Fertility & birth rates in South Africa and Tanzania

Fertility rate in South Africa vs Tanzania 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 4.61 in Tanzania in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check South Africa vs Tanzania 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	Tanzania
1960	6.11	6.54
1961	6.08	6.56
1962	6.05	6.61
1963	6.01	6.65
1964	5.96	6.68
1965	5.89	6.73
1966	5.91	6.8
1967	5.85	6.86
1968	5.78	6.9
1969	5.72	6.95
1970	5.63	7
1971	5.57	7.04
1972	5.49	7.05
1973	5.41	7.06
1974	5.3	7.12
1975	5.19	7.1
1976	5.07	7.09
1977	4.94	7.07
1978	4.85	7.06
1979	4.82	7.04
1980	4.78	6.99
1981	4.71	6.93
1982	4.7	6.87
1983	4.63	6.81
1984	4.57	6.72
1985	4.5	6.6
1986	4.41	6.49
1987	4.35	6.41
1988	4.18	6.38
1989	3.98	6.3
1990	3.72	6.2
1991	3.62	6.14
1992	3.48	6.08
1993	3.37	6
1994	3.26	5.89
1995	3.17	5.82
1996	2.99	5.83
1997	2.73	5.84
1998	2.63	5.81
1999	2.56	5.75
2000	2.41	5.67
2001	2.37	5.62
2002	2.32	5.57
2003	2.36	5.58
2004	2.44	5.6
2005	2.51	5.58
2006	2.55	5.51
2007	2.55	5.4
2008	2.68	5.32
2009	2.5	5.26
2010	2.44	5.23
2011	2.44	5.14
2012	2.45	5.14
2013	2.43	5.16
2014	2.42	5.12
2015	2.36	5.03
2016	2.26	5.01
2017	2.28	4.99
2018	2.27	4.93
2019	2.26	4.87
2020	2.26	4.8
2021	2.25	4.73
2022	2.23	4.67
2023	2.22	4.61
2024	2.21	4.54
2025	2.19	4.47
2026	2.17	4.41
2027	2.15	4.34
2028	2.13	4.28
2029	2.12	4.22
2030	2.1	4.16
2031	2.09	4.11
2032	2.07	4.04
2033	2.06	3.98
2034	2.05	3.94
2035	2.04	3.88
2036	2.03	3.83
2037	2.02	3.76
2038	2	3.72
2039	1.99	3.67
2040	1.98	3.63
2041	1.98	3.57
2042	1.97	3.54
2043	1.96	3.49
2044	1.95	3.46
2045	1.94	3.4
2046	1.93	3.39
2047	1.92	3.35
2048	1.91	3.31
2049	1.9	3.25
2050	1.89	3.23

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Africa	Tanzania
1960	42.1%	44.9%
1961	42.1%	44.8%
1962	42.1%	44.8%
1963	42.1%	44.8%
1964	42.1%	45%
1965	42.1%	45.2%
1966	42.1%	45.4%
1967	42.2%	45.6%
1968	42.2%	45.8%
1969	42.2%	45.9%
1970	42.3%	46%
1971	42.2%	46.1%
1972	42.2%	46.1%
1973	42.1%	46.2%
1974	42%	46.3%
1975	41.9%	46.4%
1976	41.8%	46.5%
1977	41.7%	46.6%
1978	41.5%	46.7%
1979	41.3%	46.9%
1980	40.9%	47.2%
1981	40.5%	47.4%
1982	40.1%	47.5%
1983	39.8%	47.6%
1984	39.5%	47.5%
1985	39.2%	47.4%
1986	38.9%	47.2%
1987	38.7%	46.9%
1988	38.4%	46.7%
1989	38.1%	46.5%
1990	37.7%	46.3%
1991	37.5%	46.2%
1992	37.6%	46%
1993	37.3%	45.5%
1994	37.2%	44.9%
1995	37.5%	44.5%
1996	37.5%	44.7%
1997	37.2%	44.8%
1998	36.5%	44.7%
1999	35.7%	44.7%
2000	34.9%	44.6%
2001	34%	44.5%
2002	33.2%	44.6%
2003	32.3%	44.6%
2004	31.6%	44.7%
2005	31.1%	44.8%
2006	30.6%	44.9%
2007	30.2%	45%
2008	29.9%	45.1%
2009	29.7%	45.3%
2010	29.4%	45.3%
2011	29.1%	45.2%
2012	28.9%	45.1%
2013	28.7%	44.9%
2014	28.5%	44.8%
2015	28.3%	44.5%
2016	28.3%	44.2%
2017	28.3%	44%
2018	27.9%	43.8%
2019	27.4%	43.6%
2020	27%	43.4%
2021	26.6%	43.1%
2022	26.3%	42.9%
2023	26.1%	42.7%
2024	25.9%	42.5%
2025	25.7%	42.3%
2026	25.6%	42.1%
2027	25.4%	41.9%
2028	25.3%	41.7%
2029	25.2%	41.4%
2030	25.2%	41.1%
2031	25.1%	40.9%
2032	25%	40.5%
2033	24.8%	40.2%
2034	24.5%	39.8%
2035	24.3%	39.5%
2036	23.9%	39.1%
2037	23.6%	38.8%
2038	23.4%	38.4%
2039	23.1%	38.1%
2040	22.9%	37.8%
2041	22.7%	37.5%
2042	22.5%	37.1%
2043	22.4%	36.8%
2044	22.2%	36.5%
2045	22.1%	36.2%
2046	21.9%	35.9%
2047	21.8%	35.6%
2048	21.7%	35.4%
2049	21.6%	35.1%
2050	21.5%	34.8%

Children aged 0-14 make up 25.9% of the population in South Africa and 42.5% in Tanzania in 2024, compared to 37.7% and 46.3% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Africa and Tanzania compared.

