Fertility & birth rates in South Korea and Uruguay

Fertility rate in South Korea vs Uruguay 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 1.41 in Uruguay in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check South Korea vs Uruguay 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	Uruguay
1960	5.99	2.83
1961	5.8	2.85
1962	5.56	2.87
1963	5.33	2.88
1964	5.07	2.86
1965	4.89	2.84
1966	4.78	2.82
1967	4.62	2.78
1968	4.51	2.77
1969	4.45	2.77
1970	4.53	2.77
1971	4.54	2.77
1972	4.12	2.78
1973	4.07	2.86
1974	3.77	2.96
1975	3.43	3.02
1976	3	3.01
1977	2.99	2.9
1978	2.64	2.83
1979	2.9	2.71
1980	2.82	2.59
1981	2.57	2.53
1982	2.39	2.51
1983	2.06	2.49
1984	1.74	2.47
1985	1.66	2.47
1986	1.58	2.47
1987	1.53	2.49
1988	1.55	2.5
1989	1.56	2.5
1990	1.57	2.48
1991	1.71	2.45
1992	1.76	2.43
1993	1.65	2.41
1994	1.66	2.42
1995	1.63	2.4
1996	1.57	2.36
1997	1.54	2.33
1998	1.46	2.27
1999	1.43	2.25
2000	1.48	2.2
2001	1.31	2.16
2002	1.18	2.16
2003	1.19	2.12
2004	1.16	2.09
2005	1.09	2.1
2006	1.13	2.07
2007	1.26	2.05
2008	1.19	2.03
2009	1.15	2.02
2010	1.23	2.01
2011	1.24	1.99
2012	1.3	2.01
2013	1.19	2.03
2014	1.21	2.03
2015	1.24	2.04
2016	1.17	1.97
2017	1.05	1.82
2018	0.98	1.68
2019	0.92	1.57
2020	0.84	1.5
2021	0.81	1.45
2022	0.78	1.43
2023	0.72	1.41
2024	0.73	1.4
2025	0.75	1.39
2026	0.76	1.38
2027	0.78	1.38
2028	0.79	1.38
2029	0.8	1.38
2030	0.82	1.38
2031	0.83	1.39
2032	0.84	1.39
2033	0.85	1.39
2034	0.86	1.39
2035	0.88	1.4
2036	0.89	1.4
2037	0.9	1.4
2038	0.91	1.4
2039	0.92	1.41
2040	0.93	1.41
2041	0.95	1.41
2042	0.96	1.42
2043	0.96	1.42
2044	0.97	1.42
2045	0.98	1.42
2046	0.99	1.42
2047	1	1.43
2048	1.01	1.43
2049	1.02	1.43
2050	1.03	1.44

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Korea	Uruguay
1960	41.3%	27.6%
1961	41.8%	27.6%
1962	42.3%	27.7%
1963	42.7%	27.8%
1964	43.1%	27.9%
1965	43.3%	27.9%
1966	43.5%	28%
1967	43.3%	28%
1968	43.1%	27.9%
1969	42.7%	27.8%
1970	42.1%	27.8%
1971	41.5%	27.7%
1972	41%	27.5%
1973	40.3%	27.4%
1974	39.5%	27.4%
1975	38.5%	27.4%
1976	37.5%	27.4%
1977	36.5%	27.3%
1978	35.6%	27.3%
1979	34.8%	27.2%
1980	34%	27%
1981	33.3%	26.9%
1982	32.7%	26.7%
1983	32%	26.6%
1984	31.2%	26.5%
1985	30.2%	26.4%
1986	29.2%	26.2%
1987	28.2%	26.1%
1988	27.3%	26%
1989	26.5%	25.8%
1990	25.8%	25.6%
1991	25.2%	25.3%
1992	24.7%	25.1%
1993	24.2%	24.9%
1994	23.7%	24.7%
1995	23.1%	24.7%
1996	22.5%	24.6%
1997	22%	24.6%
1998	21.6%	24.5%
1999	21.2%	24.5%
2000	21%	24.4%
2001	20.8%	24.2%
2002	20.5%	24.1%
2003	20.1%	23.9%
2004	19.7%	23.7%
2005	19.2%	23.5%
2006	18.7%	23.3%
2007	18.1%	23.1%
2008	17.5%	22.8%
2009	16.9%	22.6%
2010	16.4%	22.3%
2011	15.8%	22%
2012	15.2%	21.7%
2013	14.7%	21.5%
2014	14.2%	21.3%
2015	13.8%	21.1%
2016	13.4%	21%
2017	13%	20.8%
2018	12.7%	20.5%
2019	12.4%	20.2%
2020	12.1%	19.8%
2021	11.8%	19.4%
2022	11.4%	19.1%
2023	11%	18.7%
2024	10.6%	18.3%
2025	10.2%	17.9%
2026	9.82%	17.5%
2027	9.42%	17.1%
2028	9.06%	16.7%
2029	8.75%	16.3%
2030	8.43%	15.8%
2031	8.15%	15.4%
2032	7.94%	15.1%
2033	7.79%	14.8%
2034	7.7%	14.7%
2035	7.66%	14.6%
2036	7.65%	14.5%
2037	7.66%	14.5%
2038	7.68%	14.4%
2039	7.71%	14.4%
2040	7.73%	14.3%
2041	7.75%	14.3%
2042	7.76%	14.3%
2043	7.77%	14.2%
2044	7.78%	14.1%
2045	7.79%	14.1%
2046	7.8%	14%
2047	7.81%	13.9%
2048	7.82%	13.8%
2049	7.82%	13.7%
2050	7.83%	13.6%

Children aged 0-14 make up 10.6% of the population in South Korea and 18.3% in Uruguay in 2024, compared to 25.8% and 25.6% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Korea and Uruguay compared.

