Countries by Crude Birth Rate 2026

Countries ranked by crude birth rate — the number of live births per 1,000 population — in 2026, according to UN World Population Prospects 2024 revision estimates. Sub-Saharan African nations dominate the upper end of global birth rate rankings — with Niger recording the world's highest crude birth rate at approximately 46.8 births per thousand people annually, a figure that implies a population doubling time of under 19 years. These high birth rates reflect a combination of high total fertility rates averaging above 6 children per woman in the highest-ranked countries, young population age structures that maximise the proportion of women in reproductive age groups, limited access to modern contraception, and cultural and economic contexts in which large family sizes remain both socially normative and rationally motivated by child labour contribution to household economies and old-age security provision.