Fertility & birth rates in South Korea and Thailand

Fertility rate in South Korea vs Thailand 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 1.21 in Thailand in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check South Korea vs Thailand 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	Thailand
1960	5.99	6.33
1961	5.8	6.32
1962	5.56	6.33
1963	5.33	6.34
1964	5.07	6.31
1965	4.89	6.26
1966	4.78	6.18
1967	4.62	6.08
1968	4.51	5.93
1969	4.45	5.7
1970	4.53	5.45
1971	4.54	5.25
1972	4.12	5.08
1973	4.07	4.85
1974	3.77	4.6
1975	3.43	4.36
1976	3	4.12
1977	2.99	3.87
1978	2.64	3.62
1979	2.9	3.45
1980	2.82	3.29
1981	2.57	3.13
1982	2.39	2.94
1983	2.06	2.76
1984	1.74	2.58
1985	1.66	2.45
1986	1.58	2.36
1987	1.53	2.26
1988	1.55	2.17
1989	1.56	2.14
1990	1.57	2.07
1991	1.71	2.04
1992	1.76	2.01
1993	1.65	1.97
1994	1.66	1.93
1995	1.63	1.89
1996	1.57	1.87
1997	1.54	1.85
1998	1.46	1.82
1999	1.43	1.77
2000	1.48	1.73
2001	1.31	1.71
2002	1.18	1.69
2003	1.19	1.67
2004	1.16	1.67
2005	1.09	1.64
2006	1.13	1.63
2007	1.26	1.62
2008	1.19	1.59
2009	1.15	1.57
2010	1.23	1.56
2011	1.24	1.57
2012	1.3	1.56
2013	1.19	1.53
2014	1.21	1.48
2015	1.24	1.45
2016	1.17	1.4
2017	1.05	1.36
2018	0.98	1.32
2019	0.92	1.29
2020	0.84	1.26
2021	0.81	1.23
2022	0.78	1.22
2023	0.72	1.21
2024	0.73	1.2
2025	0.75	1.19
2026	0.76	1.19
2027	0.78	1.19
2028	0.79	1.19
2029	0.8	1.19
2030	0.82	1.2
2031	0.83	1.2
2032	0.84	1.21
2033	0.85	1.21
2034	0.86	1.22
2035	0.88	1.22
2036	0.89	1.23
2037	0.9	1.23
2038	0.91	1.24
2039	0.92	1.24
2040	0.93	1.25
2041	0.95	1.25
2042	0.96	1.26
2043	0.96	1.26
2044	0.97	1.26
2045	0.98	1.27
2046	0.99	1.27
2047	1	1.28
2048	1.01	1.28
2049	1.02	1.28
2050	1.03	1.29

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Korea	Thailand
1960	41.3%	44.3%
1961	41.8%	44.6%
1962	42.3%	44.8%
1963	42.7%	45.1%
1964	43.1%	45.3%
1965	43.3%	45.4%
1966	43.5%	45.4%
1967	43.3%	45.3%
1968	43.1%	45.2%
1969	42.7%	45%
1970	42.1%	44.8%
1971	41.5%	44.4%
1972	41%	44%
1973	40.3%	43.5%
1974	39.5%	43%
1975	38.5%	42.4%
1976	37.5%	41.8%
1977	36.5%	41.1%
1978	35.6%	40.3%
1979	34.8%	39.5%
1980	34%	38.7%
1981	33.3%	37.8%
1982	32.7%	37%
1983	32%	36%
1984	31.2%	35.1%
1985	30.2%	34.1%
1986	29.2%	33.2%
1987	28.2%	32.4%
1988	27.3%	31.5%
1989	26.5%	30.7%
1990	25.8%	30%
1991	25.2%	29.2%
1992	24.7%	28.5%
1993	24.2%	28%
1994	23.7%	27.4%
1995	23.1%	26.9%
1996	22.5%	26.4%
1997	22%	25.9%
1998	21.6%	25.4%
1999	21.2%	24.9%
2000	21%	24.4%
2001	20.8%	23.9%
2002	20.5%	23.4%
2003	20.1%	23%
2004	19.7%	22.6%
2005	19.2%	22.2%
2006	18.7%	21.7%
2007	18.1%	21.3%
2008	17.5%	20.9%
2009	16.9%	20.6%
2010	16.4%	20.1%
2011	15.8%	19.7%
2012	15.2%	19.2%
2013	14.7%	18.8%
2014	14.2%	18.5%
2015	13.8%	18.1%
2016	13.4%	17.7%
2017	13%	17.3%
2018	12.7%	16.9%
2019	12.4%	16.6%
2020	12.1%	16.2%
2021	11.8%	15.8%
2022	11.4%	15.4%
2023	11%	15.1%
2024	10.6%	14.7%
2025	10.2%	14.4%
2026	9.82%	14.1%
2027	9.42%	13.7%
2028	9.06%	13.4%
2029	8.75%	13.1%
2030	8.43%	12.9%
2031	8.15%	12.7%
2032	7.94%	12.5%
2033	7.79%	12.3%
2034	7.7%	12.2%
2035	7.66%	12.1%
2036	7.65%	12%
2037	7.66%	11.9%
2038	7.68%	11.9%
2039	7.71%	11.8%
2040	7.73%	11.8%
2041	7.75%	11.8%
2042	7.76%	11.8%
2043	7.77%	11.7%
2044	7.78%	11.7%
2045	7.79%	11.7%
2046	7.8%	11.7%
2047	7.81%	11.6%
2048	7.82%	11.6%
2049	7.82%	11.6%
2050	7.83%	11.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 10.6% of the population in South Korea and 14.7% in Thailand in 2024, compared to 25.8% and 30% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Korea and Thailand compared.

