Today, globally, women of childbearing age have an average of approximately 2.2 children over the course of their lifetime. In pre-industrial times, most women could expect to have somewhere between five and ten live births throughout their lifetime; however, the demographic transition then sees fertility rates fall significantly. Looking ahead, it is believed that the global fertility rate will fall below replacement level in the 2050s, which will eventually lead to population decline when life expectancy plateaus. Recent decades Between the 1950s and 1970s, the global fertility rate was roughly five children per woman - this was partly due to the post-WWII baby boom in many countries, on top of already-high rates in less-developed countries. The drop around 1960 can be attributed to China's "Great Leap Forward", where famine and disease in the world's most populous country saw the global fertility rate drop by roughly 0.5 children per woman. Between the 1970s and today, fertility rates fell consistently, although the rate of decline noticeably slowed as the baby boomer generation then began having their own children. Replacement level fertility Replacement level fertility, i.e. the number of children born per woman that a population needs for long-term stability, is approximately 2.1 children per woman. Populations may continue to grow naturally despite below-replacement level fertility, due to reduced mortality and increased life expectancy, however, these will plateau with time and then population decline will occur. It is believed that the global fertility rate will drop below replacement level in the mid-2050s, although improvements in healthcare and living standards will see population growth continue into the 2080s when the global population will then start falling.

Graph and download economic data for Fertility Rate, Total for the United States (SPDYNTFRTINUSA) from 1960 to 2023 about fertility, rate, and USA.

The total fertility rate of the world has dropped from around 5 children per woman in 1950, to 2.2 children per woman in 2025, which means that women today are having fewer than half the number of children that women did 75 years ago. Replacement level fertility This change has come as a result of the global demographic transition, and is influenced by factors such as the significant reduction in infant and child mortality, reduced number of child marriages, increased educational and vocational opportunities for women, and the increased efficacy and availability of contraception. While this change has become synonymous with societal progress, it does have wide-reaching demographic impact - if the global average falls below replacement level (roughly 2.1 children per woman), as is expected to happen in the 2050s, then this will lead to long-term population decline on a global scale. Regional variations When broken down by continent, Africa is the only region with a fertility rate above the global average, and, alongside Oceania, it is the only region with a fertility rate above replacement level. Until the 1980s, the average woman in Africa could expect to have 6-7 children over the course of their lifetime, and there are still several countries in Africa where women can still expect to have 5 or more children in 2025. Historically, Europe has had the lowest fertility rates in the world over the past century, falling below replacement level in 1975. Europe's population has grown through a combination of migration and increasing life expectancy, however even high immigration rates could not prevent its population from going into decline in 2021.

In 2025, there are six countries, all in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the average woman of childbearing age can expect to have between 5-6 children throughout their lifetime. In fact, of the 20 countries in the world with the highest fertility rates, Afghanistan and Yemen are the only countries not found in Sub-Saharan Africa. High fertility rates in Africa With a fertility rate of almost six children per woman, Chad is the country with the highest fertility rate in the world. Population growth in Chad is among the highest in the world. Lack of healthcare access, as well as food instability, political instability, and climate change, are all exacerbating conditions that keep Chad's infant mortality rates high, which is generally the driver behind high fertility rates. This situation is common across much of the continent, and, although there has been considerable progress in recent decades, development in Sub-Saharan Africa is not moving as quickly as it did in other regions. Demographic transition While these countries have the highest fertility rates in the world, their rates are all on a generally downward trajectory due to a phenomenon known as the demographic transition. The third stage (of five) of this transition sees birth rates drop in response to decreased infant and child mortality, as families no longer feel the need to compensate for lost children. Eventually, fertility rates fall below replacement level (approximately 2.1 children per woman), which eventually leads to natural population decline once life expectancy plateaus. In some of the most developed countries today, low fertility rates are creating severe econoic and societal challenges as workforces are shrinking while aging populations are placin a greater burden on both public and personal resources.

