Sri Lanka birth & fertility rate charts by year

Fertility rate in Sri Lanka chart

According to the latest birth rate data available, the fertility rate in Sri Lanka was 1.97 in 2023 and has been below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman since 2015. In 1993, the fertility rate was 2.44 — a -19% decline in 30 years.

Check population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases the historical changes in birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Sri Lanka	World
1960	5.35	4.69
1961	5.24	4.56
1962	5.18	5.02
1963	5.12	5.31
1964	5.06	5.13
1965	4.93	5.08
1966	4.83	4.97
1967	4.79	4.87
1968	4.66	4.98
1969	4.5	4.88
1970	4.39	4.84
1971	4.27	4.69
1972	4.16	4.55
1973	4	4.42
1974	3.86	4.26
1975	3.82	4.07
1976	3.78	3.97
1977	3.74	3.84
1978	3.81	3.77
1979	3.82	3.76
1980	3.73	3.73
1981	3.65	3.71
1982	3.32	3.72
1983	3.11	3.59
1984	3.01	3.57
1985	2.9	3.53
1986	2.74	3.51
1987	2.64	3.48
1988	2.57	3.39
1989	2.58	3.35
1990	2.54	3.31
1991	2.51	3.13
1992	2.49	3.04
1993	2.44	2.97
1994	2.4	2.92
1995	2.35	2.87
1996	2.29	2.82
1997	2.22	2.78
1998	2.14	2.75
1999	2.14	2.72
2000	2.21	2.73
2001	2.28	2.69
2002	2.31	2.66
2003	2.3	2.64
2004	2.27	2.63
2005	2.26	2.61
2006	2.29	2.61
2007	2.3	2.6
2008	2.23	2.6
2009	2.18	2.59
2010	2.13	2.57
2011	2.14	2.55
2012	2.17	2.56
2013	2.18	2.53
2014	2.13	2.52
2015	2.09	2.49
2016	2.06	2.49
2017	2.04	2.46
2018	2.03	2.39
2019	2.02	2.35
2020	2.01	2.28
2021	2	2.25
2022	1.98	2.22
2023	1.97	2.2
2024	1.95	2.19
2025	1.94	2.18
2026	1.93	2.18
2027	1.91	2.17
2028	1.9	2.16
2029	1.89	2.15
2030	1.88	2.14
2031	1.87	2.13
2032	1.86	2.12
2033	1.85	2.12
2034	1.85	2.11
2035	1.84	2.1
2036	1.83	2.09
2037	1.83	2.09
2038	1.82	2.08
2039	1.81	2.08
2040	1.81	2.08
2041	1.8	2.07
2042	1.8	2.07
2043	1.8	2.07
2044	1.79	2.07
2045	1.79	2.06
2046	1.79	2.06
2047	1.78	2.06
2048	1.78	2.05
2049	1.77	2.05
2050	1.77	2.05

Birth rates by women ages chart

In 2025, of all live births 4.04% were to women under 20 years old, 49.8% to women ages 20-29, and 46.1% to women ages 30 and above. In comparison, the percentages in 1990 were 7.46%, 58%, and 34.6% for the same age groups respectively. A chart displaying the historical birth rates in Sri Lanka by maternal age is provided below.

Annual births per 1,000 women ages

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Children 0-14 as share of population
	Sri Lanka	World
1960	41%	37.4%
1961	40.9%	37.5%
1962	40.8%	37.6%
1963	40.7%	37.8%
1964	40.6%	38%
1965	40.5%	38%
1966	40.4%	38%
1967	40.3%	38%
1968	40.1%	37.9%
1969	39.9%	37.8%
1970	39.7%	37.7%
1971	39.5%	37.6%
1972	39.2%	37.5%
1973	38.8%	37.3%
1974	38.4%	37.2%
1975	38%	37.1%
1976	37.6%	36.9%
1977	37.2%	36.7%
1978	36.9%	36.3%
1979	36.7%	35.9%
1980	36.4%	35.5%
1981	36.2%	35.2%
1982	36%	34.9%
1983	35.8%	34.6%
1984	35.5%	34.3%
1985	35.2%	34%
1986	34.6%	33.8%
1987	34%	33.6%
1988	33.5%	33.4%
1989	33%	33.2%
1990	32.5%	33%
1991	32.1%	32.9%
1992	31.4%	32.7%
1993	30.6%	32.5%
1994	29.9%	32.3%
1995	29.2%	32.1%
1996	28.6%	31.8%
1997	28.2%	31.5%
1998	27.8%	31.1%
1999	27.4%	30.8%
2000	27%	30.4%
2001	26.6%	30%
2002	26.3%	29.6%
2003	26.1%	29.2%
2004	26%	28.8%
2005	25.8%	28.5%
2006	25.7%	28.1%
2007	25.7%	27.9%
2008	25.6%	27.6%
2009	25.5%	27.5%
2010	25.4%	27.3%
2011	25.3%	27.1%
2012	25.2%	27%
2013	25%	26.9%
2014	24.9%	26.8%
2015	24.7%	26.6%
2016	24.5%	26.5%
2017	24.2%	26.4%
2018	24%	26.2%
2019	23.7%	26%
2020	23.3%	25.8%
2021	23%	25.6%
2022	22.7%	25.3%
2023	22.4%	25%
2024	22%	24.7%
2025	21.7%	24.4%
2026	21.4%	24.1%
2027	21.1%	23.8%
2028	20.8%	23.4%
2029	20.5%	23.1%
2030	20.2%	22.8%
2031	20%	22.6%
2032	19.8%	22.3%
2033	19.6%	22.1%
2034	19.4%	21.9%
2035	19.2%	21.7%
2036	19.1%	21.6%
2037	18.9%	21.5%
2038	18.8%	21.4%
2039	18.7%	21.3%
2040	18.6%	21.2%
2041	18.4%	21.1%
2042	18.3%	21%
2043	18.2%	21%
2044	18.1%	20.9%
2045	18%	20.8%
2046	17.9%	20.7%
2047	17.7%	20.7%
2048	17.6%	20.6%
2049	17.5%	20.5%
2050	17.3%	20.4%

