Fertility & birth rates in South Africa and Uganda

Fertility rate in South Africa vs Uganda 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 4.28 in Uganda in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check South Africa vs Uganda 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	Uganda
1960	6.11	6.91
1961	6.08	6.93
1962	6.05	6.96
1963	6.01	6.98
1964	5.96	7.01
1965	5.89	7.04
1966	5.91	7.07
1967	5.85	7.1
1968	5.78	7.13
1969	5.72	7.12
1970	5.63	7.15
1971	5.57	7.18
1972	5.49	7.19
1973	5.41	7.19
1974	5.3	7.19
1975	5.19	7.2
1976	5.07	7.19
1977	4.94	7.18
1978	4.85	7.16
1979	4.82	7.14
1980	4.78	7.11
1981	4.71	7.12
1982	4.7	7.11
1983	4.63	7.07
1984	4.57	7.02
1985	4.5	7.04
1986	4.41	7.08
1987	4.35	7.12
1988	4.18	7.1
1989	3.98	7.05
1990	3.72	7.01
1991	3.62	6.94
1992	3.48	6.91
1993	3.37	6.89
1994	3.26	6.9
1995	3.17	6.87
1996	2.99	6.84
1997	2.73	6.86
1998	2.63	6.84
1999	2.56	6.83
2000	2.41	6.79
2001	2.37	6.76
2002	2.32	6.74
2003	2.36	6.67
2004	2.44	6.61
2005	2.51	6.53
2006	2.55	6.43
2007	2.55	6.33
2008	2.68	6.2
2009	2.5	6.12
2010	2.44	6.02
2011	2.44	5.89
2012	2.45	5.73
2013	2.43	5.56
2014	2.42	5.41
2015	2.36	5.25
2016	2.26	5.11
2017	2.28	4.99
2018	2.27	4.87
2019	2.26	4.74
2020	2.26	4.62
2021	2.25	4.51
2022	2.23	4.39
2023	2.22	4.28
2024	2.21	4.16
2025	2.19	4.06
2026	2.17	3.97
2027	2.15	3.87
2028	2.13	3.79
2029	2.12	3.69
2030	2.1	3.61
2031	2.09	3.53
2032	2.07	3.45
2033	2.06	3.38
2034	2.05	3.31
2035	2.04	3.25
2036	2.03	3.19
2037	2.02	3.14
2038	2	3.09
2039	1.99	3.04
2040	1.98	2.99
2041	1.98	2.94
2042	1.97	2.9
2043	1.96	2.86
2044	1.95	2.82
2045	1.94	2.78
2046	1.93	2.74
2047	1.92	2.71
2048	1.91	2.67
2049	1.9	2.64
2050	1.89	2.61

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Africa	Uganda
1960	42.1%	46.3%
1961	42.1%	46.6%
1962	42.1%	46.8%
1963	42.1%	46.9%
1964	42.1%	46.8%
1965	42.1%	46.7%
1966	42.1%	46.6%
1967	42.2%	46.6%
1968	42.2%	46.5%
1969	42.2%	46.5%
1970	42.3%	46.5%
1971	42.2%	46.7%
1972	42.2%	46.9%
1973	42.1%	47.1%
1974	42%	47.3%
1975	41.9%	47.4%
1976	41.8%	47.5%
1977	41.7%	47.5%
1978	41.5%	47.6%
1979	41.3%	47.7%
1980	40.9%	47.9%
1981	40.5%	48%
1982	40.1%	48%
1983	39.8%	48.1%
1984	39.5%	48%
1985	39.2%	48%
1986	38.9%	48%
1987	38.7%	48%
1988	38.4%	48.1%
1989	38.1%	48.1%
1990	37.7%	48.2%
1991	37.5%	48.3%
1992	37.6%	48.4%
1993	37.3%	48.5%
1994	37.2%	48.6%
1995	37.5%	49.1%
1996	37.5%	49.4%
1997	37.2%	49.7%
1998	36.5%	49.9%
1999	35.7%	50%
2000	34.9%	50.1%
2001	34%	50.1%
2002	33.2%	50.1%
2003	32.3%	50.1%
2004	31.6%	50.1%
2005	31.1%	50.1%
2006	30.6%	50%
2007	30.2%	50%
2008	29.9%	49.8%
2009	29.7%	49.7%
2010	29.4%	49.5%
2011	29.1%	49.3%
2012	28.9%	49.1%
2013	28.7%	48.8%
2014	28.5%	48.5%
2015	28.3%	48.1%
2016	28.3%	47.5%
2017	28.3%	46.9%
2018	27.9%	46.3%
2019	27.4%	45.8%
2020	27%	45.2%
2021	26.6%	44.7%
2022	26.3%	44.3%
2023	26.1%	43.9%
2024	25.9%	43.5%
2025	25.7%	43.1%
2026	25.6%	42.7%
2027	25.4%	42.2%
2028	25.3%	41.8%
2029	25.2%	41.3%
2030	25.2%	40.9%
2031	25.1%	40.5%
2032	25%	40%
2033	24.8%	39.5%
2034	24.5%	39%
2035	24.3%	38.4%
2036	23.9%	37.8%
2037	23.6%	37.3%
2038	23.4%	36.7%
2039	23.1%	36.1%
2040	22.9%	35.6%
2041	22.7%	35.1%
2042	22.5%	34.6%
2043	22.4%	34.1%
2044	22.2%	33.6%
2045	22.1%	33.1%
2046	21.9%	32.7%
2047	21.8%	32.3%
2048	21.7%	31.8%
2049	21.6%	31.5%
2050	21.5%	31.1%

Children aged 0-14 make up 25.9% of the population in South Africa and 43.5% in Uganda in 2024, compared to 37.7% and 48.2% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Africa and Uganda compared.