Following a spike to 2.5 children per woman in the mid-1960s (during the second wave of the post-WWII baby boom), Germany's fertility rate then fell sharply to around 1.5 children per woman in the 1970s, and it has fluctuated between 1.2 and 1.6 children per woman ever since. Germany's fertility rate has been below the natural replacement level of roughly 2.1 children per woman since 1970, meaning that long-term natural population growth is unsustainable. In fact, Germany has experienced a natural population decline in every year since 1972, and its population has only grown or been sustained at its current level through high net immigration rates.Find more statistics on other topics about Germany with key insights such as crude birth rate, life expectancy of women at birth, and total life expectancy at birth.

The fertility rate of a country is the average number of children that women from that country will have throughout their reproductive years. In the United States in 1800, the average woman of childbearing age would have seven children over the course of their lifetime. As factors such as technology, hygiene, medicine and education improved, women were having fewer children than before, reaching just two children per woman in 1940. This changed quite dramatically in the aftermath of the Second World War, rising sharply to over 3.5 children per woman in 1960 (children born between 1946 and 1964 are nowadays known as the 'Baby Boomer' generation, and they make up roughly twenty percent of todays US population). Due to the end of the baby boom and increased access to contraception, fertility reached it's lowest point in the US in 1980, where it was just 1.77. It did however rise to over two children per woman between 1995 and 2010, although it is expected to drop again by 2020, to just 1.78.

The average for 2022 based on 196 countries was 18.19 births per 1000 people. The highest value was in the Central African Republic: 45.42 births per 1000 people and the lowest value was in Hong Kong: 4.4 births per 1000 people. The indicator is available from 1960 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The statistic shows the 20 countries with the lowest fertility rates in 2024. All figures are estimates. In 2024, the fertility rate in Taiwan was estimated to be at 1.11 children per woman, making it the lowest fertility rate worldwide. Fertility rate The fertility rate is the average number of children born per woman of child-bearing age in a country. Usually, a woman aged between 15 and 45 is considered to be in her child-bearing years. The fertility rate of a country provides an insight into its economic state, as well as the level of health and education of its population. Developing countries usually have a higher fertility rate due to lack of access to birth control and contraception, and to women usually foregoing a higher education, or even any education at all, in favor of taking care of housework. Many families in poorer countries also need their children to help provide for the family by starting to work early and/or as caretakers for their parents in old age. In developed countries, fertility rates and birth rates are usually much lower, as birth control is easier to obtain and women often choose a career before becoming a mother. Additionally, if the number of women of child-bearing age declines, so does the fertility rate of a country. As can be seen above, countries like Hong Kong are a good example for women leaving the patriarchal structures and focusing on their own career instead of becoming a mother at a young age, causing a decline of the country’s fertility rate. A look at the fertility rate per woman worldwide by income group also shows that women with a low income tend to have more children than those with a high income. The United States are neither among the countries with the lowest, nor among those with the highest fertility rate, by the way. At 2.08 children per woman, the fertility rate in the US has been continuously slightly below the global average of about 2.4 children per woman over the last decade.

This map shows the average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime. Data from Population Reference Bureau's 2017 World Population Data Sheet. The world's total fertility rate reported in 2017 was 2.5 as a whole. Replacement-Level fertility is widely recognized as 2.0 children per woman, so as to "replace" each parent in the next generation. Countries depicted in pink have a total fertility rate below replacement level whereas countries depicted in teal have a total fertility rate above replacement level. In countries with very high child mortality rates, a replacement level of 2.1 could be used, since not every child will survive into their reproductive years. Determinants of Total Fertility Rate include: women's education levels and opportunities, marriage rates among women of childbearing age (generally defined as 15-49), contraceptive usage and method mix/effectiveness, infant & child mortality rates, share of population living in urban areas, the importance of children as part of the labor force (or cost/penalty to women's labor force options that having children poses), and religious and cultural norms, among many other factors. This map was made using the Global Population and Maternal Health Indicators layer.

Key figures on fertility, live and stillborn children and multiple births among inhabitants of The Netherlands.

