Fertility & birth rates in South Africa and Switzerland

Fertility rate in South Africa vs Switzerland 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 1.33 in Switzerland in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check South Africa vs Switzerland 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	Switzerland
1960	6.11	2.44
1961	6.08	2.52
1962	6.05	2.58
1963	6.01	2.65
1964	5.96	2.66
1965	5.89	2.59
1966	5.91	2.5
1967	5.85	2.39
1968	5.78	2.29
1969	5.72	2.19
1970	5.63	2.1
1971	5.57	2.04
1972	5.49	1.91
1973	5.41	1.81
1974	5.3	1.73
1975	5.19	1.61
1976	5.07	1.55
1977	4.94	1.53
1978	4.85	1.51
1979	4.82	1.52
1980	4.78	1.55
1981	4.71	1.55
1982	4.7	1.56
1983	4.63	1.52
1984	4.57	1.53
1985	4.5	1.52
1986	4.41	1.53
1987	4.35	1.52
1988	4.18	1.57
1989	3.98	1.56
1990	3.72	1.58
1991	3.62	1.58
1992	3.48	1.58
1993	3.37	1.51
1994	3.26	1.49
1995	3.17	1.48
1996	2.99	1.5
1997	2.73	1.48
1998	2.63	1.47
1999	2.56	1.48
2000	2.41	1.5
2001	2.37	1.38
2002	2.32	1.39
2003	2.36	1.39
2004	2.44	1.42
2005	2.51	1.42
2006	2.55	1.44
2007	2.55	1.46
2008	2.68	1.48
2009	2.5	1.5
2010	2.44	1.52
2011	2.44	1.52
2012	2.45	1.52
2013	2.43	1.52
2014	2.42	1.54
2015	2.36	1.54
2016	2.26	1.54
2017	2.28	1.52
2018	2.27	1.52
2019	2.26	1.48
2020	2.26	1.46
2021	2.25	1.52
2022	2.23	1.39
2023	2.22	1.33
2024	2.21	1.33
2025	2.19	1.34
2026	2.17	1.34
2027	2.15	1.35
2028	2.13	1.35
2029	2.12	1.35
2030	2.1	1.35
2031	2.09	1.36
2032	2.07	1.36
2033	2.06	1.37
2034	2.05	1.37
2035	2.04	1.37
2036	2.03	1.38
2037	2.02	1.38
2038	2	1.38
2039	1.99	1.38
2040	1.98	1.39
2041	1.98	1.39
2042	1.97	1.39
2043	1.96	1.4
2044	1.95	1.4
2045	1.94	1.4
2046	1.93	1.4
2047	1.92	1.41
2048	1.91	1.41
2049	1.9	1.41
2050	1.89	1.41

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Africa	Switzerland
1960	42.1%	24%
1961	42.1%	24%
1962	42.1%	24.1%
1963	42.1%	24.1%
1964	42.1%	24.1%
1965	42.1%	24.1%
1966	42.1%	24.2%
1967	42.2%	24.1%
1968	42.2%	24%
1969	42.2%	23.8%
1970	42.3%	23.8%
1971	42.2%	23.7%
1972	42.2%	23.5%
1973	42.1%	23.2%
1974	42%	22.8%
1975	41.9%	22.4%
1976	41.8%	22%
1977	41.7%	21.4%
1978	41.5%	20.9%
1979	41.3%	20.3%
1980	40.9%	19.7%
1981	40.5%	19.2%
1982	40.1%	18.8%
1983	39.8%	18.3%
1984	39.5%	18%
1985	39.2%	17.6%
1986	38.9%	17.4%
1987	38.7%	17.2%
1988	38.4%	17.1%
1989	38.1%	17%
1990	37.7%	17.1%
1991	37.5%	17.2%
1992	37.6%	17.3%
1993	37.3%	17.5%
1994	37.2%	17.6%
1995	37.5%	17.6%
1996	37.5%	17.7%
1997	37.2%	17.6%
1998	36.5%	17.6%
1999	35.7%	17.5%
2000	34.9%	17.4%
2001	34%	17.1%
2002	33.2%	16.8%
2003	32.3%	16.6%
2004	31.6%	16.4%
2005	31.1%	16.1%
2006	30.6%	15.9%
2007	30.2%	15.6%
2008	29.9%	15.4%
2009	29.7%	15.3%
2010	29.4%	15.2%
2011	29.1%	15.1%
2012	28.9%	15%
2013	28.7%	14.9%
2014	28.5%	14.9%
2015	28.3%	14.9%
2016	28.3%	14.9%
2017	28.3%	14.9%
2018	27.9%	15%
2019	27.4%	15%
2020	27%	15.1%
2021	26.6%	15.1%
2022	26.3%	15.1%
2023	26.1%	15%
2024	25.9%	15%
2025	25.7%	14.9%
2026	25.6%	14.8%
2027	25.4%	14.7%
2028	25.3%	14.6%
2029	25.2%	14.5%
2030	25.2%	14.3%
2031	25.1%	14.1%
2032	25%	14%
2033	24.8%	13.8%
2034	24.5%	13.6%
2035	24.3%	13.5%
2036	23.9%	13.3%
2037	23.6%	13.2%
2038	23.4%	13.1%
2039	23.1%	13%
2040	22.9%	12.9%
2041	22.7%	12.8%
2042	22.5%	12.8%
2043	22.4%	12.7%
2044	22.2%	12.8%
2045	22.1%	12.8%
2046	21.9%	12.8%
2047	21.8%	12.9%
2048	21.7%	12.9%
2049	21.6%	13%
2050	21.5%	13.1%

Children aged 0-14 make up 25.9% of the population in South Africa and 15% in Switzerland in 2024, compared to 37.7% and 17.1% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Africa and Switzerland compared.

