Fertility & birth rates in South Sudan and Zimbabwe

Fertility rate in South Sudan vs Zimbabwe chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in South Sudan was 3.86 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 Sudan 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 Sudan	Zimbabwe
1960	7.16	7.2
1961	7.18	7.21
1962	7.2	7.23
1963	7.2	7.23
1964	7.22	7.23
1965	7.22	7.23
1966	7.25	7.2
1967	7.26	7.16
1968	7.26	7.11
1969	7.28	7.04
1970	7.29	6.98
1971	7.3	6.94
1972	7.31	6.94
1973	7.31	6.94
1974	7.31	6.88
1975	7.33	6.83
1976	7.33	6.77
1977	7.33	6.71
1978	7.33	6.66
1979	7.32	6.59
1980	7.33	6.52
1981	7.33	6.45
1982	7.34	6.33
1983	7.34	6.2
1984	7.35	6.04
1985	7.36	5.87
1986	7.38	5.69
1987	7.39	5.5
1988	7.38	5.28
1989	7.37	5.07
1990	7.38	4.88
1991	7.38	4.72
1992	7.37	4.57
1993	7.36	4.39
1994	7.35	4.28
1995	7.34	4.15
1996	7.32	4.11
1997	7.2	4.08
1998	7.08	4.07
1999	6.94	4.06
2000	6.8	4.01
2001	6.65	3.98
2002	6.52	3.93
2003	6.35	3.86
2004	6.19	3.78
2005	6.02	3.69
2006	5.85	3.64
2007	5.7	3.68
2008	5.57	3.78
2009	5.45	3.95
2010	5.32	4.04
2011	5.19	4.13
2012	5.06	4.13
2013	4.94	4.11
2014	4.82	4.01
2015	4.7	3.91
2016	4.58	3.83
2017	4.48	3.77
2018	4.37	3.74
2019	4.26	3.75
2020	4.16	3.75
2021	4.05	3.77
2022	3.96	3.77
2023	3.86	3.72
2024	3.79	3.67
2025	3.71	3.62
2026	3.63	3.57
2027	3.56	3.52
2028	3.49	3.47
2029	3.43	3.43
2030	3.37	3.38
2031	3.31	3.33
2032	3.26	3.29
2033	3.2	3.25
2034	3.15	3.21
2035	3.1	3.17
2036	3.06	3.13
2037	3.01	3.09
2038	2.96	3.06
2039	2.92	3.02
2040	2.88	2.99
2041	2.84	2.96
2042	2.8	2.93
2043	2.76	2.9
2044	2.73	2.87
2045	2.69	2.84
2046	2.66	2.81
2047	2.63	2.78
2048	2.6	2.75
2049	2.58	2.72
2050	2.55	2.69

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	South Sudan	Zimbabwe
1960	42.5%	47.3%
1961	42.6%	47.7%
1962	42.6%	48.1%
1963	42.8%	48.5%
1964	43%	48.8%
1965	43.3%	48.7%
1966	43.5%	48.6%
1967	43.8%	48.5%
1968	44%	48.5%
1969	44.3%	48.4%
1970	44.5%	48.3%
1971	44.7%	48.2%
1972	44.8%	48.2%
1973	45%	48.1%
1974	45.1%	48.1%
1975	45.2%	48.1%
1976	45.3%	48.2%
1977	45.4%	48.3%
1978	45.5%	48.5%
1979	45.7%	48.8%
1980	45.8%	48.7%
1981	46%	48.4%
1982	46.2%	48.3%
1983	46.3%	48.2%
1984	46.5%	48.1%
1985	46.6%	48%
1986	46.7%	47.9%
1987	46.9%	47.9%
1988	46.2%	47.9%
1989	45.4%	47.6%
1990	45.4%	47.1%
1991	45.5%	46.6%
1992	45.6%	46.8%
1993	45.7%	47.1%
1994	45.8%	46.6%
1995	45.8%	45.9%
1996	46%	45%
1997	46%	44%
1998	45.8%	43.1%
1999	45.6%	42.4%
2000	45.5%	41.9%
2001	45.5%	41.5%
2002	45.7%	41.4%
2003	45.9%	41.5%
2004	45.8%	41.7%
2005	45.3%	41.9%
2006	44.8%	42%
2007	44.3%	42.1%
2008	43.8%	42.4%
2009	43.4%	42.7%
2010	42.8%	43%
2011	42.2%	43.4%
2012	41.9%	43.7%
2013	41.9%	43.9%
2014	42.5%	43.9%
2015	43.1%	43.8%
2016	43.7%	43.6%
2017	45%	43.3%
2018	44.9%	42.9%
2019	43.6%	42.5%
2020	42.4%	42.2%
2021	41.6%	41.9%
2022	40.9%	41.6%
2023	39.9%	41.3%
2024	38.9%	40.9%
2025	38%	40.3%
2026	37.1%	39.6%
2027	36.2%	39%
2028	35.5%	38.4%
2029	35%	37.8%
2030	34.7%	37.4%
2031	34.5%	37%
2032	34.4%	36.8%
2033	34.3%	36.5%
2034	34.3%	36.3%
2035	34.2%	36.1%
2036	34.1%	35.8%
2037	34%	35.6%
2038	33.8%	35.3%
2039	33.7%	35.1%
2040	33.4%	34.8%
2041	33.2%	34.6%
2042	32.9%	34.3%
2043	32.5%	34.1%
2044	32.2%	33.8%
2045	31.8%	33.5%
2046	31.4%	33.2%
2047	31%	32.9%
2048	30.5%	32.6%
2049	30.1%	32.2%
2050	29.7%	31.9%

Children aged 0-14 make up 38.9% of the population in South Sudan and 40.9% in Zimbabwe in 2024, compared to 45.4% and 47.1% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of South Sudan and Zimbabwe compared.

