Decline in fertility rates: A Global Perspective

Total Fertility rate is known as average number of children born to women during their reproductive years. in recent years fertility rate is declining with drastic changes. the effect is more in developed countries like South Korea and Japan.

In 2024 the world’s average fertility rate is 2.3 children per women. which is significant decline from 1950 when it was almost 5 children per woman.

Fertility rate In India, 1950 to 2024

A total fertility rate (TFR) of about 2.1 children per woman is called the “replacement level.” This is the number needed to keep the population stable without considering migration.

• Below 2.1: If the TFR is lower than 2.1, the population might start to decline over time. This is seen in many developed countries like South Korea and Japan.
• Above 2.1: If the TFR is higher than 2.1, the population is likely to grow. This is often the case in many developing countries where families tend to have more children

Total Fertility rate of countries

According to World Bank Data, Countries like Niger and Somalia in Africa have some of the world’s highest fertility rates, with averages above 6 children per woman. In contrast, nations such as South Korea and Singapore report some of the lowest fertility rates globally, falling below 1 child per woman.

• Niger has the highest fertility rate in the world at 6.7 children per woman.
• Hong Kong has the lowest fertility rate in the world at 0.7 children per woman.
• Decline in fertility rate since 1990 to 2022 has been highest for Yamen, which has declined from 8.6 to 3.7.

