Fertility Rate by Country

As one aspect of a nation's demographic health, understanding fertility rates is crucial. More than just numbers, fertility rates often reflect the interdependent trends of economic stability, gender equality, quality-of-life, and healthcare access. In an attempt to make sense of this complex picture and analyze fertility rate variation across different elements of a population, experts often turn to the Total Fertility Rate (TFR). This is a synthetic measure that represents the average number of children a woman would potentially have over her lifetime.

Key findings from the data include: 

• With a fertility rate of 1.7, the United States ranks in the lower third of the countries analyzed. This rate is significantly below the replacement rate of 2.1, the rate at which a generation can replace itself.
• Nations with high fertility rates are primarily in Africa, with Niger at the top with a rate of 6.9. Factors contributing to the high fertility rates in these countries include cultural customs, lack of contraceptive use, and high desired family size.
• Countries with the lowest fertility rates, including South Korea with an average of 1.0, share characteristics such as higher education levels, greater urbanization, and increased female workforce participation.
• In comparison to the other developed countries, the United States' fertility rate is similar, falling closely in line with the rate in Germany and the United Kingdom which records the rate of 1.6 and 1.7 respectively. 
• The disparity between countries with high and low fertility rates is striking, showing the impacts of different societal, economic, and cultural factors on fertility behavior globally.

To sort the data in the table, click on the column headers.