Global Fertility Rates in 2025: A Comprehensive Overview
Global Fertility Rates in 2025
This page now uses a live official source base: the World Bank’s World Development Indicators pages for fertility rate, total (births per woman) and birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people), both of which are sourced from the UN Population Division and related official statistical systems. The page should therefore be read as a latest-available 2024 snapshot used in a 2025 article context, not as a forward 2025 forecast table.
Niger — about 6.0+
Latest official-source pages still place Niger at the extreme high end of global fertility, well above replacement level.
South Korea — below 1.0 in recent official readings
South Korea remains the clearest current example of ultra-low fertility in a large advanced economy, though national releases may move faster than broad international databases.
≈ 2.1
Fertility below this level does not automatically mean population decline, but it usually increases reliance on migration and productivity gains over time.
Birth intensity and age structure
TFR captures lifetime birth intensity per woman, while crude birth rate shows annual births relative to the total population.
What TFR and CBR measure
Total Fertility Rate (TFR) estimates the number of children a woman would have over her lifetime if current age-specific fertility rates stayed in place. Crude birth rate (CBR) counts annual births per 1,000 people. The two metrics answer different questions: TFR is better for comparing fertility behaviour, while CBR is more sensitive to the age structure of the population.
Highest-fertility countries in the latest official snapshot
The upper end of the ranking remains heavily concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the latest official snapshot, countries such as Niger, Somalia, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Benin, Uganda, Burundi, and Angola still sit in the highest-fertility group, with total fertility rates far above replacement level.
Because the live World Bank pages do not provide a clean built-in cross-country rank export in the same format as a static league table, this section should be read as a high-fertility group based on the latest official snapshot rather than a claim of a perfectly frozen one-day global Top 10 order.
| Group | Country | Latest fertility reading | Source note |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | Niger | Above 6.0 births per woman | World Bank WDI fertility page, latest snapshot. |
| High | Somalia | About 6.0 births per woman | World Bank WDI fertility page, latest snapshot. |
| High | Chad | About 6.0 births per woman | World Bank WDI fertility page, latest snapshot. |
| High | DR Congo | About 6.0 births per woman | World Bank WDI fertility page, latest snapshot. |
| High | Mali | About 5.5 births per woman | World Bank WDI fertility page, latest snapshot. |
| High | Angola | About 5.0 births per woman | World Bank WDI fertility page, latest snapshot. |
| High | Benin | About 4.5 births per woman | World Bank WDI fertility page, latest snapshot. |
| High | Uganda | About 5.0 births per woman | World Bank WDI fertility page, latest snapshot. |
| High | Burundi | About 4.8 births per woman | World Bank WDI fertility page, latest snapshot. |
| High | South Sudan | About 3.8 births per woman | Visible in latest-source comparison context, but lower than the core 5+ group. |
Reading note
This section prioritises live official-source integrity over artificial ranking precision. Exact row-by-row ordering can shift slightly across the latest available World Bank and UN updates, so the page keeps the high-fertility cluster clear without pretending to a frozen one-day global Top 10 export.
Lowest-fertility countries in the latest official snapshot
The lower end of the latest official snapshot is concentrated in East Asia and Southern Europe, with several small European states also sitting near the floor. The same source base shows that South Korea remains below 1.0, while countries such as Singapore, Malta, China, Spain, Italy, Japan, and Thailand cluster around very low fertility levels.
Here too, the page avoids claiming a falsely exact frozen bottom ranking from a live database view. Countries near the lower boundary are tightly packed, so a small revision can change order without changing the main demographic story.
| Group | Country | Latest fertility reading | Source note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | South Korea | Below 1.0 births per woman | Still the clearest ultra-low fertility case in the live official snapshot. |
| Low | Singapore | About 1.0 births per woman | Very low fertility in the latest official snapshot. |
| Low | Malta | About 1.0–1.2 births per woman | Low-fertility European small-state case. |
| Low | China | About 1.2 births per woman | Large-population low-fertility case in the latest snapshot. |
| Low | Spain | About 1.3 births per woman | Part of the southern European low-fertility cluster. |
| Low | Italy | About 1.3 births per woman | Persistently below replacement in the latest official snapshot. |
| Low | Japan | About 1.3 births per woman | Long-running very low fertility in a major advanced economy. |
| Low | Thailand | About 1.3 births per woman | Very low fertility in East and Southeast Asia context. |
| Low | Ukraine | About 1.3 births per woman | Low fertility in the latest official snapshot. |
| Low | Andorra | About 1.1 births per woman | Very low fertility among European small states. |
Reading note
The live official snapshot is strong enough to identify the low-fertility cluster clearly, but countries near the bottom should not be presented as if they had a permanently fixed rank position from a static league-table export.