Available selections: - Live born children by sex; - Live born children by age of the mother (31 December), in groups; - Live born children by birth order from the mother; - Live born children by marital status of the mother; - Live born children by country of birth of the mother and origin country of the mother; - Stillborn children by duration of pregnancy; - Births: single and multiple; - Average number of children per female; - Average number of children per male; - Average age of the mother at childbirth by birth order from the mother; - Average age of the father at childbirth by birth order from the mother; - Net replacement factor.

CBS is in transition towards a new classification of the population by origin. Greater emphasis is now placed on where a person was born, aside from where that person’s parents were born. The term ‘migration background’ is no longer used in this regard. The main categories western/non-western are being replaced by categories based on continents and a few countries that share a specific migration history with the Netherlands. The new classification is being implemented gradually in tables and publications on population by origin.

Data available from: 1950 Most of the data is available as of 1950 with the exception of the live born children by country of birth of the mother and origin country of the mother (from 2021, previous periods will be added at a later time), stillborn children by duration of pregnancy (24+) (from 1991), average number of children per male (from 1996) and the average age of the father at childbirth (from 1996).

Status of the figures: The 2023 figures on stillbirths and (multiple) births are provisional, the other figures in the table are final.

Changes per 17 December 2024: Figures of 2023 have been added. The provisional figures on the number of live births and stillbirths for 2023 do not include children who were born at a gestational age that is unknown. These cases were included in the final figures for previous years. However, the provisional figures show a relatively larger number of children born at an unknown gestational age. Based on an internal analysis for 2022, it appears that in the majority of these cases, the child was born at less than 24 weeks. To ensure that the provisional 2023 figures do not overestimate the number of stillborn children born at a gestational age of over 24 weeks, children born at an unknown gestational age have now been excluded.

When will new figures be published? Final 2023 figures on the number of stillbirths and the number of births are expected to be added to the table in de third quarter of 2025. In the third quarter of 2025 final figures of 2024 will be published in this publication.

The cyclical fertility index represents the number of children that 15-year-olds would give life before age 49 if they adopted fertility by age group observed during that period. The cyclical fertility index is calculated here over a 5-year period, starting from the fertility rates of women aged 15 to 49. It is the sum of fertility rates per five-year age group multiplied by 5. Fertility rates by age group reflect in the numerator the average annual number of live births for women in a given age group. The denominator is the average for the period analysed of the populations on 1 July of women in this same age group. The cyclical fertility index is an indicator of population renewal that is not influenced by the age structure of the population, unlike the crude birth rate. It is therefore an excellent comparative indicator of the fertility of a population. Population renewal is ensured if the number of girls in the child generation is equal to the number of women in the parent generation. In the absence of mortality, a woman must give birth to 2.05 children (2.05 and not 2 because she is born 105 boys per 100 girls) to replace a generation, either herself and the father.

In 2024, Monaco was the European country estimated to have the highest fertility rate. The country had a fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman. Other small countries such as Gibraltar or Montenegro also came towards the top of the list for 2024, while the large country with the highest fertility rate was France, with 1.64 children per woman. On the other hand, Ukraine had the lowest fertility rate, averaging around one child per woman.

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women had the highest fertility rate of any ethnicity in the United States in 2022, with about 2,237.5 births per 1,000 women. The fertility rate for all ethnicities in the U.S. was 1,656.5 births per 1,000 women. What is the total fertility rate? The total fertility rate is an estimation of the number of children who would theoretically be born per 1,000 women through their childbearing years (generally considered to be between the ages of 15 and 44) according to age-specific fertility rates. The fertility rate is different from the birth rate, in that the birth rate is the number of births in relation to the population over a specific period of time. Fertility rates around the world Fertility rates around the world differ on a country-by-country basis, and more industrialized countries tend to see lower fertility rates. For example, Niger topped the list of the countries with the highest fertility rates, and Taiwan had the lowest fertility rate.

Replacement fertility variant projection for England including population by broad age group, components of change and summary statistics.

Replacement fertility variant projection for Wales including population by broad age group, components of change and summary statistics.