Natural population change in South Africa vs Switzerland by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.05% in South Africa and +0.2% in Switzerland. 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	Switzerland
1960	421,263	42,090
1961	437,851	48,365
1962	455,634	49,050
1963	473,821	52,956
1964	490,606	59,050
1965	506,632	56,222
1966	534,862	53,854
1967	553,741	52,128
1968	571,841	47,328
1969	590,794	44,182
1970	605,102	42,648
1971	624,761	38,523
1972	638,754	35,061
1973	651,596	30,906
1974	658,438	27,902
1975	667,862	22,820
1976	675,011	17,017
1977	680,929	16,959
1978	694,341	13,820
1979	716,541	14,477
1980	738,415	14,535
1981	767,833	13,979
1982	807,550	15,339
1983	837,013	12,837
1984	869,011	16,105
1985	893,889	14,882
1986	903,644	16,261
1987	922,330	15,708
1988	909,221	21,099
1989	884,629	19,941
1990	835,421	20,146
1991	827,296	23,800
1992	794,415	24,064
1993	789,220	21,509
1994	698,609	20,982
1995	743,488	19,010
1996	710,868	19,801
1997	667,969	17,722
1998	627,027	16,353
1999	594,643	16,431
2000	526,963	15,806
2001	484,801	10,845
2002	430,926	10,199
2003	415,018	8,807
2004	442,540	13,302
2005	464,464	11,899
2006	487,584	12,723
2007	503,567	13,592
2008	595,332	15,295
2009	554,115	15,487
2010	566,834	17,997
2011	601,708	18,990
2012	643,723	18,393
2013	652,427	17,797
2014	674,754	21,290
2015	668,771	19,050
2016	641,365	22,608
2017	645,975	20,284
2018	648,319	20,434
2019	652,130	18,008
2020	595,873	9,502
2021	456,411	18,279
2022	603,636	7,899
2023	602,793	7,999

Maternal mortality chart: South Africa vs Switzerland

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 5 deaths in Switzerland.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Africa	Switzerland
1985	208	15
1986	200	14
1987	192	14
1988	184	15
1989	177	14
1990	170	14
1991	162	14
1992	152	13
1993	145	13
1994	133	12
1995	125	12
1996	150	11
1997	152	10
1998	152	10
1999	151	9
2000	175	9
2001	192	8
2002	225	9
2003	245	8
2004	259	8
2005	279	8
2006	283	8
2007	272	7
2008	272	7
2009	241	7
2010	226	7
2011	202	7
2012	194	7
2013	180	7
2014	162	6
2015	150	6
2016	141	7
2017	134	6
2018	128	6
2019	119	6
2020	118	5
2021	191	4
2022	129	4
2023	118	5

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.47% in South Africa and 0.39% in Switzerland. 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	Switzerland
1960	-	2.65%
1961	-	2.6%
1962	-	2.53%
1963	-	2.45%
1964	-	2.36%
1965	-	2.26%
1966	-	2.16%
1967	-	2.07%
1968	-	1.99%
1969	-	1.92%
1970	-	1.84%
1971	-	1.76%
1972	-	1.67%
1973	-	1.57%
1974	13.2%	1.48%
1975	12.5%	1.38%
1976	11.8%	1.29%
1977	11.1%	1.21%
1978	10.5%	1.14%
1979	9.88%	1.09%
1980	9.35%	1.04%
1981	8.84%	1%
1982	8.39%	0.97%
1983	7.98%	0.94%
1984	7.6%	0.92%
1985	7.24%	0.9%
1986	6.89%	0.89%
1987	6.56%	0.88%
1988	6.26%	0.86%
1989	6.01%	0.84%
1990	5.82%	0.82%
1991	5.7%	0.78%
1992	5.66%	0.75%
1993	5.7%	0.71%
1994	5.82%	0.67%
1995	5.95%	0.64%
1996	6.11%	0.62%
1997	6.29%	0.6%
1998	6.56%	0.58%
1999	6.85%	0.57%
2000	7.11%	0.56%
2001	7.43%	0.55%
2002	7.69%	0.54%
2003	7.93%	0.53%
2004	8.1%	0.52%
2005	8.03%	0.51%
2006	7.75%	0.49%
2007	7.19%	0.48%
2008	6.42%	0.47%
2009	5.7%	0.46%
2010	5%	0.46%
2011	4.5%	0.45%
2012	4.25%	0.44%
2013	4.1%	0.44%
2014	3.96%	0.43%
2015	3.82%	0.43%
2016	3.68%	0.42%
2017	3.58%	0.41%
2018	3.49%	0.41%
2019	3.45%	0.4%
2020	3.41%	0.4%
2021	3.41%	0.4%
2022	3.44%	0.4%
2023	3.47%	0.39%