Fertility & birth rates in South Africa and Tonga

Fertility rate in South Africa vs Tonga 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 3.13 in Tonga in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check South Africa vs Tonga 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	Tonga
1960	6.11	6.65
1961	6.08	6.61
1962	6.05	6.57
1963	6.01	6.52
1964	5.96	6.46
1965	5.89	6.41
1966	5.91	6.35
1967	5.85	6.29
1968	5.78	6.23
1969	5.72	6.17
1970	5.63	6.07
1971	5.57	5.96
1972	5.49	5.86
1973	5.41	5.8
1974	5.3	5.77
1975	5.19	5.75
1976	5.07	5.73
1977	4.94	5.7
1978	4.85	5.68
1979	4.82	5.65
1980	4.78	5.6
1981	4.71	5.55
1982	4.7	5.5
1983	4.63	5.45
1984	4.57	5.41
1985	4.5	5.34
1986	4.41	5.27
1987	4.35	5.19
1988	4.18	5.1
1989	3.98	5.01
1990	3.72	4.93
1991	3.62	4.85
1992	3.48	4.79
1993	3.37	4.73
1994	3.26	4.66
1995	3.17	4.56
1996	2.99	4.46
1997	2.73	4.38
1998	2.63	4.31
1999	2.56	4.23
2000	2.41	4.16
2001	2.37	4.13
2002	2.32	4.14
2003	2.36	4.18
2004	2.44	4.19
2005	2.51	4.2
2006	2.55	4.14
2007	2.55	4.09
2008	2.68	4.01
2009	2.5	3.95
2010	2.44	3.88
2011	2.44	3.83
2012	2.45	3.77
2013	2.43	3.7
2014	2.42	3.62
2015	2.36	3.54
2016	2.26	3.46
2017	2.28	3.39
2018	2.27	3.33
2019	2.26	3.27
2020	2.26	3.23
2021	2.25	3.2
2022	2.23	3.17
2023	2.22	3.13
2024	2.21	3.1
2025	2.19	3.07
2026	2.17	3.04
2027	2.15	3
2028	2.13	2.97
2029	2.12	2.95
2030	2.1	2.91
2031	2.09	2.89
2032	2.07	2.85
2033	2.06	2.82
2034	2.05	2.8
2035	2.04	2.77
2036	2.03	2.75
2037	2.02	2.72
2038	2	2.7
2039	1.99	2.68
2040	1.98	2.65
2041	1.98	2.63
2042	1.97	2.61
2043	1.96	2.59
2044	1.95	2.56
2045	1.94	2.54
2046	1.93	2.52
2047	1.92	2.5
2048	1.91	2.49
2049	1.9	2.47
2050	1.89	2.45

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Africa	Tonga
1960	42.1%	45.7%
1961	42.1%	45.7%
1962	42.1%	45.8%
1963	42.1%	45.9%
1964	42.1%	45.9%
1965	42.1%	45.9%
1966	42.1%	45.9%
1967	42.2%	46%
1968	42.2%	46.2%
1969	42.2%	46.3%
1970	42.3%	46.4%
1971	42.2%	46.4%
1972	42.2%	46.3%
1973	42.1%	46.2%
1974	42%	46.2%
1975	41.9%	46.2%
1976	41.8%	46.1%
1977	41.7%	45.8%
1978	41.5%	45.3%
1979	41.3%	44.8%
1980	40.9%	44.3%
1981	40.5%	43.9%
1982	40.1%	43.4%
1983	39.8%	42.9%
1984	39.5%	42.4%
1985	39.2%	42%
1986	38.9%	41.7%
1987	38.7%	41.5%
1988	38.4%	41.2%
1989	38.1%	40.9%
1990	37.7%	40.8%
1991	37.5%	40.6%
1992	37.6%	40.5%
1993	37.3%	40.3%
1994	37.2%	40.1%
1995	37.5%	39.9%
1996	37.5%	39.7%
1997	37.2%	39.3%
1998	36.5%	38.9%
1999	35.7%	38.6%
2000	34.9%	38.3%
2001	34%	38.2%
2002	33.2%	38.1%
2003	32.3%	38.1%
2004	31.6%	38.2%
2005	31.1%	38.3%
2006	30.6%	38.3%
2007	30.2%	38.3%
2008	29.9%	38%
2009	29.7%	37.8%
2010	29.4%	37.6%
2011	29.1%	37.4%
2012	28.9%	37.2%
2013	28.7%	37.1%
2014	28.5%	36.9%
2015	28.3%	36.7%
2016	28.3%	36.5%
2017	28.3%	36.4%
2018	27.9%	36.2%
2019	27.4%	36%
2020	27%	35.8%
2021	26.6%	35.7%
2022	26.3%	35.6%
2023	26.1%	35.6%
2024	25.9%	35.4%
2025	25.7%	34.9%
2026	25.6%	34.4%
2027	25.4%	33.8%
2028	25.3%	33.3%
2029	25.2%	32.6%
2030	25.2%	32%
2031	25.1%	31.6%
2032	25%	31.2%
2033	24.8%	31%
2034	24.5%	30.8%
2035	24.3%	30.7%
2036	23.9%	30.5%
2037	23.6%	30.4%
2038	23.4%	30.3%
2039	23.1%	30.2%
2040	22.9%	30.1%
2041	22.7%	30.1%
2042	22.5%	30%
2043	22.4%	30%
2044	22.2%	29.9%
2045	22.1%	29.8%
2046	21.9%	29.6%
2047	21.8%	29.5%
2048	21.7%	29.2%
2049	21.6%	29%
2050	21.5%	28.7%

Children aged 0-14 make up 25.9% of the population in South Africa and 35.4% in Tonga in 2024, compared to 37.7% and 40.8% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Africa and Tonga compared.