The share of children aged 0-14 in Sri Lanka was 41% in 1960, 30.6% in 1993, and 22% as of the latest data in 2025.

More about the demographics of Sri Lanka.

Natural population change by year

For the past 10 years, the natural population change in Sri Lanka, excluding migration, has been +0.75% annually. On average, 160,574 more people were born each year than died.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	Sri Lanka
1960	247,631
1961	251,087
1962	256,719
1963	262,880
1964	269,584
1965	272,422
1966	275,549
1967	284,738
1968	286,642
1969	286,218
1970	286,719
1971	281,200
1972	282,494
1973	278,577
1974	275,521
1975	282,496
1976	291,816
1977	300,038
1978	317,055
1979	329,791
1980	328,155
1981	328,096
1982	300,030
1983	277,768
1984	263,175
1985	247,836
1986	233,782
1987	226,414
1988	219,184
1989	212,401
1990	224,454
1991	218,117
1992	222,230
1993	226,257
1994	228,904
1995	221,957
1996	215,290
1997	208,193
1998	201,059
1999	206,876
2000	227,060
2001	244,377
2002	252,840
2003	252,008
2004	212,527
2005	248,683
2006	248,706
2007	248,287
2008	232,225
2009	200,175
2010	224,325
2011	224,461
2012	229,138
2013	221,021
2014	211,541
2015	201,815
2016	194,232
2017	187,993
2018	183,610
2019	172,243
2020	170,968
2021	121,858
2022	95,378
2023	66,111

Maternal mortality chart

The maternal mortality rate in Sri Lanka was 18 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023 — a 0.02% chance of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination. This is a -53.8% decrease compared to the year 2000.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Sri Lanka	World
1985	68	460
1986	66	438
1987	64	429
1988	62	414
1989	61	401
1990	59	391
1991	57	395
1992	54	395
1993	51	389
1994	49	382
1995	48	371
1996	47	366
1997	45	358
1998	43	360
1999	41	340
2000	39	328
2001	37	321
2002	36	311
2003	35	301
2004	37	291
2005	32	283
2006	32	276
2007	31	269
2008	30	264
2009	28	258
2010	26	253
2011	25	247
2012	24	239
2013	23	235
2014	23	231
2015	22	228
2016	22	220
2017	21	215
2018	21	211
2019	20	207
2020	23	211
2021	34	242
2022	22	203
2023	18	197

Under-five mortality rate chart

The under-5 mortality rate in Sri Lanka was 6.1 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023 — a 0.61% chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five. This is down from 16.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	Sri Lanka	World
1960	9.41%	18.5%
1961	8.95%	18.1%
1962	8.66%	17.8%
1963	8.48%	17.5%
1964	8.3%	17.7%
1965	8.07%	17.5%
1966	7.81%	17.3%
1967	7.55%	17%
1968	7.32%	16.5%
1969	7.14%	15.5%
1970	7.02%	15.2%
1971	6.94%	15.1%
1972	6.86%	14.4%
1973	6.77%	14.1%
1974	6.62%	13.7%
1975	6.41%	13.4%
1976	6.12%	13%
1977	5.77%	12.5%
1978	5.38%	12.1%
1979	4.99%	11.7%
1980	4.63%	11.4%
1981	4.29%	11%
1982	3.98%	10.8%
1983	3.67%	10.6%
1984	3.35%	10.4%
1985	3.02%	10.1%
1986	2.74%	9.81%
1987	2.54%	9.47%
1988	2.41%	9.31%
1989	2.74%	9.02%
1990	2.33%	8.81%
1991	2.32%	8.66%
1992	2.29%	8.46%
1993	2.22%	8.19%
1994	2.14%	7.98%
1995	2.05%	7.76%
1996	1.95%	7.52%
1997	1.86%	7.28%
1998	1.76%	7.05%
1999	1.69%	6.76%
2000	1.63%	6.48%
2001	1.58%	6.21%
2002	1.55%	5.94%
2003	1.52%	5.65%
2004	2.88%	5.43%
2005	1.4%	5.16%
2006	1.33%	4.92%
2007	1.26%	4.7%
2008	1.2%	4.5%
2009	2.08%	4.31%
2010	1.12%	4.11%
2011	1.08%	3.97%
2012	1.03%	3.77%
2013	0.98%	3.61%
2014	0.92%	3.48%
2015	0.87%	3.35%
2016	0.83%	3.23%
2017	0.79%	3.11%
2018	0.76%	2.97%
2019	0.72%	2.86%
2020	0.69%	2.75%
2021	0.66%	2.66%
2022	0.64%	2.59%
2023	0.61%	2.49%