Natural population change in South Africa vs Tanzania by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.05% in South Africa and +3.05% in Tanzania. 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	Tanzania
1960	421,263	275,814
1961	437,851	286,839
1962	455,634	300,663
1963	473,821	314,644
1964	490,606	328,527
1965	506,632	343,456
1966	534,862	360,229
1967	553,741	374,763
1968	571,841	389,467
1969	590,794	408,322
1970	605,102	427,988
1971	624,761	449,014
1972	638,754	467,305
1973	651,596	488,429
1974	658,438	515,152
1975	667,862	533,906
1976	675,011	553,617
1977	680,929	574,938
1978	694,341	595,024
1979	716,541	613,388
1980	738,415	629,444
1981	767,833	645,496
1982	807,550	662,627
1983	837,013	679,720
1984	869,011	687,435
1985	893,889	697,867
1986	903,644	705,677
1987	922,330	718,580
1988	909,221	736,551
1989	884,629	743,854
1990	835,421	750,825
1991	827,296	762,011
1992	794,415	767,961
1993	789,220	778,044
1994	698,609	803,953
1995	743,488	838,980
1996	710,868	868,524
1997	667,969	882,544
1998	627,027	920,806
1999	594,643	948,659
2000	526,963	985,185
2001	484,801	1,026,242
2002	430,926	1,063,195
2003	415,018	1,118,435
2004	442,540	1,175,379
2005	464,464	1,224,165
2006	487,584	1,257,927
2007	503,567	1,278,285
2008	595,332	1,303,728
2009	554,115	1,332,015
2010	566,834	1,363,477
2011	601,708	1,384,886
2012	643,723	1,439,325
2013	652,427	1,509,008
2014	674,754	1,565,630
2015	668,771	1,592,882
2016	641,365	1,659,502
2017	645,975	1,726,909
2018	648,319	1,777,852
2019	652,130	1,816,669
2020	595,873	1,861,377
2021	456,411	1,880,137
2022	603,636	1,927,960
2023	602,793	1,960,623

Maternal mortality chart: South Africa vs Tanzania

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 276 deaths in Tanzania.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Africa	Tanzania
1985	208	980
1986	200	971
1987	192	964
1988	184	949
1989	177	927
1990	170	900
1991	162	873
1992	152	864
1993	145	851
1994	133	816
1995	125	797
1996	150	775
1997	152	777
1998	152	739
1999	151	635
2000	175	568
2001	192	493
2002	225	454
2003	245	397
2004	259	365
2005	279	350
2006	283	366
2007	272	453
2008	272	511
2009	241	502
2010	226	486
2011	202	475
2012	194	448
2013	180	479
2014	162	454
2015	150	433
2016	141	396
2017	134	345
2018	128	319
2019	119	292
2020	118	160
2021	191	162
2022	129	152
2023	118	276

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.47% in South Africa and 3.89% in Tanzania. 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	Tanzania
1960	-	24.2%
1961	-	24%
1962	-	23.8%
1963	-	23.6%
1964	-	23.4%
1965	-	23.1%
1966	-	22.8%
1967	-	22.5%
1968	-	22.2%
1969	-	21.9%
1970	-	21.6%
1971	-	21.2%
1972	-	20.9%
1973	-	20.5%
1974	13.2%	20.1%
1975	12.5%	19.6%
1976	11.8%	19.2%
1977	11.1%	18.8%
1978	10.5%	18.4%
1979	9.88%	18.1%
1980	9.35%	17.9%
1981	8.84%	17.8%
1982	8.39%	17.8%
1983	7.98%	17.8%
1984	7.6%	17.8%
1985	7.24%	17.7%
1986	6.89%	17.6%
1987	6.56%	17.4%
1988	6.26%	17.2%
1989	6.01%	16.9%
1990	5.82%	16.7%
1991	5.7%	16.5%
1992	5.66%	16.3%
1993	5.7%	16.1%
1994	5.82%	15.9%
1995	5.95%	15.6%
1996	6.11%	15.2%
1997	6.29%	14.8%
1998	6.56%	14.2%
1999	6.85%	13.6%
2000	7.11%	12.8%
2001	7.43%	12.1%
2002	7.69%	11.3%
2003	7.93%	10.5%
2004	8.1%	9.86%
2005	8.03%	9.24%
2006	7.75%	8.69%
2007	7.19%	8.16%
2008	6.42%	7.7%
2009	5.7%	7.24%
2010	5%	6.86%
2011	4.5%	6.5%
2012	4.25%	6.21%
2013	4.1%	5.95%
2014	3.96%	5.67%
2015	3.82%	5.48%
2016	3.68%	5.25%
2017	3.58%	5.02%
2018	3.49%	4.8%
2019	3.45%	4.6%
2020	3.41%	4.42%
2021	3.41%	4.22%
2022	3.44%	4.05%
2023	3.47%	3.89%