Countries with the Highest Fertility Rates

About This Dataset

The countries with the highest total fertility rate - the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime - according to the United Nations 2024 World Population Prospects. A rate of about 2.1 is needed to keep a population stable without migration.

✨ AI Insight

Every one of the world's highest-fertility countries is in sub-Saharan Africa. Chad leads at 5.94 children per woman, closely followed by Somalia (5.91) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (5.90) - all near six children per woman, almost triple the replacement level of 2.1. The Central African Republic (5.81), Niger (5.79) and Mali (5.42) complete the top six. These high rates reflect a combination of low access to contraception, high child mortality, limited female education and largely rural, agricultural economies. Because fertility remains so high while child survival is improving, these nations have very young, fast-growing populations - the demographic opposite of the wealthy world, where fertility has fallen well below replacement. The concentration of every top spot in one region underscores how uneven global population growth has become.

Source: United Nations (World Population Prospects 2024)

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

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Chad leads with 6 in All Time.

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Average value in All Time: 5 · median: 6.

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Gap in All Time: Chad is 1.3× larger than Mozambique.