Fertility & birth rates in Switzerland and United States

Fertility rate in Switzerland vs United States chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Switzerland was 1.33 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1.62 in the United States in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Switzerland vs the United States population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Switzerland	United States
1960	2.44	3.65
1961	2.52	3.62
1962	2.58	3.46
1963	2.65	3.32
1964	2.66	3.19
1965	2.59	2.91
1966	2.5	2.72
1967	2.39	2.56
1968	2.29	2.46
1969	2.19	2.46
1970	2.1	2.48
1971	2.04	2.27
1972	1.91	2.01
1973	1.81	1.88
1974	1.73	1.84
1975	1.61	1.77
1976	1.55	1.74
1977	1.53	1.79
1978	1.51	1.76
1979	1.52	1.81
1980	1.55	1.84
1981	1.55	1.81
1982	1.56	1.83
1983	1.52	1.8
1984	1.53	1.81
1985	1.52	1.84
1986	1.53	1.84
1987	1.52	1.87
1988	1.57	1.93
1989	1.56	2.01
1990	1.58	2.08
1991	1.58	2.06
1992	1.58	2.05
1993	1.51	2.02
1994	1.49	2
1995	1.48	1.98
1996	1.5	1.98
1997	1.48	1.97
1998	1.47	2
1999	1.48	2.01
2000	1.5	2.06
2001	1.38	2.03
2002	1.39	2.02
2003	1.39	2.05
2004	1.42	2.05
2005	1.42	2.06
2006	1.44	2.11
2007	1.46	2.12
2008	1.48	2.07
2009	1.5	2
2010	1.52	1.93
2011	1.52	1.89
2012	1.52	1.88
2013	1.52	1.86
2014	1.54	1.86
2015	1.54	1.84
2016	1.54	1.82
2017	1.52	1.77
2018	1.52	1.73
2019	1.48	1.71
2020	1.46	1.64
2021	1.52	1.66
2022	1.39	1.66
2023	1.33	1.62
2024	1.33	1.62
2025	1.34	1.62
2026	1.34	1.62
2027	1.35	1.62
2028	1.35	1.62
2029	1.35	1.62
2030	1.35	1.62
2031	1.36	1.62
2032	1.36	1.62
2033	1.37	1.63
2034	1.37	1.62
2035	1.37	1.63
2036	1.38	1.63
2037	1.38	1.63
2038	1.38	1.63
2039	1.38	1.63
2040	1.39	1.63
2041	1.39	1.63
2042	1.39	1.63
2043	1.4	1.63
2044	1.4	1.63
2045	1.4	1.64
2046	1.4	1.64
2047	1.41	1.63
2048	1.41	1.64
2049	1.41	1.63
2050	1.41	1.64

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Switzerland	United States
1960	24%	31.3%
1961	24%	31.4%
1962	24.1%	31.3%
1963	24.1%	31.1%
1964	24.1%	30.9%
1965	24.1%	30.7%
1966	24.2%	30.4%
1967	24.1%	30%
1968	24%	29.5%
1969	23.8%	29%
1970	23.8%	28.6%
1971	23.7%	28%
1972	23.5%	27.4%
1973	23.2%	26.6%
1974	22.8%	25.9%
1975	22.4%	25.2%
1976	22%	24.4%
1977	21.4%	23.8%
1978	20.9%	23.2%
1979	20.3%	22.8%
1980	19.7%	22.4%
1981	19.2%	22.1%
1982	18.8%	22%
1983	18.3%	21.8%
1984	18%	21.7%
1985	17.6%	21.5%
1986	17.4%	21.3%
1987	17.2%	21.3%
1988	17.1%	21.3%
1989	17%	21.5%
1990	17.1%	21.6%
1991	17.2%	21.7%
1992	17.3%	21.8%
1993	17.5%	21.9%
1994	17.6%	21.9%
1995	17.6%	21.8%
1996	17.7%	21.7%
1997	17.6%	21.5%
1998	17.6%	21.4%
1999	17.5%	21.3%
2000	17.4%	21.2%
2001	17.1%	21%
2002	16.8%	20.9%
2003	16.6%	20.7%
2004	16.4%	20.5%
2005	16.1%	20.3%
2006	15.9%	20.2%
2007	15.6%	20%
2008	15.4%	19.9%
2009	15.3%	19.8%
2010	15.2%	19.7%
2011	15.1%	19.6%
2012	15%	19.5%
2013	14.9%	19.4%
2014	14.9%	19.3%
2015	14.9%	19.2%
2016	14.9%	19.1%
2017	14.9%	18.9%
2018	15%	18.8%
2019	15%	18.6%
2020	15.1%	18.4%
2021	15.1%	18.1%
2022	15.1%	17.9%
2023	15%	17.6%
2024	15%	17.3%
2025	14.9%	17.1%
2026	14.8%	16.9%
2027	14.7%	16.7%
2028	14.6%	16.6%
2029	14.5%	16.4%
2030	14.3%	16.3%
2031	14.1%	16.1%
2032	14%	16%
2033	13.8%	16%
2034	13.6%	15.9%
2035	13.5%	15.9%
2036	13.3%	15.9%
2037	13.2%	15.9%
2038	13.1%	15.9%
2039	13%	15.9%
2040	12.9%	15.9%
2041	12.8%	16%
2042	12.8%	16%
2043	12.7%	16%
2044	12.8%	16%
2045	12.8%	16%
2046	12.8%	16%
2047	12.9%	16%
2048	12.9%	16%
2049	13%	15.9%
2050	13.1%	15.9%

Children aged 0-14 make up 15% of the population in Switzerland and 17.3% in the United States in 2024, compared to 17.1% and 21.6% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Switzerland and the United States compared.

