Fertility & birth rates in South Korea and Taiwan

Fertility rate in South Korea vs Taiwan chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in South Korea was 0.72 children per woman in 2023, compared to 0.89 in Taiwan in 2024. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check South Korea vs Taiwan 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 Korea	Taiwan
1951	-	7.04
1952	-	-
1953	-	-
1954	-	-
1955	-	-
1956	-	-
1957	-	-
1958	-	-
1959	-	-
1960	5.99	-
1961	5.8	-
1962	5.56	-
1963	5.33	-
1964	5.07	-
1965	4.89	-
1966	4.78	-
1967	4.62	-
1968	4.51	-
1969	4.45	-
1970	4.53	-
1971	4.54	-
1972	4.12	-
1973	4.07	-
1974	3.77	-
1975	3.43	-
1976	3	-
1977	2.99	-
1978	2.64	-
1979	2.9	-
1980	2.82	-
1981	2.57	2.46
1982	2.39	-
1983	2.06	-
1984	1.74	-
1985	1.66	-
1986	1.58	-
1987	1.53	-
1988	1.55	-
1989	1.56	-
1990	1.57	-
1991	1.71	1.72
1992	1.76	-
1993	1.65	-
1994	1.66	-
1995	1.63	-
1996	1.57	-
1997	1.54	-
1998	1.46	-
1999	1.43	-
2000	1.48	-
2001	1.31	1.4
2002	1.18	-
2003	1.19	-
2004	1.16	-
2005	1.09	-
2006	1.13	-
2007	1.26	-
2008	1.19	-
2009	1.15	-
2010	1.23	-
2011	1.24	1.07
2012	1.3	-
2013	1.19	-
2014	1.21	-
2015	1.24	1.18
2016	1.17	1.17
2017	1.05	1.13
2018	0.98	1.06
2019	0.92	1.05
2020	0.84	0.99
2021	0.81	0.98
2022	0.78	0.87
2023	0.72	0.87
2024	0.73	0.89
2025	0.75	0.88
2026	0.76	0.88
2027	0.78	0.89
2028	0.79	0.9
2029	0.8	0.91
2030	0.82	0.91
2031	0.83	0.92
2032	0.84	0.93
2033	0.85	0.95
2034	0.86	0.96
2035	0.88	0.97
2036	0.89	0.98
2037	0.9	0.99
2038	0.91	1
2039	0.92	1.01
2040	0.93	1.02
2041	0.95	1.03
2042	0.96	1.04
2043	0.96	1.05
2044	0.97	1.06
2045	0.98	1.07
2046	0.99	1.07
2047	1	1.08
2048	1.01	1.09
2049	1.02	1.1
2050	1.03	1.1

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Korea	Taiwan
1960	41.3%	-
1961	41.8%	-
1962	42.3%	-
1963	42.7%	-
1964	43.1%	-
1965	43.3%	-
1966	43.5%	-
1967	43.3%	-
1968	43.1%	-
1969	42.7%	-
1970	42.1%	-
1971	41.5%	-
1972	41%	-
1973	40.3%	-
1974	39.5%	36.2%
1975	38.5%	35.4%
1976	37.5%	34.7%
1977	36.5%	34%
1978	35.6%	33.3%
1979	34.8%	32.7%
1980	34%	32.1%
1981	33.3%	31.6%
1982	32.7%	31.2%
1983	32%	30.8%
1984	31.2%	30.2%
1985	30.2%	29.6%
1986	29.2%	29%
1987	28.2%	28.4%
1988	27.3%	28%
1989	26.5%	27.5%
1990	25.8%	27.1%
1991	25.2%	26.3%
1992	24.7%	25.8%
1993	24.2%	25.1%
1994	23.7%	24.4%
1995	23.1%	23.8%
1996	22.5%	23.1%
1997	22%	22.6%
1998	21.6%	22%
1999	21.2%	21.4%
2000	21%	21.1%
2001	20.8%	20.8%
2002	20.5%	20.4%
2003	20.1%	19.8%
2004	19.7%	19.3%
2005	19.2%	18.7%
2006	18.7%	18.1%
2007	18.1%	17.6%
2008	17.5%	17%
2009	16.9%	16.3%
2010	16.4%	15.6%
2011	15.8%	15.1%
2012	15.2%	14.6%
2013	14.7%	14.3%
2014	14.2%	14%
2015	13.8%	13.6%
2016	13.4%	13.3%
2017	13%	13.1%
2018	12.7%	12.9%
2019	12.4%	12.8%
2020	12.1%	12.6%
2021	11.8%	12.4%
2022	11.4%	12.1%
2023	11%	11.9%
2024	10.6%	11.7%
2025	10.2%	11.5%
2026	9.82%	11.3%
2027	9.42%	10.9%
2028	9.06%	10.5%
2029	8.75%	10.2%
2030	8.43%	9.8%
2031	8.15%	9.39%
2032	7.94%	9.06%
2033	7.79%	8.79%
2034	7.7%	8.55%
2035	7.66%	8.34%
2036	7.65%	8.2%
2037	7.66%	8.11%
2038	7.68%	8.06%
2039	7.71%	8.03%
2040	7.73%	8.01%
2041	7.75%	7.99%
2042	7.76%	7.99%
2043	7.77%	8%
2044	7.78%	8.01%
2045	7.79%	8.03%
2046	7.8%	8.06%
2047	7.81%	8.1%
2048	7.82%	8.14%
2049	7.82%	8.19%
2050	7.83%	8.24%

