Fertility & birth rates in South Africa and Vanuatu

Fertility rate in South Africa vs Vanuatu 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 3.6 in Vanuatu in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check South Africa vs Vanuatu 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	Vanuatu
1960	6.11	6.78
1961	6.08	6.73
1962	6.05	6.67
1963	6.01	6.62
1964	5.96	6.57
1965	5.89	6.52
1966	5.91	6.51
1967	5.85	6.51
1968	5.78	6.46
1969	5.72	6.41
1970	5.63	6.35
1971	5.57	6.29
1972	5.49	6.23
1973	5.41	6.15
1974	5.3	6.06
1975	5.19	5.98
1976	5.07	5.89
1977	4.94	5.81
1978	4.85	5.77
1979	4.82	5.73
1980	4.78	5.69
1981	4.71	5.65
1982	4.7	5.6
1983	4.63	5.55
1984	4.57	5.49
1985	4.5	5.43
1986	4.41	5.38
1987	4.35	5.33
1988	4.18	5.27
1989	3.98	5.21
1990	3.72	5.17
1991	3.62	5.13
1992	3.48	5.09
1993	3.37	5.02
1994	3.26	4.94
1995	3.17	4.85
1996	2.99	4.75
1997	2.73	4.66
1998	2.63	4.6
1999	2.56	4.56
2000	2.41	4.54
2001	2.37	4.5
2002	2.32	4.38
2003	2.36	4.29
2004	2.44	4.21
2005	2.51	4.13
2006	2.55	4.1
2007	2.55	4.12
2008	2.68	4.16
2009	2.5	4.16
2010	2.44	4.13
2011	2.44	4.09
2012	2.45	4.06
2013	2.43	4.04
2014	2.42	4
2015	2.36	3.95
2016	2.26	3.92
2017	2.28	3.88
2018	2.27	3.83
2019	2.26	3.79
2020	2.26	3.74
2021	2.25	3.7
2022	2.23	3.65
2023	2.22	3.6
2024	2.21	3.57
2025	2.19	3.53
2026	2.17	3.5
2027	2.15	3.46
2028	2.13	3.42
2029	2.12	3.39
2030	2.1	3.35
2031	2.09	3.32
2032	2.07	3.28
2033	2.06	3.25
2034	2.05	3.21
2035	2.04	3.18
2036	2.03	3.15
2037	2.02	3.13
2038	2	3.1
2039	1.99	3.08
2040	1.98	3.05
2041	1.98	3.03
2042	1.97	3
2043	1.96	2.97
2044	1.95	2.94
2045	1.94	2.92
2046	1.93	2.9
2047	1.92	2.88
2048	1.91	2.85
2049	1.9	2.83
2050	1.89	2.8

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Africa	Vanuatu
1960	42.1%	44.6%
1961	42.1%	44.8%
1962	42.1%	45.1%
1963	42.1%	45.2%
1964	42.1%	45.4%
1965	42.1%	45.5%
1966	42.1%	45.7%
1967	42.2%	45.8%
1968	42.2%	45.8%
1969	42.2%	45.8%
1970	42.3%	45.7%
1971	42.2%	45.7%
1972	42.2%	45.6%
1973	42.1%	45.5%
1974	42%	45.5%
1975	41.9%	45.4%
1976	41.8%	45.2%
1977	41.7%	45.1%
1978	41.5%	45%
1979	41.3%	44.5%
1980	40.9%	44%
1981	40.5%	43.9%
1982	40.1%	44%
1983	39.8%	44%
1984	39.5%	44.1%
1985	39.2%	44.2%
1986	38.9%	44.2%
1987	38.7%	44.1%
1988	38.4%	44.1%
1989	38.1%	44%
1990	37.7%	43.9%
1991	37.5%	43.9%
1992	37.6%	44.1%
1993	37.3%	44.8%
1994	37.2%	45.2%
1995	37.5%	45%
1996	37.5%	44.8%
1997	37.2%	44.4%
1998	36.5%	44%
1999	35.7%	43.5%
2000	34.9%	42.9%
2001	34%	42.4%
2002	33.2%	41.8%
2003	32.3%	41.3%
2004	31.6%	40.7%
2005	31.1%	40.2%
2006	30.6%	39.6%
2007	30.2%	39.2%
2008	29.9%	38.8%
2009	29.7%	38.5%
2010	29.4%	38.2%
2011	29.1%	38.1%
2012	28.9%	38.2%
2013	28.7%	38.2%
2014	28.5%	38.4%
2015	28.3%	38.5%
2016	28.3%	38.7%
2017	28.3%	38.8%
2018	27.9%	38.9%
2019	27.4%	39%
2020	27%	39%
2021	26.6%	39%
2022	26.3%	38.8%
2023	26.1%	38.6%
2024	25.9%	38.3%
2025	25.7%	38%
2026	25.6%	37.6%
2027	25.4%	37.1%
2028	25.3%	36.7%
2029	25.2%	36.2%
2030	25.2%	35.8%
2031	25.1%	35.3%
2032	25%	34.9%
2033	24.8%	34.5%
2034	24.5%	34.1%
2035	24.3%	33.7%
2036	23.9%	33.4%
2037	23.6%	33.2%
2038	23.4%	32.9%
2039	23.1%	32.7%
2040	22.9%	32.5%
2041	22.7%	32.3%
2042	22.5%	32.2%
2043	22.4%	32%
2044	22.2%	31.8%
2045	22.1%	31.6%
2046	21.9%	31.5%
2047	21.8%	31.3%
2048	21.7%	31.1%
2049	21.6%	30.9%
2050	21.5%	30.6%

Children aged 0-14 make up 25.9% of the population in South Africa and 38.3% in Vanuatu in 2024, compared to 37.7% and 43.9% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Africa and Vanuatu compared.