Natural population change in Switzerland vs United States by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.2% in Switzerland and +0.25% in the United States. 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
	Switzerland	United States
1960	42,090	2,565,530
1961	48,365	2,571,681
1962	49,050	2,406,337
1963	52,956	2,289,826
1964	59,050	2,245,099
1965	56,222	1,943,030
1966	53,854	1,749,387
1967	52,128	1,669,181
1968	47,328	1,565,507
1969	44,182	1,702,487
1970	42,648	1,824,965
1971	38,523	1,640,519
1972	35,061	1,301,355
1973	30,906	1,165,499
1974	27,902	1,218,968
1975	22,820	1,252,644
1976	17,017	1,264,604
1977	16,959	1,431,556
1978	13,820	1,402,283
1979	14,477	1,597,894
1980	14,535	1,608,450
1981	13,979	1,652,153
1982	15,339	1,714,317
1983	12,837	1,636,544
1984	16,105	1,627,192
1985	14,882	1,689,258
1986	16,261	1,656,917
1987	15,708	1,720,252
1988	21,099	1,735,943
1989	19,941	1,875,826
1990	20,146	2,026,068
1991	23,800	1,926,543
1992	24,064	1,875,328
1993	21,509	1,717,685
1994	20,982	1,633,302
1995	19,010	1,546,031
1996	19,801	1,510,137
1997	17,722	1,501,014
1998	16,353	1,573,857
1999	16,431	1,564,050
2000	15,806	1,664,758
2001	10,845	1,595,826
2002	10,199	1,581,938
2003	8,807	1,653,615
2004	13,302	1,698,271
2005	11,899	1,684,445
2006	12,723	1,849,955
2007	13,592	1,897,757
2008	15,295	1,794,154
2009	15,487	1,717,920
2010	17,997	1,548,182
2011	18,990	1,441,697
2012	18,393	1,411,822
2013	17,797	1,322,711
2014	21,290	1,357,281
2015	19,050	1,270,126
2016	22,608	1,197,627
2017	20,284	1,028,037
2018	20,434	955,022
2019	18,008	887,476
2020	9,502	208,862
2021	18,279	199,137
2022	7,899	399,926
2023	7,999	502,372

Maternal mortality chart: Switzerland vs United States

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 5 deaths per 100,000 live births in Switzerland, compared to 17 deaths in the United States.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Switzerland	United States
1985	15	11
1986	14	11
1987	14	11
1988	15	12
1989	14	12
1990	14	12
1991	14	12
1992	13	11
1993	13	12
1994	12	11
1995	12	12
1996	11	11
1997	10	11
1998	10	11
1999	9	12
2000	9	12
2001	8	13
2002	9	13
2003	8	13
2004	8	13
2005	8	13
2006	8	13
2007	7	13
2008	7	14
2009	7	15
2010	7	15
2011	7	15
2012	7	16
2013	7	16
2014	6	17
2015	6	17
2016	7	18
2017	6	18
2018	6	18
2019	6	18
2020	5	22
2021	4	31
2022	4	20
2023	5	17

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.39% in Switzerland and 0.65% in the United States. 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
	Switzerland	United States
1960	2.65%	3.01%
1961	2.6%	2.95%
1962	2.53%	2.89%
1963	2.45%	2.83%
1964	2.36%	2.77%
1965	2.26%	2.71%
1966	2.16%	2.64%
1967	2.07%	2.57%
1968	1.99%	2.49%
1969	1.92%	2.41%
1970	1.84%	2.32%
1971	1.76%	2.24%
1972	1.67%	2.15%
1973	1.57%	2.06%
1974	1.48%	1.97%
1975	1.38%	1.88%
1976	1.29%	1.79%
1977	1.21%	1.71%
1978	1.14%	1.63%
1979	1.09%	1.56%
1980	1.04%	1.5%
1981	1%	1.44%
1982	0.97%	1.39%
1983	0.94%	1.34%
1984	0.92%	1.3%
1985	0.9%	1.27%
1986	0.89%	1.24%
1987	0.88%	1.21%
1988	0.86%	1.19%
1989	0.84%	1.16%
1990	0.82%	1.12%
1991	0.78%	1.09%
1992	0.75%	1.05%
1993	0.71%	1.01%
1994	0.67%	0.98%
1995	0.64%	0.95%
1996	0.62%	0.92%
1997	0.6%	0.89%
1998	0.58%	0.87%
1999	0.57%	0.86%
2000	0.56%	0.84%
2001	0.55%	0.83%
2002	0.54%	0.82%
2003	0.53%	0.81%
2004	0.52%	0.81%
2005	0.51%	0.8%
2006	0.49%	0.79%
2007	0.48%	0.77%
2008	0.47%	0.76%
2009	0.46%	0.75%
2010	0.46%	0.73%
2011	0.45%	0.72%
2012	0.44%	0.7%
2013	0.44%	0.69%
2014	0.43%	0.68%
2015	0.43%	0.68%
2016	0.42%	0.67%
2017	0.41%	0.66%
2018	0.41%	0.65%
2019	0.4%	0.65%
2020	0.4%	0.65%
2021	0.4%	0.65%
2022	0.4%	0.65%
2023	0.39%	0.65%