While the BRICS countries are grouped together in terms of economic development, demographic progress varies across these five countries. In 2019, India and South Africa were the only BRICS countries with a fertility rate above replacement level (2.1 births per woman). Fertility rates since 2000 show that fertility in China and Russia has either fluctuated or remained fairly steady, as these two countries are at a later stage of the demographic transition than the other three, while Brazil has reached this stage more recently. Fertility rates in India are following a similar trend to Brazil, while South Africa's rate is progressing at a much slower pace. Demographic development is inextricably linked with economic growth; for example, as fertility rates drop, female participation in the workforce increases, as does the average age, which then leads to higher productivity and a more profitable domestic market.

Replacement fertility variant projection for England - population by five-year age groups and sex.

Simulations of MCMC parameters and density distribution functions. (ZIP)

BackgroundProgesterone administration before transfer in hormone replacement treatment (HRT) is crucial to pregnancy outcomes in frozen-thawed blastocyst transfer (FET), but the optimal progesterone duration is inconsistent. The objective of this study was to investigate live birth rate (LBR) of different progesterone duration before blastocyst transfer in HRT–FET cycles.MethodIn this retrospective cohort study, patients underwent first HRT–FET (including suppression HRT) from January 2016 to December 2019 were included. Logit-transformed propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to assess covariates. The primary outcome was live birth rate after 28 weeks’ gestation. Basing on different duration of progesterone before transfer, patients were classified into P6-protocol (blastocyst transfer performed on the sixth day), or P7-protocol (blastocyst transfer performed on the seventh day). Subgroup analyses were conducted as follows: age stratification (–35, 35–38, 38–), development days of blastocyst (D5 or D6), blastocyst quality (high-quality or poor-quality), and endometrial preparation protocols (HRT or suppression HRT).ResultAfter case matching with propensity score methods, a total of 1,400 patients were included finally: 700 with P6-protocol and 700 with P7-protocol. Significantly higher live birth rate (38.43% versus 31.57%, respectively, P = 0.01) and clinical pregnant rate (50.43% versus 44.14%, respectively, P = 0.02) were observed in P6-protocol than those of P7-protocol. First-trimester abortion rates (18.13% versus 20.71%, P = 0.40) and ectopic pregnancy rates (2.27% versus 1.94%, P = 0.77) were similar between P6- and P7-groups. Preterm birth rate, low birth weight rate, newborn sex proportion, neonatal malformation rate were comparable between groups. Significantly higher LBRs were observed in patients with: age under 35, D5 blastocyst transfer, high-quality blastocyst transfer, and undergoing HRT cycles combined P6-protocol.ConclusionFrozen-thawed blastocyst transfer on the sixth day of progesterone administration in first HRT cycle is related to higher live birth rate compared with transfer on the seventh day, especially among patients aged under 35, D5 blastocyst and/or high-quality blastocyst transfer.

While the standard image of the nuclear family with two parents and 2.5 children has persisted in the American imagination, the number of births in the U.S. has steadily been decreasing since 1990, with about 3.6 million babies born in 2023. In 1990, this figure was 4.16 million. Birth and replacement rates A country’s birth rate is defined as the number of live births per 1,000 inhabitants, and it is this particularly important number that has been decreasing over the past few decades. The declining birth rate is not solely an American problem, with EU member states showing comparable rates to the U.S. Additionally, each country has what is called a “replacement rate.” The replacement rate is the rate of fertility needed to keep a population stable when compared with the death rate. In the U.S., the fertility rate needed to keep the population stable is around 2.1 children per woman, but this figure was at 1.67 in 2022. Falling birth rates Currently, there is much discussion as to what exactly is causing the birth rate to decrease in the United States. There seem to be several factors in play, including longer life expectancies, financial concerns (such as the economic crisis of 2008), and an increased focus on careers, all of which are causing people to wait longer to start a family. How international governments will handle falling populations remains to be seen, but what is clear is that the declining birth rate is a multifaceted problem without an easy solution.