Regional patterns and what stands out in the source
The live World Bank / UN snapshot reinforces a familiar demographic divide. The highest fertility rates remain concentrated in countries with very young age structures and high annual birth intensity, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. The lowest fertility rates cluster in East Asia and parts of Europe, where later family formation, higher living costs, aging populations, and long-running below-replacement fertility all weigh on birth numbers.
Sub-Saharan Africa dominates the upper end
Most countries in the highest-fertility cluster shown here are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Their TFR values above five births per woman are matched by crude birth rates mostly near or above 39 births per 1,000 people, showing that high fertility is still translating into very high annual birth intensity.
- High fertility and high crude birth rates often move together in youthful populations.
- Population momentum remains powerful even if fertility starts to ease from earlier peaks.
- Education systems, maternal health, and job creation face sustained demographic pressure.
East Asia remains the clearest low-fertility cluster
South Korea, Singapore, China, and Thailand all appear near the bottom of the low-fertility cluster shown here. South Korea is the standout case because its fertility rate is exceptionally low and its crude birth rate is also very weak, underlining how deeply low fertility is now reflected in annual births.
- Very low fertility is closely linked to aging and smaller cohorts entering the workforce.
- Housing, childcare, labour-market pressure, and delayed parenthood all matter.
- At these levels, migration and productivity become increasingly important to offset demographic strain.
Southern and small-state Europe sit near the lower boundary
Spain, Italy, Malta, Andorra, and other small European states appear close to the floor of the low-fertility cluster. Their values are not identical in demographic meaning, but the shared pattern is clear: fertility is low, crude birth rates are subdued, and natural increase tends to weaken or turn negative.
Why fertility trends matter
Fertility changes reshape population structure with a long delay: children born or not born today become students in a few years, workers in two decades, and retirees many decades later. That is why fertility is a slow-moving indicator with major long-term consequences for labour supply, pension systems, healthcare demand, school planning, and fiscal pressure.
Insights and interpretation
- The upper cluster is not just about family size: very high crude birth rates show that these countries also experience intense annual birth flows relative to their total population.
- The low-fertility cluster is tied to aging: very low fertility today usually means weaker natural increase and heavier future pressure on labour markets and pensions.
- Crude birth rate adds context: countries with similar TFR can still show different annual birth rates because age structure matters.
- Cluster logic matters at the lower boundary: several countries are tightly packed around very low fertility levels, which is why this page avoids pretending to a cleaner and more fixed rank order than the live source base really supports.
Methodology
Source discipline: the page now uses the World Bank’s live indicator pages for fertility rate, total (SP.DYN.TFRT.IN) and birth rate, crude (SP.DYN.CBRT.IN). Those pages are built on the UN Population Division and related official demographic inputs, which makes them a stronger live source base than the retired CIA country-comparison pages.
- Coverage choice: the article now treats the data as a latest-available official snapshot rather than a rigid one-day league table. This avoids overstating precision when live indicator pages update and country ordering can move slightly.
- Indicator definitions: TFR is births per woman; crude birth rate is annual births per 1,000 people.
- Why the tables are now framed as country groups: the live source base is excellent for identifying the highest- and lowest-fertility clusters, but it is less suitable for pretending to a perfectly frozen rank order without a separately exported database table.
- Rounding: values shown in text are kept broad where the live source view is best read as a snapshot. That is more honest than publishing false exactness that cannot be cleanly reproduced from the current live page layout.
- Limitations: even official sources differ by revision cycle, territorial coverage, and update timing. National statistical releases can move faster than broad international databases, especially at the very low-fertility end.
FAQ
Using one source keeps the ranking internally consistent. Once TFR and crude birth rate are pulled from different datasets, year labels, revisions, and country coverage rules can stop matching.
Across the latest official-source snapshot and recent national releases, South Korea remains the clearest current example of ultra-low fertility in a large advanced economy. The page avoids forcing a frozen exact rank, but the broader demographic signal is not in doubt.
Because countries near the lower boundary are tightly packed and live official pages are better at showing the cluster than a perfectly frozen one-day league table. Presenting the group honestly is better than forcing a neat but misleading bottom ten.
TFR is usually better for comparing fertility behaviour across countries. Crude birth rate adds annual context, but it is more strongly affected by the age structure of the population.
Because crude birth rate depends on how many people are in childbearing ages right now. A youthful population can produce more births per 1,000 people than an older one even when TFR is similar.
Update it when the underlying source refreshes its fertility and birth-rate estimates. The ranking should be rebuilt from the same source family each time so the page stays internally consistent.
Sources
