Fertility & birth rates in South Africa and Yemen

Fertility rate in South Africa vs Yemen 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 4.59 in Yemen in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check South Africa vs Yemen 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	Yemen
1960	6.11	7.99
1961	6.08	8
1962	6.05	8.01
1963	6.01	8.03
1964	5.96	8.07
1965	5.89	8.1
1966	5.91	8.14
1967	5.85	8.17
1968	5.78	8.19
1969	5.72	8.22
1970	5.63	8.23
1971	5.57	8.26
1972	5.49	8.27
1973	5.41	8.29
1974	5.3	8.33
1975	5.19	8.37
1976	5.07	8.42
1977	4.94	8.47
1978	4.85	8.5
1979	4.82	8.67
1980	4.78	8.71
1981	4.71	8.75
1982	4.7	8.79
1983	4.63	8.83
1984	4.57	8.85
1985	4.5	8.86
1986	4.41	8.86
1987	4.35	8.83
1988	4.18	8.79
1989	3.98	8.71
1990	3.72	8.61
1991	3.62	8.46
1992	3.48	8.27
1993	3.37	8.05
1994	3.26	7.8
1995	3.17	7.53
1996	2.99	7
1997	2.73	6.82
1998	2.63	6.64
1999	2.56	6.49
2000	2.41	6.32
2001	2.37	6.14
2002	2.32	5.97
2003	2.36	5.84
2004	2.44	5.71
2005	2.51	5.56
2006	2.55	5.41
2007	2.55	5.26
2008	2.68	5.11
2009	2.5	5
2010	2.44	4.81
2011	2.44	4.63
2012	2.45	4.63
2013	2.43	4.62
2014	2.42	4.62
2015	2.36	4.62
2016	2.26	4.61
2017	2.28	4.61
2018	2.27	4.61
2019	2.26	4.6
2020	2.26	4.6
2021	2.25	4.6
2022	2.23	4.59
2023	2.22	4.59
2024	2.21	4.5
2025	2.19	4.41
2026	2.17	4.33
2027	2.15	4.23
2028	2.13	4.14
2029	2.12	4.06
2030	2.1	3.97
2031	2.09	3.87
2032	2.07	3.8
2033	2.06	3.73
2034	2.05	3.66
2035	2.04	3.59
2036	2.03	3.51
2037	2.02	3.44
2038	2	3.38
2039	1.99	3.32
2040	1.98	3.26
2041	1.98	3.21
2042	1.97	3.16
2043	1.96	3.12
2044	1.95	3.07
2045	1.94	3.02
2046	1.93	2.97
2047	1.92	2.93
2048	1.91	2.89
2049	1.9	2.85
2050	1.89	2.81

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Africa	Yemen
1960	42.1%	40.3%
1961	42.1%	40.4%
1962	42.1%	40.4%
1963	42.1%	40.6%
1964	42.1%	40.9%
1965	42.1%	41.3%
1966	42.1%	41.8%
1967	42.2%	42.3%
1968	42.2%	42.8%
1969	42.2%	43.3%
1970	42.3%	43.8%
1971	42.2%	44.3%
1972	42.2%	44.8%
1973	42.1%	45.3%
1974	42%	45.7%
1975	41.9%	46.2%
1976	41.8%	46.6%
1977	41.7%	47%
1978	41.5%	47.5%
1979	41.3%	47.9%
1980	40.9%	48.3%
1981	40.5%	48.7%
1982	40.1%	49.1%
1983	39.8%	49.4%
1984	39.5%	49.7%
1985	39.2%	50%
1986	38.9%	50.3%
1987	38.7%	50.5%
1988	38.4%	50.7%
1989	38.1%	50.9%
1990	37.7%	51.1%
1991	37.5%	51.2%
1992	37.6%	51.2%
1993	37.3%	51.2%
1994	37.2%	51.1%
1995	37.5%	50.9%
1996	37.5%	50.6%
1997	37.2%	50.3%
1998	36.5%	49.9%
1999	35.7%	49.5%
2000	34.9%	49%
2001	34%	48.6%
2002	33.2%	48.1%
2003	32.3%	47.6%
2004	31.6%	47.1%
2005	31.1%	46.5%
2006	30.6%	45.9%
2007	30.2%	45.3%
2008	29.9%	44.7%
2009	29.7%	44.1%
2010	29.4%	43.5%
2011	29.1%	43%
2012	28.9%	42.7%
2013	28.7%	42.3%
2014	28.5%	42.1%
2015	28.3%	41.8%
2016	28.3%	41.7%
2017	28.3%	41.6%
2018	27.9%	41.5%
2019	27.4%	41.4%
2020	27%	41.4%
2021	26.6%	41.4%
2022	26.3%	41.3%
2023	26.1%	41.2%
2024	25.9%	41.1%
2025	25.7%	41%
2026	25.6%	40.9%
2027	25.4%	40.8%
2028	25.3%	40.6%
2029	25.2%	40.3%
2030	25.2%	40%
2031	25.1%	39.6%
2032	25%	39.2%
2033	24.8%	38.7%
2034	24.5%	38.2%
2035	24.3%	37.7%
2036	23.9%	37.1%
2037	23.6%	36.5%
2038	23.4%	36%
2039	23.1%	35.4%
2040	22.9%	34.8%
2041	22.7%	34.3%
2042	22.5%	33.8%
2043	22.4%	33.4%
2044	22.2%	33%
2045	22.1%	32.6%
2046	21.9%	32.3%
2047	21.8%	32%
2048	21.7%	31.7%
2049	21.6%	31.4%
2050	21.5%	31.1%

Children aged 0-14 make up 25.9% of the population in South Africa and 41.1% in Yemen in 2024, compared to 37.7% and 51.1% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Africa and Yemen compared.