Natural population change in South Africa vs Uganda by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.05% in South Africa and +3.17% in Uganda. 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	Uganda
1960	421,263	225,080
1961	437,851	232,894
1962	455,634	241,513
1963	473,821	250,885
1964	490,606	260,733
1965	506,632	271,830
1966	534,862	282,225
1967	553,741	296,692
1968	571,841	309,725
1969	590,794	320,486
1970	605,102	333,202
1971	624,761	328,294
1972	638,754	335,935
1973	651,596	340,780
1974	658,438	345,773
1975	667,862	354,278
1976	675,011	359,458
1977	680,929	365,216
1978	694,341	371,930
1979	716,541	381,626
1980	738,415	370,287
1981	767,833	380,028
1982	807,550	390,820
1983	837,013	404,940
1984	869,011	421,241
1985	893,889	462,534
1986	903,644	487,693
1987	922,330	527,397
1988	909,221	547,759
1989	884,629	565,367
1990	835,421	587,291
1991	827,296	602,740
1992	794,415	627,139
1993	789,220	650,032
1994	698,609	675,092
1995	743,488	697,218
1996	710,868	699,707
1997	667,969	727,523
1998	627,027	741,175
1999	594,643	775,166
2000	526,963	803,069
2001	484,801	836,751
2002	430,926	868,756
2003	415,018	901,374
2004	442,540	938,623
2005	464,464	969,096
2006	487,584	999,958
2007	503,567	1,029,893
2008	595,332	1,055,935
2009	554,115	1,090,600
2010	566,834	1,121,564
2011	601,708	1,147,263
2012	643,723	1,167,473
2013	652,427	1,184,250
2014	674,754	1,201,599
2015	668,771	1,224,839
2016	641,365	1,249,565
2017	645,975	1,290,658
2018	648,319	1,332,600
2019	652,130	1,367,044
2020	595,873	1,397,288
2021	456,411	1,423,377
2022	603,636	1,455,576
2023	602,793	1,477,166

Maternal mortality chart: South Africa vs Uganda

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 170 deaths in Uganda.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Africa	Uganda
1985	208	842
1986	200	781
1987	192	709
1988	184	655
1989	177	609
1990	170	575
1991	162	549
1992	152	530
1993	145	515
1994	133	507
1995	125	514
1996	150	513
1997	152	522
1998	152	523
1999	151	504
2000	175	475
2001	192	440
2002	225	416
2003	245	395
2004	259	384
2005	279	417
2006	283	409
2007	272	345
2008	272	324
2009	241	322
2010	226	304
2011	202	295
2012	194	285
2013	180	308
2014	162	311
2015	150	299
2016	141	272
2017	134	246
2018	128	232
2019	119	219
2020	118	209
2021	191	216
2022	129	184
2023	118	170

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.47% in South Africa and 3.88% in Uganda. 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	Uganda
1960	-	22.3%
1961	-	21.9%
1962	-	21.6%
1963	-	21.3%
1964	-	20.9%
1965	-	20.6%
1966	-	20.3%
1967	-	19.9%
1968	-	19.7%
1969	-	19.4%
1970	-	19.3%
1971	-	19.3%
1972	-	19.4%
1973	-	19.6%
1974	13.2%	19.9%
1975	12.5%	20.3%
1976	11.8%	20.7%
1977	11.1%	21.2%
1978	10.5%	21.6%
1979	9.88%	21.8%
1980	9.35%	22%
1981	8.84%	21.9%
1982	8.39%	21.4%
1983	7.98%	20.9%
1984	7.6%	20.3%
1985	7.24%	19.9%
1986	6.89%	19.5%
1987	6.56%	19.2%
1988	6.26%	18.9%
1989	6.01%	18.7%
1990	5.82%	18.3%
1991	5.7%	17.9%
1992	5.66%	17.4%
1993	5.7%	17%
1994	5.82%	16.7%
1995	5.95%	16.5%
1996	6.11%	16.2%
1997	6.29%	16%
1998	6.56%	15.6%
1999	6.85%	15.2%
2000	7.11%	14.6%
2001	7.43%	13.9%
2002	7.69%	13.1%
2003	7.93%	12.3%
2004	8.1%	11.5%
2005	8.03%	10.7%
2006	7.75%	9.97%
2007	7.19%	9.3%
2008	6.42%	8.69%
2009	5.7%	8.14%
2010	5%	7.61%
2011	4.5%	7.1%
2012	4.25%	6.67%
2013	4.1%	6.24%
2014	3.96%	5.91%
2015	3.82%	5.58%
2016	3.68%	5.25%
2017	3.58%	4.98%
2018	3.49%	4.74%
2019	3.45%	4.53%
2020	3.41%	4.35%
2021	3.41%	4.18%
2022	3.44%	4.05%
2023	3.47%	3.88%