The vast majority of the countries in the world with the highest fertility rates are in Africa, with Niger topping the list at 7.153 children per woman, followed by Somalia at 6.123 children per woman. The Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali and Chad follow at 5.963, 5.922 and 5.797 children per woman, respectively. The North African country of Tunisia has the lowest fertility rate on the continent at 2.147 children per woman – a figure that puts it roughly in the middle of the two hundred countries listed.
The Southeast Asian island nation of Timor-Leste also makes it into the top ten, with a fertility rate of 5.337 children per woman, while other island nations, such as Sao Tome and Principe (4.361 children per woman) and the Solomon Islands (3.77 children per woman) are also within the top fifty countries with the highest fertility rates. In Europe, Ireland and France have the highest fertility rates (at 1.98 and 1.973 children per woman), while the United States averages 1.886 children per woman.
Two of the most densely populated countries in the world – China and India – have fertility rates on the lower end of the scale. At 2.303 children per woman, India ranks at number 94 on the list, while China is much lower at 1.635 children per woman. However, both of these figures are likely to be affected by government policies and cultural expectations around reproduction in these countries. Taiwan has the lowest fertility rate in the world at 1.218 children per woman, closely followed by Moldova and Portugal, where there are, on average, 1.23 and 1.241 children per woman.
Country | Rank | |
Niger | 7.153 children per woman | 1 |
Somalia | 6.123 children per woman | 2 |
Dr Congo | 5.963 children per woman | 3 |
Mali | 5.922 children per woman | 4 |
Chad | 5.797 children per woman | 5 |
Angola | 5.589 children per woman | 6 |
Burundi | 5.577 children per woman | 7 |
Uganda | 5.456 children per woman | 8 |
Nigeria | 5.417 children per woman | 9 |
Timor Leste | 5.337 children per woman | 10 |
Gambia | 5.318 children per woman | 11 |
Burkina Faso | 5.231 children per woman | 12 |
Mozambique | 5.143 children per woman | 13 |
Tanzania | 4.924 children per woman | 14 |
Zambia | 4.901 children per woman | 15 |
Benin | 4.867 children per woman | 16 |
Ivory Coast | 4.811 children per woman | 17 |
Central African Republic | 4.754 children per woman | 18 |
Guinea | 4.738 children per woman | 19 |
South Sudan | 4.736 children per woman | 20 |
Senegal | 4.647 children per woman | 21 |
Cameroon | 4.603 children per woman | 22 |
Mauritania | 4.576 children per woman | 23 |
Republic Of The Congo | 4.561 children per woman | 24 |
Equatorial Guinea | 4.554 children per woman | 25 |
Guinea Bissau | 4.513 children per woman | 26 |
Malawi | 4.492 children per woman | 27 |
Liberia | 4.481 children per woman | 28 |
Sudan | 4.434 children per woman | 29 |
Afghanistan | 4.412 children per woman | 30 |
Sao Tome And Principe | 4.361 children per woman | 31 |
Togo | 4.351 children per woman | 32 |
Sierra Leone | 4.319 children per woman | 33 |
Iraq | 4.266 children per woman | 34 |
Comoros | 4.237 children per woman | 35 |
Madagascar | 4.109 children per woman | 36 |
Eritrea | 4.027 children per woman | 37 |
Ethiopia | 4.025 children per woman | 38 |
Palestine | 3.91 children per woman | 39 |
Samoa | 3.903 children per woman | 40 |
Ghana | 3.893 children per woman | 41 |
Yemen | 3.837 children per woman | 42 |
