From 1950 to 1955, the worldwide crude birth rate was just under 37 births per thousand people, which means that 3.7 percent of the population, who were alive during this time had been born in this five year period. Between this five year period, and the time between 2015 and 2020, the crude birth rate has dropped to 18.5 births per thousand people, which is fifty percent of what the birth rate was seventy years ago. This change has come as a result of increased access and reliability of contraception, a huge reduction in infant and child mortality rate, and increased educational and vocational opportunities for women. The continents that have felt the greatest change over this seventy year period are Asia and Latin America, which fell below the global average in the 1990s and early 2000s, and are estimated to have fallen below the crude birth rate of Oceania in the current five-year period. Europe has consistently had the lowest crude birth rate of all continents during the past seventy years, particularly in the 1990s and 2000s, when it fell to just over ten births per thousand, as the end of communism in Europe caused sweeping demographic change across Europe. The only continent that still remains above the global average is Africa, whose crude birth rate is fifteen births per thousand more than the world average, although the rate of decrease is higher than it was in previous decades.

Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people) in World was reported at 16.33 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Birth rate, crude - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

The number of live births per 1,000 population in the world decreased over the past 30 years. In 1990, the crude birth rate was at **, whereas it had dropped below **** by 2022. In 2023, Niger was the country with the highest global birth rate.

The average for 2022 based on 195 countries was 18.38 births per 1000 people. The highest value was in Niger: 45.03 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 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Graph and download economic data for Crude Birth Rate for the United States (SPDYNCBRTINUSA) from 1960 to 2023 about birth, crude, rate, and USA.

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 Crude Birth Rate for Least Developed Countries (SPDYNCBRTINLDC) from 1960 to 2023 about birth, crude, and rate.

This dataset contains information on the number of live births, birth rates and fertility rates by race of mother from 1960-2016 published by National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

Number and percentage of live births, by month of birth, 1991 to most recent year.

United States US: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data was reported at 12.400 Ratio in 2016. This stayed constant from the previous number of 12.400 Ratio for 2015. United States US: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 15.100 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 23.700 Ratio in 1960 and a record low of 12.400 Ratio in 2016. United States US: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

United Kingdom UK: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data was reported at 11.800 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 11.900 Ratio for 2015. United Kingdom UK: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 12.900 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 18.800 Ratio in 1964 and a record low of 11.300 Ratio in 2002. United Kingdom UK: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES WORLD REGION OF BIRTH OF FOREIGN BORN - DP02 Universe - Foreign-born population - excluding population born at sea Survey-Program - American Community Survey 5-year estimates Years - 2020, 2021, 2022 The foreign-born population includes anyone who was not a U.S. citizen at birth.

Israel IL: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data was reported at 21.200 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 21.300 Ratio for 2015. Israel IL: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 22.600 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 28.000 Ratio in 1971 and a record low of 20.800 Ratio in 2005. Israel IL: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Israel – Table IL.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people) in United States was reported at 10.7 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United States - Birth rate, crude - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

United States - Crude Birth Rate for World was 16.33474 Births per 1,000 People in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Crude Birth Rate for World reached a record high of 36.06135 in January of 1963 and a record low of 16.33474 in January of 2023. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Crude Birth Rate for World - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.

Historical dataset showing World birth rate by year from 1950 to 2025.

Dataset

This dataset was created by Berkay İLHAN

Contents

Context

The United States Census Bureau’s international dataset provides estimates of country populations since 1950 and projections through 2050. Specifically, the dataset includes midyear population figures broken down by age and gender assignment at birth. Additionally, time-series data is provided for attributes including fertility rates, birth rates, death rates, and migration rates.

Querying BigQuery tables

You can use the BigQuery Python client library to query tables in this dataset in Kernels. Note that methods available in Kernels are limited to querying data. Tables are at bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.

Sample Query 1

What countries have the longest life expectancy? In this query, 2016 census information is retrieved by joining the mortality_life_expectancy and country_names_area tables for countries larger than 25,000 km2. Without the size constraint, Monaco is the top result with an average life expectancy of over 89 years!

standardSQL

SELECT age.country_name, age.life_expectancy, size.country_area FROM ( SELECT country_name, life_expectancy FROM bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.mortality_life_expectancy WHERE year = 2016) age INNER JOIN ( SELECT country_name, country_area FROM bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.country_names_area where country_area > 25000) size ON age.country_name = size.country_name ORDER BY 2 DESC /* Limit removed for Data Studio Visualization */ LIMIT 10

Sample Query 2

Which countries have the largest proportion of their population under 25? Over 40% of the world’s population is under 25 and greater than 50% of the world’s population is under 30! This query retrieves the countries with the largest proportion of young people by joining the age-specific population table with the midyear (total) population table.

standardSQL

SELECT age.country_name, SUM(age.population) AS under_25, pop.midyear_population AS total, ROUND((SUM(age.population) / pop.midyear_population) * 100,2) AS pct_under_25 FROM ( SELECT country_name, population, country_code FROM bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.midyear_population_agespecific WHERE year =2017 AND age < 25) age INNER JOIN ( SELECT midyear_population, country_code FROM bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.midyear_population WHERE year = 2017) pop ON age.country_code = pop.country_code GROUP BY 1, 3 ORDER BY 4 DESC /* Remove limit for visualization*/ LIMIT 10

Sample Query 3

The International Census dataset contains growth information in the form of birth rates, death rates, and migration rates. Net migration is the net number of migrants per 1,000 population, an important component of total population and one that often drives the work of the United Nations Refugee Agency. This query joins the growth rate table with the area table to retrieve 2017 data for countries greater than 500 km2.

SELECT growth.country_name, growth.net_migration, CAST(area.country_area AS INT64) AS country_area FROM ( SELECT country_name, net_migration, country_code FROM bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.birth_death_growth_rates WHERE year = 2017) growth INNER JOIN ( SELECT country_area, country_code FROM bigquery-public-data.census_bureau_international.country_names_area

Update frequency

Historic (none)

Dataset source

United States Census Bureau

Terms of use: This dataset is publicly available for anyone to use under the following terms provided by the Dataset Source - http://www.data.gov/privacy-policy#data_policy - and is provided "AS IS" without any warranty, express or implied, from Google. Google disclaims all liability for any damages, direct or indirect, resulting from the use of the dataset.

See the GCP Marketplace listing for more details and sample queries: https://console.cloud.google.com/marketplace/details/united-states-census-bureau/international-census-data

Libya LY: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data was reported at 19.672 Ratio in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 20.186 Ratio for 2015. Libya LY: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data is updated yearly, averaging 31.617 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2016, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 51.459 Ratio in 1968 and a record low of 19.672 Ratio in 2016. Libya LY: Birth Rate: Crude: per 1000 People data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Libya – Table LY.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Crude birth rate indicates the number of live births occurring during the year, per 1,000 population estimated at midyear. Subtracting the crude death rate from the crude birth rate provides the rate of natural increase, which is equal to the rate of population change in the absence of migration.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Weighted average;

Graph and download economic data for Crude Birth Rate for High Income Countries (SPDYNCBRTINHIC) from 1960 to 2023 about birth, crude, income, and rate.