Children aged 0-14 make up 10.6% of the population in South Korea and 11.7% in Taiwan in 2024, compared to 25.8% and 27.1% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Korea and Taiwan compared.

Natural population change in South Korea vs Taiwan by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.06% in South Korea and -0.05% in Taiwan. 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 Korea	Taiwan
1960	728,010	-
1961	730,173	-
1962	712,590	-
1963	685,824	-
1964	655,501	-
1965	641,090	-
1966	623,534	346,958
1967	692,169	356,019
1968	684,487	365,133
1969	694,227	379,160
1970	747,987	393,010
1971	789,185	401,921
1972	740,469	410,193
1973	699,115	417,863
1974	673,030	425,401
1975	603,300	433,225
1976	530,558	442,018
1977	578,947	450,897
1978	499,084	459,289
1979	623,068	468,197
1980	583,294	477,138
1981	631,189	326,883
1982	605,626	332,774
1983	514,844	338,181
1984	436,384	343,199
1985	416,219	347,942
1986	395,651	351,930
1987	378,758	355,657
1988	399,297	359,694
1989	403,266	363,606
1990	411,546	367,657
1991	467,594	215,698
1992	494,352	217,809
1993	477,302	219,858
1994	473,200	221,832
1995	468,967	223,736
1996	446,142	225,564
1997	422,773	227,591
1998	393,436	229,712
1999	368,272	231,550
2000	390,167	233,382
2001	312,643	132,707
2002	247,752	133,431
2003	244,251	134,023
2004	225,988	134,522
2005	187,920	135,015
2006	203,441	135,572
2007	248,286	136,130
2008	215,841	136,607
2009	197,231	137,086
2010	213,083	137,458
2011	214,728	43,836
2012	215,859	43,981
2013	166,415	44,121
2014	167,464	44,233
2015	163,248	49,741
2016	122,923	35,980
2017	71,907	22,613
2018	30,951	8,725
2019	10,353	1,416
2020	-31,101	-7,782
2021	-56,947	-30,039
2022	-124,014	-68,327
2023	-77,569	-69,794
2024	-	-67,188

Maternal mortality chart: South Korea vs Taiwan

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 4 deaths per 100,000 live births in South Korea, compared to 14 deaths in Taiwan.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Korea	Taiwan
1985	38	-
1986	35	9.4
1987	34	8.9
1988	31	9
1989	29	12.7
1990	28	12.2
1991	28	8.1
1992	26	6.8
1993	24	9.2
1994	23	8
1995	22	7.7
1996	20	7.7
1997	19	9.2
1998	18	8.9
1999	17	8.4
2000	15	7.8
2001	14	7.8
2002	13	7.8
2003	13	7.8
2004	12	7.8
2005	11	7.8
2006	10	7.8
2007	10	7.8
2008	9	7.8
2009	9	7.8
2010	8	7.8
2011	8	7.8
2012	8	8.5
2013	7	8.5
2014	7	8.5
2015	6	11.3
2016	6	11.6
2017	6	11.6
2018	5	11.6
2019	5	15.4
2020	12	13
2021	5	14
2022	7	14
2023	4	14
2024	-	14