Natural population change in South Sudan vs Zimbabwe by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.65% in South Sudan 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 Sudan	Zimbabwe
1960	42,945	126,959
1961	45,186	131,531
1962	47,406	136,317
1963	46,333	140,984
1964	64,786	145,848
1965	51,682	151,164
1966	38,523	156,014
1967	41,357	161,205
1968	44,213	166,865
1969	42,015	172,626
1970	44,776	178,979
1971	72,308	185,427
1972	74,803	193,725
1973	94,765	201,885
1974	97,181	208,806
1975	99,882	216,947
1976	102,346	221,419
1977	104,886	225,139
1978	107,352	222,979
1979	109,540	223,657
1980	112,307	241,179
1981	115,163	271,361
1982	118,641	279,934
1983	104,107	286,545
1984	90,970	290,052
1985	95,342	290,756
1986	99,502	289,894
1987	5,756	286,766
1988	-125,447	277,498
1989	83,735	270,838
1990	82,900	265,444
1991	87,873	260,943
1992	28,874	255,291
1993	32,779	228,045
1994	165,407	216,343
1995	110,417	206,695
1996	116,728	205,269
1997	121,454	216,288
1998	-12,157	225,614
1999	180,721	232,393
2000	196,055	236,343
2001	204,108	227,909
2002	212,014	244,170
2003	225,822	243,057
2004	231,877	248,307
2005	239,272	248,545
2006	246,706	248,963
2007	256,546	261,805
2008	268,268	280,527
2009	278,859	309,316
2010	287,409	335,570
2011	303,181	359,572
2012	312,974	371,135
2013	315,983	374,757
2014	227,611	366,350
2015	148,542	356,203
2016	110,553	348,772
2017	72,193	344,035
2018	168,497	345,883
2019	209,708	348,798
2020	212,332	354,790
2021	213,567	349,908
2022	211,166	371,243
2023	217,966	372,505

Maternal mortality chart: South Sudan vs Zimbabwe

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 692 deaths per 100,000 live births in South Sudan, compared to 358 deaths in Zimbabwe.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	South Sudan	Zimbabwe
1985	3,845	573
1986	3,720	525
1987	8,045	480
1988	5,535	431
1989	5,103	382
1990	4,877	353
1991	4,764	332
1992	7,597	333
1993	7,537	331
1994	1,666	332
1995	4,430	332
1996	4,357	352
1997	4,172	357
1998	7,514	368
1999	2,048	399
2000	1,658	405
2001	1,580	467
2002	1,521	418
2003	1,199	455
2004	1,150	451
2005	1,074	454
2006	1,005	480
2007	933	519
2008	858	526
2009	823	540
2010	776	567
2011	770	564
2012	755	558
2013	771	525
2014	1,216	468
2015	1,436	428
2016	1,629	411
2017	1,662	389
2018	913	386
2019	745	388
2020	729	380
2021	749	446
2022	704	368
2023	692	358

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 9.87% in South Sudan 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 Sudan	Zimbabwe
1960	35.5%	15.2%
1961	35.2%	14.8%
1962	34.9%	14.4%
1963	34.6%	14%
1964	34.3%	13.5%
1965	34%	13.1%
1966	33.6%	12.7%
1967	33.3%	12.4%
1968	32.9%	12.1%
1969	32.6%	11.8%
1970	32.3%	11.7%
1971	31.9%	11.5%
1972	31.6%	11.5%
1973	31.3%	11.4%
1974	30.9%	11.4%
1975	30.6%	11.4%
1976	30.2%	11.5%
1977	29.9%	11.5%
1978	29.5%	11.5%
1979	29.2%	11.3%
1980	28.9%	11.1%
1981	28.5%	10.7%
1982	28.2%	10.1%
1983	27.8%	9.5%
1984	27.5%	8.87%
1985	27.1%	8.31%
1986	26.7%	7.86%
1987	36%	7.61%
1988	76.7%	7.55%
1989	30.7%	7.69%
1990	30.3%	7.97%
1991	29.7%	8.33%
1992	33.8%	8.73%
1993	33.1%	9.16%
1994	23%	9.52%
1995	27%	9.83%
1996	26.1%	10%
1997	25.2%	10.1%
1998	42.6%	10%
1999	19.2%	9.92%
2000	18.3%	9.83%
2001	17.4%	9.79%
2002	16.5%	8.48%
2003	15.7%	8.85%
2004	14.8%	9.17%
2005	14.1%	9.23%
2006	13.4%	9.4%
2007	12.7%	9.47%
2008	12.1%	9.34%
2009	11.5%	9.03%
2010	10.9%	8.5%
2011	10.5%	7.88%
2012	10.1%	7.14%
2013	9.92%	6.55%
2014	18.2%	6.18%
2015	23.7%	5.98%
2016	26.4%	5.69%
2017	27.8%	5.5%
2018	13.2%	5.23%
2019	9.87%	5.11%
2020	9.87%	5.01%
2021	9.87%	4.76%
2022	9.87%	4.6%
2023	9.87%	4.42%