%
2022	3.44%	0.31%
2023	3.47%	0.31%