Natural population change in South Africa vs Yemen by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.05% in South Africa and +3.02% in Yemen. 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	Yemen
1960	421,263	122,994
1961	437,851	129,787
1962	455,634	131,262
1963	473,821	133,781
1964	490,606	147,299
1965	506,632	155,398
1966	534,862	164,091
1967	553,741	173,637
1968	571,841	182,518
1969	590,794	196,305
1970	605,102	207,613
1971	624,761	219,095
1972	638,754	229,322
1973	651,596	240,235
1974	658,438	252,737
1975	667,862	266,815
1976	675,011	281,078
1977	680,929	296,115
1978	694,341	312,439
1979	716,541	336,378
1980	738,415	355,767
1981	767,833	374,482
1982	807,550	392,302
1983	837,013	414,823
1984	869,011	434,674
1985	893,889	455,576
1986	903,644	464,665
1987	922,330	493,337
1988	909,221	513,296
1989	884,629	530,464
1990	835,421	549,654
1991	827,296	565,837
1992	794,415	582,072
1993	789,220	595,459
1994	698,609	602,363
1995	743,488	607,966
1996	710,868	588,786
1997	667,969	604,443
1998	627,027	615,488
1999	594,643	633,166
2000	526,963	646,694
2001	484,801	658,704
2002	430,926	672,494
2003	415,018	694,457
2004	442,540	710,493
2005	464,464	726,708
2006	487,584	750,082
2007	503,567	764,780
2008	595,332	779,123
2009	554,115	798,911
2010	566,834	803,246
2011	601,708	806,359
2012	643,723	845,645
2013	652,427	884,929
2014	674,754	920,330
2015	668,771	939,922
2016	641,365	975,697
2017	645,975	1,006,725
2018	648,319	1,020,238
2019	652,130	1,056,432
2020	595,873	1,086,322
2021	456,411	1,103,622
2022	603,636	1,153,375
2023	602,793	1,198,150

Maternal mortality chart: South Africa vs Yemen

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 118 deaths in Yemen.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Africa	Yemen
1985	208	430
1986	200	430
1987	192	400
1988	184	388
1989	177	371
1990	170	359
1991	162	341
1992	152	330
1993	145	319
1994	133	311
1995	125	296
1996	150	282
1997	152	271
1998	152	260
1999	151	250
2000	175	241
2001	192	231
2002	225	218
2003	245	205
2004	259	194
2005	279	181
2006	283	171
2007	272	161
2008	272	153
2009	241	149
2010	226	144
2011	202	140
2012	194	137
2013	180	135
2014	162	134
2015	150	135
2016	141	134
2017	134	142
2018	128	134
2019	119	131
2020	118	135
2021	191	156
2022	129	125
2023	118	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.47% in South Africa and 3.93% in Yemen. 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	Yemen
1960	-	42.9%
1961	-	42.2%
1962	-	41.5%
1963	-	40.8%
1964	-	40%
1965	-	39%
1966	-	38%
1967	-	36.8%
1968	-	35.6%
1969	-	34.3%
1970	-	33%
1971	-	31.8%
1972	-	30.6%
1973	-	29.5%
1974	13.2%	28.4%
1975	12.5%	27.2%
1976	11.8%	26%
1977	11.1%	24.7%
1978	10.5%	23.4%
1979	9.88%	22.1%
1980	9.35%	20.8%
1981	8.84%	19.6%
1982	8.39%	18.4%
1983	7.98%	17.2%
1984	7.6%	16.2%
1985	7.24%	15.3%
1986	6.89%	14.6%
1987	6.56%	14%
1988	6.26%	13.4%
1989	6.01%	12.9%
1990	5.82%	12.5%
1991	5.7%	12.1%
1992	5.66%	11.8%
1993	5.7%	11.6%
1994	5.82%	11.3%
1995	5.95%	11.1%
1996	6.11%	10.8%
1997	6.29%	10.5%
1998	6.56%	10.2%
1999	6.85%	9.77%
2000	7.11%	9.32%
2001	7.43%	8.84%
2002	7.69%	8.36%
2003	7.93%	7.9%
2004	8.1%	7.47%
2005	8.03%	7.06%
2006	7.75%	6.68%
2007	7.19%	6.33%
2008	6.42%	6.02%
2009	5.7%	5.74%
2010	5%	5.49%
2011	4.5%	5.3%
2012	4.25%	5.14%
2013	4.1%	4.95%
2014	3.96%	4.84%
2015	3.82%	4.9%
2016	3.68%	4.77%
2017	3.58%	4.66%
2018	3.49%	4.7%
2019	3.45%	4.59%
2020	3.41%	4.32%
2021	3.41%	4.24%
2022	3.44%	4.08%
2023	3.47%	3.93%