Fertility & birth rates in South Africa and Zimbabwe

Fertility rate in South Africa vs Zimbabwe 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 3.72 in Zimbabwe in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check South Africa vs Zimbabwe 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	Zimbabwe
1960	6.11	7.2
1961	6.08	7.21
1962	6.05	7.23
1963	6.01	7.23
1964	5.96	7.23
1965	5.89	7.23
1966	5.91	7.2
1967	5.85	7.16
1968	5.78	7.11
1969	5.72	7.04
1970	5.63	6.98
1971	5.57	6.94
1972	5.49	6.94
1973	5.41	6.94
1974	5.3	6.88
1975	5.19	6.83
1976	5.07	6.77
1977	4.94	6.71
1978	4.85	6.66
1979	4.82	6.59
1980	4.78	6.52
1981	4.71	6.45
1982	4.7	6.33
1983	4.63	6.2
1984	4.57	6.04
1985	4.5	5.87
1986	4.41	5.69
1987	4.35	5.5
1988	4.18	5.28
1989	3.98	5.07
1990	3.72	4.88
1991	3.62	4.72
1992	3.48	4.57
1993	3.37	4.39
1994	3.26	4.28
1995	3.17	4.15
1996	2.99	4.11
1997	2.73	4.08
1998	2.63	4.07
1999	2.56	4.06
2000	2.41	4.01
2001	2.37	3.98
2002	2.32	3.93
2003	2.36	3.86
2004	2.44	3.78
2005	2.51	3.69
2006	2.55	3.64
2007	2.55	3.68
2008	2.68	3.78
2009	2.5	3.95
2010	2.44	4.04
2011	2.44	4.13
2012	2.45	4.13
2013	2.43	4.11
2014	2.42	4.01
2015	2.36	3.91
2016	2.26	3.83
2017	2.28	3.77
2018	2.27	3.74
2019	2.26	3.75
2020	2.26	3.75
2021	2.25	3.77
2022	2.23	3.77
2023	2.22	3.72
2024	2.21	3.67
2025	2.19	3.62
2026	2.17	3.57
2027	2.15	3.52
2028	2.13	3.47
2029	2.12	3.43
2030	2.1	3.38
2031	2.09	3.33
2032	2.07	3.29
2033	2.06	3.25
2034	2.05	3.21
2035	2.04	3.17
2036	2.03	3.13
2037	2.02	3.09
2038	2	3.06
2039	1.99	3.02
2040	1.98	2.99
2041	1.98	2.96
2042	1.97	2.93
2043	1.96	2.9
2044	1.95	2.87
2045	1.94	2.84
2046	1.93	2.81
2047	1.92	2.78
2048	1.91	2.75
2049	1.9	2.72
2050	1.89	2.69

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Africa	Zimbabwe
1960	42.1%	47.3%
1961	42.1%	47.7%
1962	42.1%	48.1%
1963	42.1%	48.5%
1964	42.1%	48.8%
1965	42.1%	48.7%
1966	42.1%	48.6%
1967	42.2%	48.5%
1968	42.2%	48.5%
1969	42.2%	48.4%
1970	42.3%	48.3%
1971	42.2%	48.2%
1972	42.2%	48.2%
1973	42.1%	48.1%
1974	42%	48.1%
1975	41.9%	48.1%
1976	41.8%	48.2%
1977	41.7%	48.3%
1978	41.5%	48.5%
1979	41.3%	48.8%
1980	40.9%	48.7%
1981	40.5%	48.4%
1982	40.1%	48.3%
1983	39.8%	48.2%
1984	39.5%	48.1%
1985	39.2%	48%
1986	38.9%	47.9%
1987	38.7%	47.9%
1988	38.4%	47.9%
1989	38.1%	47.6%
1990	37.7%	47.1%
1991	37.5%	46.6%
1992	37.6%	46.8%
1993	37.3%	47.1%
1994	37.2%	46.6%
1995	37.5%	45.9%
1996	37.5%	45%
1997	37.2%	44%
1998	36.5%	43.1%
1999	35.7%	42.4%
2000	34.9%	41.9%
2001	34%	41.5%
2002	33.2%	41.4%
2003	32.3%	41.5%
2004	31.6%	41.7%
2005	31.1%	41.9%
2006	30.6%	42%
2007	30.2%	42.1%
2008	29.9%	42.4%
2009	29.7%	42.7%
2010	29.4%	43%
2011	29.1%	43.4%
2012	28.9%	43.7%
2013	28.7%	43.9%
2014	28.5%	43.9%
2015	28.3%	43.8%
2016	28.3%	43.6%
2017	28.3%	43.3%
2018	27.9%	42.9%
2019	27.4%	42.5%
2020	27%	42.2%
2021	26.6%	41.9%
2022	26.3%	41.6%
2023	26.1%	41.3%
2024	25.9%	40.9%
2025	25.7%	40.3%
2026	25.6%	39.6%
2027	25.4%	39%
2028	25.3%	38.4%
2029	25.2%	37.8%
2030	25.2%	37.4%
2031	25.1%	37%
2032	25%	36.8%
2033	24.8%	36.5%
2034	24.5%	36.3%
2035	24.3%	36.1%
2036	23.9%	35.8%
2037	23.6%	35.6%
2038	23.4%	35.3%
2039	23.1%	35.1%
2040	22.9%	34.8%
2041	22.7%	34.6%
2042	22.5%	34.3%
2043	22.4%	34.1%
2044	22.2%	33.8%
2045	22.1%	33.5%
2046	21.9%	33.2%
2047	21.8%	32.9%
2048	21.7%	32.6%
2049	21.6%	32.2%
2050	21.5%	31.9%

Children aged 0-14 make up 25.9% of the population in South Africa and 40.9% in Zimbabwe in 2024, compared to 37.7% and 47.1% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Africa and Zimbabwe compared.