Natural population change in South Africa vs Vanuatu by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.05% in South Africa and +2.53% in Vanuatu. 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	Vanuatu
1960	421,263	1,796
1961	437,851	1,872
1962	455,634	1,947
1963	473,821	2,025
1964	490,606	2,098
1965	506,632	2,180
1966	534,862	2,278
1967	553,741	2,384
1968	571,841	2,470
1969	590,794	2,529
1970	605,102	2,597
1971	624,761	2,685
1972	638,754	2,775
1973	651,596	2,876
1974	658,438	2,968
1975	667,862	3,074
1976	675,011	3,174
1977	680,929	3,285
1978	694,341	3,428
1979	716,541	3,590
1980	738,415	3,383
1981	767,833	3,592
1982	807,550	3,778
1983	837,013	3,944
1984	869,011	4,088
1985	893,889	4,219
1986	903,644	4,360
1987	922,330	4,427
1988	909,221	4,577
1989	884,629	4,656
1990	835,421	4,762
1991	827,296	4,859
1992	794,415	4,941
1993	789,220	4,973
1994	698,609	4,973
1995	743,488	4,945
1996	710,868	4,897
1997	667,969	4,854
1998	627,027	4,866
1999	594,643	4,871
2000	526,963	5,026
2001	484,801	5,144
2002	430,926	5,181
2003	415,018	5,258
2004	442,540	5,353
2005	464,464	5,454
2006	487,584	5,606
2007	503,567	5,842
2008	595,332	6,138
2009	554,115	6,362
2010	566,834	6,548
2011	601,708	6,715
2012	643,723	6,877
2013	652,427	7,036
2014	674,754	7,143
2015	668,771	7,220
2016	641,365	7,315
2017	645,975	7,371
2018	648,319	7,379
2019	652,130	7,364
2020	595,873	7,233
2021	456,411	7,199
2022	603,636	7,358
2023	602,793	7,359

Maternal mortality chart: South Africa vs Vanuatu

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 100 deaths in Vanuatu.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Africa	Vanuatu
1985	208	211
1986	200	194
1987	192	200
1988	184	172
1989	177	162
1990	170	151
1991	162	140
1992	152	140
1993	145	133
1994	133	131
1995	125	131
1996	150	129
1997	152	131
1998	152	134
1999	151	146
2000	175	133
2001	192	132
2002	225	128
2003	245	131
2004	259	131
2005	279	127
2006	283	123
2007	272	120
2008	272	117
2009	241	114
2010	226	114
2011	202	112
2012	194	109
2013	180	110
2014	162	110
2015	150	109
2016	141	107
2017	134	107
2018	128	108
2019	119	105
2020	118	107
2021	191	124
2022	129	105
2023	118	100

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.47% in South Africa and 1.68% in Vanuatu. 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	Vanuatu
1960	-	15.2%
1961	-	14.7%
1962	-	14.3%
1963	-	13.8%
1964	-	13.4%
1965	-	12.9%
1966	-	12.4%
1967	-	12%
1968	-	11.5%
1969	-	11%
1970	-	10.6%
1971	-	10.2%
1972	-	9.73%
1973	-	9.34%
1974	13.2%	8.95%
1975	12.5%	8.58%
1976	11.8%	8.21%
1977	11.1%	7.84%
1978	10.5%	7.45%
1979	9.88%	7.07%
1980	9.35%	6.67%
1981	8.84%	6.27%
1982	8.39%	5.87%
1983	7.98%	5.48%
1984	7.6%	5.12%
1985	7.24%	4.78%
1986	6.89%	4.47%
1987	6.56%	4.2%
1988	6.26%	3.96%
1989	6.01%	3.76%
1990	5.82%	3.58%
1991	5.7%	3.43%
1992	5.66%	3.29%
1993	5.7%	3.18%
1994	5.82%	3.08%
1995	5.95%	3%
1996	6.11%	2.92%
1997	6.29%	2.86%
1998	6.56%	2.79%
1999	6.85%	2.74%
2000	7.11%	2.68%
2001	7.43%	2.63%
2002	7.69%	2.58%
2003	7.93%	2.54%
2004	8.1%	2.5%
2005	8.03%	2.45%
2006	7.75%	2.4%
2007	7.19%	2.34%
2008	6.42%	2.27%
2009	5.7%	2.2%
2010	5%	2.12%
2011	4.5%	2.05%
2012	4.25%	1.99%
2013	4.1%	1.94%
2014	3.96%	1.9%
2015	3.82%	1.87%
2016	3.68%	1.84%
2017	3.58%	1.82%
2018	3.49%	1.8%
2019	3.45%	1.78%
2020	3.41%	1.77%
2021	3.41%	1.74%
2022	3.44%	1.71%
2023	3.47%	1.68%