Fertility & birth rates in South Africa and Thailand

Fertility rate in South Africa vs Thailand 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 1.21 in Thailand in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check South Africa vs Thailand 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	Thailand
1960	6.11	6.33
1961	6.08	6.32
1962	6.05	6.33
1963	6.01	6.34
1964	5.96	6.31
1965	5.89	6.26
1966	5.91	6.18
1967	5.85	6.08
1968	5.78	5.93
1969	5.72	5.7
1970	5.63	5.45
1971	5.57	5.25
1972	5.49	5.08
1973	5.41	4.85
1974	5.3	4.6
1975	5.19	4.36
1976	5.07	4.12
1977	4.94	3.87
1978	4.85	3.62
1979	4.82	3.45
1980	4.78	3.29
1981	4.71	3.13
1982	4.7	2.94
1983	4.63	2.76
1984	4.57	2.58
1985	4.5	2.45
1986	4.41	2.36
1987	4.35	2.26
1988	4.18	2.17
1989	3.98	2.14
1990	3.72	2.07
1991	3.62	2.04
1992	3.48	2.01
1993	3.37	1.97
1994	3.26	1.93
1995	3.17	1.89
1996	2.99	1.87
1997	2.73	1.85
1998	2.63	1.82
1999	2.56	1.77
2000	2.41	1.73
2001	2.37	1.71
2002	2.32	1.69
2003	2.36	1.67
2004	2.44	1.67
2005	2.51	1.64
2006	2.55	1.63
2007	2.55	1.62
2008	2.68	1.59
2009	2.5	1.57
2010	2.44	1.56
2011	2.44	1.57
2012	2.45	1.56
2013	2.43	1.53
2014	2.42	1.48
2015	2.36	1.45
2016	2.26	1.4
2017	2.28	1.36
2018	2.27	1.32
2019	2.26	1.29
2020	2.26	1.26
2021	2.25	1.23
2022	2.23	1.22
2023	2.22	1.21
2024	2.21	1.2
2025	2.19	1.19
2026	2.17	1.19
2027	2.15	1.19
2028	2.13	1.19
2029	2.12	1.19
2030	2.1	1.2
2031	2.09	1.2
2032	2.07	1.21
2033	2.06	1.21
2034	2.05	1.22
2035	2.04	1.22
2036	2.03	1.23
2037	2.02	1.23
2038	2	1.24
2039	1.99	1.24
2040	1.98	1.25
2041	1.98	1.25
2042	1.97	1.26
2043	1.96	1.26
2044	1.95	1.26
2045	1.94	1.27
2046	1.93	1.27
2047	1.92	1.28
2048	1.91	1.28
2049	1.9	1.28
2050	1.89	1.29

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Africa	Thailand
1960	42.1%	44.3%
1961	42.1%	44.6%
1962	42.1%	44.8%
1963	42.1%	45.1%
1964	42.1%	45.3%
1965	42.1%	45.4%
1966	42.1%	45.4%
1967	42.2%	45.3%
1968	42.2%	45.2%
1969	42.2%	45%
1970	42.3%	44.8%
1971	42.2%	44.4%
1972	42.2%	44%
1973	42.1%	43.5%
1974	42%	43%
1975	41.9%	42.4%
1976	41.8%	41.8%
1977	41.7%	41.1%
1978	41.5%	40.3%
1979	41.3%	39.5%
1980	40.9%	38.7%
1981	40.5%	37.8%
1982	40.1%	37%
1983	39.8%	36%
1984	39.5%	35.1%
1985	39.2%	34.1%
1986	38.9%	33.2%
1987	38.7%	32.4%
1988	38.4%	31.5%
1989	38.1%	30.7%
1990	37.7%	30%
1991	37.5%	29.2%
1992	37.6%	28.5%
1993	37.3%	28%
1994	37.2%	27.4%
1995	37.5%	26.9%
1996	37.5%	26.4%
1997	37.2%	25.9%
1998	36.5%	25.4%
1999	35.7%	24.9%
2000	34.9%	24.4%
2001	34%	23.9%
2002	33.2%	23.4%
2003	32.3%	23%
2004	31.6%	22.6%
2005	31.1%	22.2%
2006	30.6%	21.7%
2007	30.2%	21.3%
2008	29.9%	20.9%
2009	29.7%	20.6%
2010	29.4%	20.1%
2011	29.1%	19.7%
2012	28.9%	19.2%
2013	28.7%	18.8%
2014	28.5%	18.5%
2015	28.3%	18.1%
2016	28.3%	17.7%
2017	28.3%	17.3%
2018	27.9%	16.9%
2019	27.4%	16.6%
2020	27%	16.2%
2021	26.6%	15.8%
2022	26.3%	15.4%
2023	26.1%	15.1%
2024	25.9%	14.7%
2025	25.7%	14.4%
2026	25.6%	14.1%
2027	25.4%	13.7%
2028	25.3%	13.4%
2029	25.2%	13.1%
2030	25.2%	12.9%
2031	25.1%	12.7%
2032	25%	12.5%
2033	24.8%	12.3%
2034	24.5%	12.2%
2035	24.3%	12.1%
2036	23.9%	12%
2037	23.6%	11.9%
2038	23.4%	11.9%
2039	23.1%	11.8%
2040	22.9%	11.8%
2041	22.7%	11.8%
2042	22.5%	11.8%
2043	22.4%	11.7%
2044	22.2%	11.7%
2045	22.1%	11.7%
2046	21.9%	11.7%
2047	21.8%	11.6%
2048	21.7%	11.6%
2049	21.6%	11.6%
2050	21.5%	11.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 25.9% of the population in South Africa and 14.7% in Thailand in 2024, compared to 37.7% and 30% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Africa and Thailand compared.