List of countries with Total fertility rate

SN	Countries	1990	2022
1	Afghanistan	7.6	4.5
2	Albania	2.9	1.4
3	Algeria	4.6	2.8
4	American Samoa	NA	NA
5	Andorra	NA	NA
6	Angola	7.3	5.2
7	Antigua and Barbuda	2.2	1.6
8	Argentina	3	1.9
9	Armenia	2.7	1.6
10	Aruba	2.3	1.2
11	Australia	1.9	1.6
12	Austria	1.5	1.4
13	Azerbaijan	2.7	1.7
14	Bahamas, The	2.5	1.4
15	Bahrain	3.8	1.8
16	Bangladesh	4.5	2
17	Barbados	1.7	1.6
18	Belarus	1.9	1.5
19	Belgium	1.6	1.5
20	Belize	4.7	2
21	Benin	6.7	4.9
22	Bermuda	1.7	1.3
23	Bhutan	5.6	1.4
24	Bolivia	4.9	2.6
25	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.8	1.3
26	Botswana	4.5	2.8
27	Brazil	2.9	1.6
28	Brunei Darussalam	3.3	1.8
29	Bulgaria	1.8	1.8
30	Burkina Faso	7	4.7
31	Burundi	7.4	5
32	Cabo Verde	5.4	1.9
33	Cambodia	5.6	2.3
34	Cameroon	6.4	4.4
35	Canada	1.8	1.3
36	Cayman Islands	NA	NA
37	Central African Republic	6	5.9
38	Chad	7.2	6.2
39	Channel Islands	1.5	1.5
40	Chile	2.6	1.5
41	China	2.5	1.2
42	Hong Kong SAR, China	1.3	0.7
43	Macao SAR, China	1.7	1.1
44	Colombia	3.1	1.7
45	Comoros	6.5	3.9
46	Congo, Dem. Rep.	6.7	6.1
47	Congo, Rep.	5.2	4.1
48	Costa Rica	3.2	1.5
49	Cote d'Ivoire	6.7	4.3
50	Croatia	1.6	1.5
51	Cuba	1.8	1.4
52	Curacao	2.3	1.3
53	Cyprus	2.4	1.3
54	Czechia	1.9	1.6
55	Denmark	1.7	1.6
56	Djibouti	6	2.8
57	Dominica	3	1.6
58	Dominican Republic	3.4	2.2
59	Ecuador	3.7	2
60	Egypt, Arab Rep.	4.5	2.9
61	El Salvador	3.9	1.8
62	Equatorial Guinea	6	4.2
63	Eritrea	6.3	3.8
64	Estonia	2.1	1.4
65	Eswatini	5.3	2.8
66	Ethiopia	7.2	4.1
67	Faroe Islands	2.8	2
68	Fiji	3.4	2.5
69	Finland	1.8	1.3
70	France	1.8	1.8
71	French Polynesia	3.4	1.7
72	Gabon	5.5	3.5
73	Gambia, The	6.2	4.6
74	Georgia	2.3	2.1
75	Germany	1.5	1.5
76	Ghana	5.7	3.5
77	Greece	1.4	1.4
78	Greenland	2.4	1.8
79	Grenada	3.5	2
80	Guam	3	2.6
81	Guatemala	5.5	2.4
82	Guinea	6.6	4.3
83	Guinea-Bissau	6.5	3.9
84	Guyana	3.1	2.4
85	Haiti	5.5	2.8
86	Honduras	5.3	2.3
87	Hungary	1.9	1.5
88	Iceland	2.3	1.6
89	India	4	2
90	Indonesia	3.1	2.2
91	Iran, Islamic Rep.	4.9	1.7
92	Iraq	5.9	3.4
93	Ireland	2.1	1.7
94	Isle of Man	1.9	1.6
95	Israel	2.8	2.9
96	Italy	1.3	1.2
97	Jamaica	2.9	1.3
98	Japan	1.5	1.3
99	Jordan	5.5	2.8
100	Kazakhstan	2.7	3.1
101	Kenya	6.1	3.3
102	Kiribati	4.6	3.3
103	Korea, Dem. People's Rep.	2.4	1.8
104	Korea, Rep.	1.6	0.8
105	Kosovo	3.6	1.5
106	Kuwait	3.3	2.1
107	Kyrgyz Republic	3.6	2.8
108	Lao PDR	6.1	2.4
109	Latvia	2	1.5
110	Lebanon	3.3	2.1
111	Lesotho	4.8	3
112	Liberia	6.4	4
113	Libya	5	2.4
114	Liechtenstein	NA	1.5
115	Lithuania	2	1.3
116	Luxembourg	1.6	1.3
117	Madagascar	6.2	3.8
118	Malawi	6.8	3.8
119	Malaysia	3.4	1.8
120	Maldives	6.1	1.7
121	Mali	7.3	5.9
122	Malta	2	1.2
123	Marshall Islands	6	2.7
124	Mauritania	6.1	4.3
125	Mauritius	2.3	1.3
126	Mexico	3.5	1.8
127	Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	5	2.7
128	Moldova	2.4	1.8
129	Monaco	NA	NA
130	Mongolia	4.2	2.8
131	Montenegro	1.9	1.8
132	Morocco	4	2.3
133	Mozambique	6.2	4.6
134	Myanmar	3.5	2.1
135	Namibia	5.3	3.2
136	Nepal	5.2	2
137	Netherlands	1.6	1.5
138	New Caledonia	3.2	2
139	New Zealand	2.2	1.7
140	Nicaragua	4.6	2.3
141	Niger	7.8	6.7
142	Nigeria	6.5	5.1
143	North Macedonia	2.2	1.6
144	Northern Mariana Islands	NA	NA
145	Norway	1.9	1.4
146	Oman	6.6	2.6
147	Pakistan	6.4	3.4
148	Palau	2.8	0.9
149	Panama	3.1	2.3
150	Papua New Guinea	5.2	3.2
151	Paraguay	4.5	2.4
152	Peru	3.9	2.2
153	Philippines	4.4	2.7
154	Poland	2.1	1.3
155	Portugal	1.6	1.4
156	Puerto Rico	2.4	0.9
157	Qatar	4.2	1.8
158	Romania	1.8	1.8
159	Russian Federation	1.9	1.4
160	Rwanda	6.9	3.7
161	Samoa	4.9	3.9
162	San Marino	NA	NA
163	Sao Tome and Principe	5.8	3.8
164	Saudi Arabia	5.8	2.4
165	Senegal	6.4	4.3
166	Serbia	1.7	1.6
167	Seychelles	2.7	2.3
168	Sierra Leone	6.6	3.9
169	Singapore	1.8	1
170	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	2	1.6
171	Slovak Republic	2.1	1.6
172	Slovenia	1.5	1.6
173	Solomon Islands	5.7	3.9
174	Somalia	7.4	6.2
175	South Africa	3.7	2.3
176	South Sudan	8	4.3
177	Spain	1.4	1.2
178	Sri Lanka	2.5	2
179	St. Kitts and Nevis	2.8	1.5
180	St. Lucia	3.4	1.4
181	St. Martin (French part)	2.9	2.4
182	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	2.8	1.8
183	Sudan	6.2	4.4
184	Suriname	3.3	2.3
185	Sweden	2.1	1.5
186	Switzerland	1.6	1.4
187	Syrian Arab Republic	5.4	2.7
188	Tajikistan	5.3	3.1
189	Tanzania	6.2	4.7
190	Thailand	2.1	1.3
191	Timor-Leste	5.8	3
192	Togo	6.1	4.2
193	Tonga	4.6	3.2
194	Trinidad and Tobago	2.4	1.6
195	Tunisia	3.5	2.1
196	Turkiye	3.1	1.9
197	Turkmenistan	4.2	2.6
198	Turks and Caicos Islands	3.4	1.7
199	Tuvalu	3.9	3.1
200	Uganda	7	4.5
201	Ukraine	1.9	1.3
202	United Arab Emirates	4.5	1.4
203	United Kingdom	1.8	1.6
204	United States	2.1	1.7
205	Uruguay	2.4	1.5
206	Uzbekistan	4.1	3.3
207	Vanuatu	5	3.7
208	Venezuela, RB	3.4	2.2
209	Viet Nam	3.6	1.9
210	Virgin Islands (U.S.)	3	2
211	West Bank and Gaza	6.8	3.4
212	Yemen, Rep.	8.6	3.7
213	Zambia	6.5	4.2
214	Zimbabwe	4.9	3.4
	World	3.3	2.3

Source: World Bank

Suggestion:

Population growth of India from 1960 to 2024

“Life Expectancy in India: growth over the years”

World Population Overview 1960 to 2024