Natural population change in South Korea vs Uruguay by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.06% in South Korea and +0.19% in Uruguay. 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	Uruguay
1960	728,010	30,438
1961	730,173	30,975
1962	712,590	31,441
1963	685,824	31,824
1964	655,501	31,340
1965	641,090	30,807
1966	623,534	30,293
1967	692,169	29,514
1968	684,487	29,103
1969	694,227	28,805
1970	747,987	28,737
1971	789,185	28,584
1972	740,469	28,896
1973	699,115	30,213
1974	673,030	32,221
1975	603,300	33,393
1976	530,558	33,199
1977	578,947	31,321
1978	499,084	30,076
1979	623,068	27,456
1980	583,294	25,451
1981	631,189	24,968
1982	605,626	25,224
1983	514,844	24,146
1984	436,384	23,684
1985	416,219	23,988
1986	395,651	24,505
1987	378,758	24,469
1988	399,297	25,071
1989	403,266	25,322
1990	411,546	25,699
1991	467,594	25,422
1992	494,352	24,847
1993	477,302	24,212
1994	473,200	24,637
1995	468,967	24,872
1996	446,142	24,635
1997	422,773	23,737
1998	393,436	22,114
1999	368,272	21,844
2000	390,167	21,060
2001	312,643	20,729
2002	247,752	20,073
2003	244,251	18,628
2004	225,988	18,067
2005	187,920	18,926
2006	203,441	17,783
2007	248,286	17,422
2008	215,841	16,838
2009	197,231	16,947
2010	213,083	16,231
2011	214,728	14,934
2012	215,859	15,520
2013	166,415	16,318
2014	167,464	16,238
2015	163,248	16,194
2016	122,923	14,008
2017	71,907	10,907
2018	30,951	7,322
2019	10,353	3,873
2020	-31,101	4,048
2021	-56,947	-5,621
2022	-124,014	-2,964
2023	-77,569	298

Maternal mortality chart: South Korea vs Uruguay

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 15 deaths in Uruguay.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Korea	Uruguay
1985	38	41
1986	35	41
1987	34	41
1988	31	39
1989	29	36
1990	28	35
1991	28	33
1992	26	33
1993	24	31
1994	23	30
1995	22	29
1996	20	28
1997	19	27
1998	18	25
1999	17	24
2000	15	23
2001	14	24
2002	13	23
2003	13	23
2004	12	21
2005	11	20
2006	10	20
2007	10	19
2008	9	19
2009	9	18
2010	8	17
2011	8	17
2012	8	16
2013	7	16
2014	7	16
2015	6	16
2016	6	16
2017	6	16
2018	5	16
2019	5	16
2020	12	20
2021	5	49
2022	7	20
2023	4	15

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.28% in South Korea and 0.67% in Uruguay. 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	Uruguay
1960	11.2%	6.33%
1961	10.6%	6.21%
1962	10.1%	6.06%
1963	9.67%	5.93%
1964	9.18%	5.83%
1965	8.68%	5.77%
1966	8.16%	5.74%
1967	7.62%	5.7%
1968	7.1%	5.64%
1969	6.59%	5.53%
1970	6.12%	5.4%
1971	5.71%	5.33%
1972	5.36%	5.34%
1973	5.07%	5.39%
1974	4.82%	5.46%
1975	4.61%	5.49%
1976	4.42%	5.41%
1977	4.23%	5.18%
1978	4.04%	4.83%
1979	3.84%	4.41%
1980	3.63%	3.98%
1981	3.4%	3.6%
1982	3.17%	3.31%
1983	2.93%	3.1%
1984	2.7%	2.95%
1985	2.46%	2.84%
1986	2.25%	2.74%
1987	2.05%	2.62%
1988	1.87%	2.51%
1989	1.71%	2.42%
1990	1.57%	2.37%
1991	1.44%	2.32%
1992	1.33%	2.29%
1993	1.23%	2.25%
1994	1.14%	2.19%
1995	1.05%	2.12%
1996	0.98%	2.03%
1997	0.91%	1.93%
1998	0.85%	1.84%
1999	0.8%	1.76%
2000	0.75%	1.7%
2001	0.71%	1.66%
2002	0.68%	1.62%
2003	0.64%	1.58%
2004	0.6%	1.52%
2005	0.56%	1.44%
2006	0.52%	1.35%
2007	0.48%	1.27%
2008	0.45%	1.19%
2009	0.43%	1.13%
2010	0.41%	1.08%
2011	0.4%	1.04%
2012	0.38%	1%
2013	0.37%	0.97%
2014	0.36%	0.93%
2015	0.35%	0.89%
2016	0.34%	0.85%
2017	0.33%	0.81%
2018	0.32%	0.77%
2019	0.31%	0.74%
2020	0.3%	0.71%
2021	0.29%	0.7%
2022	0.28%	0.68%
2023	0.28%	0.67%