Natural population change in South Africa vs Thailand by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.05% in South Africa and +0.18% in Thailand. 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	Thailand
1960	421,263	774,190
1961	437,851	801,140
1962	455,634	828,741
1963	473,821	860,728
1964	490,606	885,137
1965	506,632	909,000
1966	534,862	929,469
1967	553,741	944,980
1968	571,841	953,806
1969	590,794	948,314
1970	605,102	937,116
1971	624,761	936,215
1972	638,754	940,420
1973	651,596	933,540
1974	658,438	923,151
1975	667,862	911,980
1976	675,011	894,072
1977	680,929	871,232
1978	694,341	847,799
1979	716,541	843,434
1980	738,415	845,575
1981	767,833	839,297
1982	807,550	817,951
1983	837,013	794,239
1984	869,011	779,856
1985	893,889	776,935
1986	903,644	783,430
1987	922,330	774,498
1988	909,221	765,252
1989	884,629	774,563
1990	835,421	760,808
1991	827,296	760,508
1992	794,415	754,999
1993	789,220	737,696
1994	698,609	712,589
1995	743,488	682,703
1996	710,868	661,397
1997	667,969	644,834
1998	627,027	617,318
1999	594,643	578,073
2000	526,963	543,884
2001	484,801	524,230
2002	430,926	504,299
2003	415,018	488,003
2004	442,540	466,542
2005	464,464	456,378
2006	487,584	441,211
2007	503,567	425,362
2008	595,332	401,730
2009	554,115	382,636
2010	566,834	370,466
2011	601,708	365,670
2012	643,723	351,485
2013	652,427	325,059
2014	674,754	294,628
2015	668,771	266,362
2016	641,365	226,255
2017	645,975	194,695
2018	648,319	159,383
2019	652,130	116,867
2020	595,873	84,107
2021	456,411	57,382
2022	603,636	-61,046
2023	602,793	-46,105

Maternal mortality chart: South Africa vs Thailand

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 34 deaths in Thailand.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Africa	Thailand
1985	208	88
1986	200	78
1987	192	72
1988	184	67
1989	177	64
1990	170	60
1991	162	59
1992	152	58
1993	145	57
1994	133	54
1995	125	52
1996	150	49
1997	152	48
1998	152	47
1999	151	48
2000	175	49
2001	192	47
2002	225	44
2003	245	42
2004	259	44
2005	279	40
2006	283	38
2007	272	38
2008	272	37
2009	241	37
2010	226	37
2011	202	37
2012	194	36
2013	180	35
2014	162	34
2015	150	34
2016	141	34
2017	134	34
2018	128	34
2019	119	34
2020	118	36
2021	191	38
2022	129	112
2023	118	34

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.47% in South Africa and 0.92% in Thailand. 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	Thailand
1960	-	14.7%
1961	-	14.2%
1962	-	13.7%
1963	-	13.2%
1964	-	12.8%
1965	-	12.3%
1966	-	11.8%
1967	-	11.4%
1968	-	10.9%
1969	-	10.4%
1970	-	9.95%
1971	-	9.47%
1972	-	9.01%
1973	-	8.56%
1974	13.2%	8.14%
1975	12.5%	7.73%
1976	11.8%	7.35%
1977	11.1%	7%
1978	10.5%	6.67%
1979	9.88%	6.36%
1980	9.35%	6.07%
1981	8.84%	5.79%
1982	8.39%	5.53%
1983	7.98%	5.28%
1984	7.6%	5.03%
1985	7.24%	4.8%
1986	6.89%	4.57%
1987	6.56%	4.34%
1988	6.26%	4.12%
1989	6.01%	3.91%
1990	5.82%	3.69%
1991	5.7%	3.49%
1992	5.66%	3.3%
1993	5.7%	3.12%
1994	5.82%	2.96%
1995	5.95%	2.81%
1996	6.11%	2.67%
1997	6.29%	2.53%
1998	6.56%	2.41%
1999	6.85%	2.29%
2000	7.11%	2.18%
2001	7.43%	2.08%
2002	7.69%	1.98%
2003	7.93%	1.89%
2004	8.1%	1.81%
2005	8.03%	1.73%
2006	7.75%	1.66%
2007	7.19%	1.59%
2008	6.42%	1.53%
2009	5.7%	1.47%
2010	5%	1.42%
2011	4.5%	1.37%
2012	4.25%	1.32%
2013	4.1%	1.27%
2014	3.96%	1.23%
2015	3.82%	1.19%
2016	3.68%	1.15%
2017	3.58%	1.11%
2018	3.49%	1.08%
2019	3.45%	1.04%
2020	3.41%	1.01%
2021	3.41%	0.98%
2022	3.44%	0.95%
2023	3.47%	0.92%