Natural population change in South Korea vs Thailand by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.06% in South Korea and +0.18% in Thailand. 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	Thailand
1960	728,010	774,190
1961	730,173	801,140
1962	712,590	828,741
1963	685,824	860,728
1964	655,501	885,137
1965	641,090	909,000
1966	623,534	929,469
1967	692,169	944,980
1968	684,487	953,806
1969	694,227	948,314
1970	747,987	937,116
1971	789,185	936,215
1972	740,469	940,420
1973	699,115	933,540
1974	673,030	923,151
1975	603,300	911,980
1976	530,558	894,072
1977	578,947	871,232
1978	499,084	847,799
1979	623,068	843,434
1980	583,294	845,575
1981	631,189	839,297
1982	605,626	817,951
1983	514,844	794,239
1984	436,384	779,856
1985	416,219	776,935
1986	395,651	783,430
1987	378,758	774,498
1988	399,297	765,252
1989	403,266	774,563
1990	411,546	760,808
1991	467,594	760,508
1992	494,352	754,999
1993	477,302	737,696
1994	473,200	712,589
1995	468,967	682,703
1996	446,142	661,397
1997	422,773	644,834
1998	393,436	617,318
1999	368,272	578,073
2000	390,167	543,884
2001	312,643	524,230
2002	247,752	504,299
2003	244,251	488,003
2004	225,988	466,542
2005	187,920	456,378
2006	203,441	441,211
2007	248,286	425,362
2008	215,841	401,730
2009	197,231	382,636
2010	213,083	370,466
2011	214,728	365,670
2012	215,859	351,485
2013	166,415	325,059
2014	167,464	294,628
2015	163,248	266,362
2016	122,923	226,255
2017	71,907	194,695
2018	30,951	159,383
2019	10,353	116,867
2020	-31,101	84,107
2021	-56,947	57,382
2022	-124,014	-61,046
2023	-77,569	-46,105

Maternal mortality chart: South Korea vs Thailand

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 34 deaths in Thailand.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Korea	Thailand
1985	38	88
1986	35	78
1987	34	72
1988	31	67
1989	29	64
1990	28	60
1991	28	59
1992	26	58
1993	24	57
1994	23	54
1995	22	52
1996	20	49
1997	19	48
1998	18	47
1999	17	48
2000	15	49
2001	14	47
2002	13	44
2003	13	42
2004	12	44
2005	11	40
2006	10	38
2007	10	38
2008	9	37
2009	9	37
2010	8	37
2011	8	37
2012	8	36
2013	7	35
2014	7	34
2015	6	34
2016	6	34
2017	6	34
2018	5	34
2019	5	34
2020	12	36
2021	5	38
2022	7	112
2023	4	34

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.28% in South Korea and 0.92% in Thailand. 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 Korea	Thailand
1960	11.2%	14.7%
1961	10.6%	14.2%
1962	10.1%	13.7%
1963	9.67%	13.2%
1964	9.18%	12.8%
1965	8.68%	12.3%
1966	8.16%	11.8%
1967	7.62%	11.4%
1968	7.1%	10.9%
1969	6.59%	10.4%
1970	6.12%	9.95%
1971	5.71%	9.47%
1972	5.36%	9.01%
1973	5.07%	8.56%
1974	4.82%	8.14%
1975	4.61%	7.73%
1976	4.42%	7.35%
1977	4.23%	7%
1978	4.04%	6.67%
1979	3.84%	6.36%
1980	3.63%	6.07%
1981	3.4%	5.79%
1982	3.17%	5.53%
1983	2.93%	5.28%
1984	2.7%	5.03%
1985	2.46%	4.8%
1986	2.25%	4.57%
1987	2.05%	4.34%
1988	1.87%	4.12%
1989	1.71%	3.91%
1990	1.57%	3.69%
1991	1.44%	3.49%
1992	1.33%	3.3%
1993	1.23%	3.12%
1994	1.14%	2.96%
1995	1.05%	2.81%
1996	0.98%	2.67%
1997	0.91%	2.53%
1998	0.85%	2.41%
1999	0.8%	2.29%
2000	0.75%	2.18%
2001	0.71%	2.08%
2002	0.68%	1.98%
2003	0.64%	1.89%
2004	0.6%	1.81%
2005	0.56%	1.73%
2006	0.52%	1.66%
2007	0.48%	1.59%
2008	0.45%	1.53%
2009	0.43%	1.47%
2010	0.41%	1.42%
2011	0.4%	1.37%
2012	0.38%	1.32%
2013	0.37%	1.27%
2014	0.36%	1.23%
2015	0.35%	1.19%
2016	0.34%	1.15%
2017	0.33%	1.11%
2018	0.32%	1.08%
2019	0.31%	1.04%
2020	0.3%	1.01%
2021	0.29%	0.98%
2022	0.28%	0.95%
2023	0.28%	0.92%