Rwanda | 3.781 children per woman | 43 |
Kenya | 3.774 children per woman | 44 |
Solomon Islands | 3.77 children per woman | 45 |
Mayotte | 3.729 children per woman | 46 |
Gabon | 3.68 children per woman | 47 |
Zimbabwe | 3.626 children per woman | 48 |
Papua New Guinea | 3.588 children per woman | 49 |
Kiribati | 3.584 children per woman | 50 |
Tonga | 3.576 children per woman | 51 |
Pakistan | 3.377 children per woman | 52 |
Namibia | 3.311 children per woman | 53 |
Tajikistan | 3.28 children per woman | 54 |
Jordan | 3.264 children per woman | 56 |
French Guiana | 3.264 children per woman | 55 |
Vanuatu | 3.222 children per woman | 57 |
Egypt | 3.155 children per woman | 58 |
Micronesia | 3.076 children per woman | 59 |
Swaziland | 3.014 children per woman | 60 |
Lesotho | 3.013 children per woman | 61 |
Israel | 2.92 children per woman | 62 |
Kyrgyzstan | 2.909 children per woman | 63 |
Guatemala | 2.899 children per woman | 64 |
Philippines | 2.882 children per woman | 65 |
Haiti | 2.848 children per woman | 66 |
Syria | 2.84 children per woman | 67 |
Bolivia | 2.825 children per woman | 68 |
Turkmenistan | 2.785 children per woman | 69 |
Djibouti | 2.758 children per woman | 70 |
Mongolia | 2.663 children per woman | 71 |
Botswana | 2.651 children per woman | 72 |
Algeria | 2.65 children per woman | 73 |
Laos | 2.623 children per woman | 74 |
Kazakhstan | 2.571 children per woman | 75 |
Oman | 2.537 children per woman | 76 |
Cambodia | 2.524 children per woman | 77 |
Fiji | 2.482 children per woman | 78 |
Saudi Arabia | 2.481 children per woman | 79 |
Guyana | 2.473 children per woman | 80 |
Panama | 2.469 children per woman | 81 |
Belize | 2.459 children per woman | 82 |
Paraguay | 2.446 children per woman | 83 |
Ecuador | 2.444 children per woman | 84 |
Morocco | 2.425 children per woman | 85 |
Honduras | 2.415 children per woman | 87 |
Western Sahara | 2.415 children per woman | 86 |
South Africa | 2.414 children per woman | 88 |
Dominican Republic | 2.378 children per woman | 89 |
Peru | 2.354 children per woman | 90 |
Suriname | 2.336 children per woman | 91 |
Indonesia | 2.32 children per woman | 92 |
Guam | 2.319 children per woman | 93 |
India | 2.303 children per woman | 94 |
Cape Verde | 2.289 children per woman | 95 |
Venezuela | 2.283 children per woman | 96 |
Reunion | 2.273 children per woman | 97 |
Argentina | 2.268 children per woman | 98 |
Seychelles | 2.257 children per woman | 99 |
Uzbekistan | 2.244 children per woman | 100 |
Libya | 2.208 children per woman | 101 |
United States Virgin Islands | 2.187 children per woman | 102 |
Myanmar | 2.183 children per woman | 103 |
Nicaragua | 2.161 children per woman | 104 |
Tunisia | 2.147 children per woman | 105 |
New Caledonia | 2.142 children per woman | 106 |
Mexico | 2.136 children per woman | 107 |
Nepal | 2.083 children per woman | 108 |
Grenada | 2.073 children per woman | 109 |
Bangladesh | 2.067 children per woman | 110 |
El Salvador | 2.053 children per woman | 111 |
Azerbaijan | 2.036 children per woman | 112 |
Antigua And Barbuda | 2.034 children per woman | 113 |
Sri Lanka | 2.029 children per woman | 114 |
Maldives | 2.025 children per woman | 115 |
Turkey | 2.024 children per woman | 116 |
Curaçao | 2.018 children per woman | 117 |
Bhutan | 2.015 children per woman | 118 |
Malaysia | 2.01 children per woman | 119 |
Bahrain | 1.998 children per woman | 120 |
Jamaica | 1.991 children per woman | 121 |
French Polynesia | 1.99 children per woman | 122 |