Natural population change in South Africa vs Zimbabwe by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.05% in South Africa and +2.34% in Zimbabwe. 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	Zimbabwe
1960	421,263	126,959
1961	437,851	131,531
1962	455,634	136,317
1963	473,821	140,984
1964	490,606	145,848
1965	506,632	151,164
1966	534,862	156,014
1967	553,741	161,205
1968	571,841	166,865
1969	590,794	172,626
1970	605,102	178,979
1971	624,761	185,427
1972	638,754	193,725
1973	651,596	201,885
1974	658,438	208,806
1975	667,862	216,947
1976	675,011	221,419
1977	680,929	225,139
1978	694,341	222,979
1979	716,541	223,657
1980	738,415	241,179
1981	767,833	271,361
1982	807,550	279,934
1983	837,013	286,545
1984	869,011	290,052
1985	893,889	290,756
1986	903,644	289,894
1987	922,330	286,766
1988	909,221	277,498
1989	884,629	270,838
1990	835,421	265,444
1991	827,296	260,943
1992	794,415	255,291
1993	789,220	228,045
1994	698,609	216,343
1995	743,488	206,695
1996	710,868	205,269
1997	667,969	216,288
1998	627,027	225,614
1999	594,643	232,393
2000	526,963	236,343
2001	484,801	227,909
2002	430,926	244,170
2003	415,018	243,057
2004	442,540	248,307
2005	464,464	248,545
2006	487,584	248,963
2007	503,567	261,805
2008	595,332	280,527
2009	554,115	309,316
2010	566,834	335,570
2011	601,708	359,572
2012	643,723	371,135
2013	652,427	374,757
2014	674,754	366,350
2015	668,771	356,203
2016	641,365	348,772
2017	645,975	344,035
2018	648,319	345,883
2019	652,130	348,798
2020	595,873	354,790
2021	456,411	349,908
2022	603,636	371,243
2023	602,793	372,505

Maternal mortality chart: South Africa vs Zimbabwe

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 358 deaths in Zimbabwe.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Africa	Zimbabwe
1985	208	573
1986	200	525
1987	192	480
1988	184	431
1989	177	382
1990	170	353
1991	162	332
1992	152	333
1993	145	331
1994	133	332
1995	125	332
1996	150	352
1997	152	357
1998	152	368
1999	151	399
2000	175	405
2001	192	467
2002	225	418
2003	245	455
2004	259	451
2005	279	454
2006	283	480
2007	272	519
2008	272	526
2009	241	540
2010	226	567
2011	202	564
2012	194	558
2013	180	525
2014	162	468
2015	150	428
2016	141	411
2017	134	389
2018	128	386
2019	119	388
2020	118	380
2021	191	446
2022	129	368
2023	118	358

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 3.47% in South Africa and 4.42% in Zimbabwe. 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	Zimbabwe
1960	-	15.2%
1961	-	14.8%
1962	-	14.4%
1963	-	14%
1964	-	13.5%
1965	-	13.1%
1966	-	12.7%
1967	-	12.4%
1968	-	12.1%
1969	-	11.8%
1970	-	11.7%
1971	-	11.5%
1972	-	11.5%
1973	-	11.4%
1974	13.2%	11.4%
1975	12.5%	11.4%
1976	11.8%	11.5%
1977	11.1%	11.5%
1978	10.5%	11.5%
1979	9.88%	11.3%
1980	9.35%	11.1%
1981	8.84%	10.7%
1982	8.39%	10.1%
1983	7.98%	9.5%
1984	7.6%	8.87%
1985	7.24%	8.31%
1986	6.89%	7.86%
1987	6.56%	7.61%
1988	6.26%	7.55%
1989	6.01%	7.69%
1990	5.82%	7.97%
1991	5.7%	8.33%
1992	5.66%	8.73%
1993	5.7%	9.16%
1994	5.82%	9.52%
1995	5.95%	9.83%
1996	6.11%	10%
1997	6.29%	10.1%
1998	6.56%	10%
1999	6.85%	9.92%
2000	7.11%	9.83%
2001	7.43%	9.79%
2002	7.69%	8.48%
2003	7.93%	8.85%
2004	8.1%	9.17%
2005	8.03%	9.23%
2006	7.75%	9.4%
2007	7.19%	9.47%
2008	6.42%	9.34%
2009	5.7%	9.03%
2010	5%	8.5%
2011	4.5%	7.88%
2012	4.25%	7.14%
2013	4.1%	6.55%
2014	3.96%	6.18%
2015	3.82%	5.98%
2016	3.68%	5.69%
2017	3.58%	5.5%
2018	3.49%	5.23%
2019	3.45%	5.11%
2020	3.41%	5.01%
2021	3.41%	4.76%
2022	3.44%	4.6%
2023	3.47%	4.42%