Natural population change in South Africa vs Tonga by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.05% in South Africa and +1.79% in Tonga. 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	Tonga
1960	421,263	2,230
1961	437,851	2,284
1962	455,634	2,343
1963	473,821	2,394
1964	490,606	2,445
1965	506,632	2,498
1966	534,862	2,550
1967	553,741	2,603
1968	571,841	2,614
1969	590,794	2,632
1970	605,102	2,628
1971	624,761	2,611
1972	638,754	2,605
1973	651,596	2,617
1974	658,438	2,650
1975	667,862	2,709
1976	675,011	2,769
1977	680,929	2,822
1978	694,341	2,862
1979	716,541	2,884
1980	738,415	2,885
1981	767,833	2,882
1982	807,550	2,853
1983	837,013	2,840
1984	869,011	2,814
1985	893,889	2,762
1986	903,644	2,704
1987	922,330	2,646
1988	909,221	2,649
1989	884,629	2,644
1990	835,421	2,641
1991	827,296	2,637
1992	794,415	2,622
1993	789,220	2,594
1994	698,609	2,547
1995	743,488	2,476
1996	710,868	2,393
1997	667,969	2,332
1998	627,027	2,344
1999	594,643	2,352
2000	526,963	2,346
2001	484,801	2,358
2002	430,926	2,396
2003	415,018	2,448
2004	442,540	2,478
2005	464,464	2,495
2006	487,584	2,459
2007	503,567	2,423
2008	595,332	2,397
2009	554,115	2,358
2010	566,834	2,332
2011	601,708	2,298
2012	643,723	2,255
2013	652,427	2,199
2014	674,754	2,135
2015	668,771	2,064
2016	641,365	1,989
2017	645,975	1,912
2018	648,319	1,873
2019	652,130	1,841
2020	595,873	1,816
2021	456,411	1,773
2022	603,636	1,772
2023	602,793	1,744

Maternal mortality chart: South Africa vs Tonga

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 67 deaths in Tonga.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Africa	Tonga
1985	208	148
1986	200	149
1987	192	147
1988	184	145
1989	177	139
1990	170	138
1991	162	134
1992	152	129
1993	145	127
1994	133	123
1995	125	117
1996	150	113
1997	152	111
1998	152	104
1999	151	99
2000	175	100
2001	192	98
2002	225	98
2003	245	95
2004	259	92
2005	279	92
2006	283	89
2007	272	88
2008	272	88
2009	241	91
2010	226	85
2011	202	84
2012	194	83
2013	180	80
2014	162	80
2015	150	79
2016	141	78
2017	134	77
2018	128	74
2019	119	73
2020	118	74
2021	191	76
2022	129	72
2023	118	67

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.47% in South Africa and 0.99% in Tonga. 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	Tonga
1963	-	7.83%
1964	-	7.35%
1965	-	6.89%
1966	-	6.45%
1967	-	6.03%
1968	-	5.63%
1969	-	5.25%
1970	-	4.91%
1971	-	4.61%
1972	-	4.35%
1973	-	4.11%
1974	13.2%	3.9%
1975	12.5%	3.71%
1976	11.8%	3.53%
1977	11.1%	3.37%
1978	10.5%	3.22%
1979	9.88%	3.09%
1980	9.35%	2.97%
1981	8.84%	2.87%
1982	8.39%	2.78%
1983	7.98%	2.7%
1984	7.6%	2.63%
1985	7.24%	2.57%
1986	6.89%	2.51%
1987	6.56%	2.44%
1988	6.26%	2.37%
1989	6.01%	2.29%
1990	5.82%	2.21%
1991	5.7%	2.14%
1992	5.66%	2.06%
1993	5.7%	2%
1994	5.82%	1.94%
1995	5.95%	1.89%
1996	6.11%	1.85%
1997	6.29%	1.81%
1998	6.56%	1.78%
1999	6.85%	1.74%
2000	7.11%	1.7%
2001	7.43%	1.65%
2002	7.69%	1.61%
2003	7.93%	1.56%
2004	8.1%	1.52%
2005	8.03%	1.48%
2006	7.75%	1.44%
2007	7.19%	1.41%
2008	6.42%	1.37%
2009	5.7%	1.34%
2010	5%	1.31%
2011	4.5%	1.29%
2012	4.25%	1.26%
2013	4.1%	1.24%
2014	3.96%	1.22%
2015	3.82%	1.19%
2016	3.68%	1.17%
2017	3.58%	1.15%
2018	3.49%	1.12%
2019	3.45%	1.1%
2020	3.41%	1.08%
2021	3.41%	1.05%
2022	3.44%	1.02%
2023	3.47%	0.99%