Ireland | 1.98 children per woman | 123 |
Uruguay | 1.979 children per woman | 124 |
New Zealand | 1.974 children per woman | 125 |
France | 1.973 children per woman | 126 |
Georgia | 1.971 children per woman | 127 |
Kuwait | 1.967 children per woman | 128 |
Vietnam | 1.946 children per woman | 129 |
Iceland | 1.921 children per woman | 130 |
Guadeloupe | 1.92 children per woman | 131 |
Sweden | 1.909 children per woman | 132 |
Saint Vincent And The Grenadines | 1.902 children per woman | 133 |
North Korea | 1.893 children per woman | 134 |
United States | 1.886 children per woman | 135 |
Qatar | 1.881 children per woman | 137 |
Martinique | 1.881 children per woman | 136 |
United Kingdom | 1.871 children per woman | 138 |
Brunei | 1.848 children per woman | 139 |
Australia | 1.832 children per woman | 140 |
Norway | 1.827 children per woman | 142 |
Colombia | 1.827 children per woman | 141 |
Belgium | 1.799 children per woman | 144 |
Barbados | 1.799 children per woman | 143 |
Aruba | 1.796 children per woman | 145 |
Finland | 1.782 children per woman | 146 |
Chile | 1.765 children per woman | 147 |
Costa Rica | 1.764 children per woman | 148 |
Denmark | 1.762 children per woman | 149 |
Bahamas | 1.755 children per woman | 150 |
Russia | 1.751 children per woman | 151 |
Netherlands | 1.75 children per woman | 152 |
Trinidad And Tobago | 1.73 children per woman | 153 |
United Arab Emirates | 1.725 children per woman | 154 |
Cuba | 1.716 children per woman | 155 |
Belarus | 1.706 children per woman | 156 |
Albania | 1.705 children per woman | 158 |
Brazil | 1.705 children per woman | 157 |
Lebanon | 1.704 children per woman | 159 |
Lithuania | 1.661 children per woman | 160 |
Estonia | 1.659 children per woman | 161 |
Montenegro | 1.657 children per woman | 162 |
Slovenia | 1.638 children per woman | 163 |
China | 1.635 children per woman | 164 |
Iran | 1.621 children per woman | 165 |
Serbia | 1.62 children per woman | 166 |
Armenia | 1.601 children per woman | 167 |
Luxembourg | 1.594 children per woman | 168 |
Bulgaria | 1.584 children per woman | 169 |
Latvia | 1.57 children per woman | 170 |
Czech Republic | 1.566 children per woman | 171 |
Canada | 1.563 children per woman | 172 |
Ukraine | 1.557 children per woman | 173 |
Switzerland | 1.549 children per woman | 174 |
Macedonia | 1.546 children per woman | 175 |
Romania | 1.54 children per woman | 176 |
Austria | 1.511 children per woman | 177 |
Italy | 1.491 children per woman | 178 |
Japan | 1.478 children per woman | 179 |
Malta | 1.475 children per woman | 180 |
Puerto Rico | 1.47 children per woman | 182 |
Germany | 1.47 children per woman | 181 |
Slovakia | 1.462 children per woman | 183 |
Thailand | 1.458 children per woman | 184 |
Croatia | 1.446 children per woman | 185 |
Saint Lucia | 1.444 children per woman | 186 |
Mauritius | 1.433 children per woman | 187 |
Hungary | 1.397 children per woman | 188 |
Spain | 1.391 children per woman | 189 |
Bosnia And Herzegovina | 1.386 children per woman | 190 |
Macau | 1.347 children per woman | 191 |
Cyprus | 1.337 children per woman | 192 |
Hong Kong | 1.326 children per woman | 193 |
South Korea | 1.323 children per woman | 194 |
Greece | 1.302 children per woman | 195 |
Poland | 1.29 children per woman | 196 |
Singapore | 1.26 children per woman | 197 |
Portugal | 1.241 children per woman | 198 |
Moldova | 1.23 children per woman | 199 |
Taiwan | 1.218 children per woman | 200 |