World Bank Data · 211 countries

Countries With Highest Fertility Rates

The total fertility rate (TFR) measures the average number of children a woman would have over her lifetime at current birth rates. Sub-Saharan African nations dominate the top of this ranking, with Niger, Somalia, and Chad having the highest fertility rates in the world — often exceeding 6 children per woman. High fertility is driven by limited access to contraception, low female education, cultural norms favoring large families, and high child mortality (parents have more children to ensure some survive). The replacement rate — the fertility level needed to maintain a stable population — is approximately 2.1 children per woman. Countries far above replacement are experiencing rapid population growth that strains education, healthcare, and employment systems. Meanwhile, much of Europe and East Asia have fallen well below replacement, facing population decline and aging societies.

Key Findings

1Somalia, Fed. Rep. leads with a fertility rate (births per woman) of 6.13, followed by Chad (6.12) and Niger (6.06).
2The gap between #1 Somalia, Fed. Rep. and #211 Korea, Rep. (0.72) is 541.1 percentage points.
3The national median across all states is 1.97 (Sri Lanka at the midpoint).
4The top 10 states are: Somalia, Fed. Rep., Chad, Niger, Congo, Dem. Rep., Central African Republic, Mali, Angola, Burundi, Afghanistan, Mozambique.

Full Ranking: Countries With Highest Fertility Rates

Source: Census ACS 2023 5-Year Estimates

#	Country	Fertility Rate	Population	Life Expectancy
1	Zimbabwe	3.7	16,340,822	62.8
2	Zambia	4.1	20,723,965	66.3
3	Yemen, Rep.	4.6	39,390,799	69.3
4	Virgin Islands (U.S.)	2	104,917	80.5
5	Viet Nam	1.9	100,352,192	74.6
6	Venezuela, RB	2.1	28,300,854	72.5
7	Vanuatu	3.6	320,409	71.5
8	Uzbekistan	3.5	35,652,307	72.4
9	Uruguay	1.4	3,388,081	78.1
10	United States	1.6	336,806,231	78.4
11	United Kingdom	1.6	68,492,000	81.2
12	United Arab Emirates	1.2	10,483,751	82.9
13	Ukraine	1	37,732,836	73.4
14	Uganda	4.3	48,656,601	68.3
15	Tuvalu	3.2	9,816	67.1
16	Turks and Caicos Islands	1.5	46,198	78
17	Turkmenistan	2.7	7,364,438	70.1
18	Turkiye	1.5	85,325,965	77.2
19	Tunisia	1.8	12,200,431	76.5
20	Trinidad and Tobago	1.5	1,367,510	73.5
21	Tonga	3.1	104,597	72.9
22	Togo	4.2	9,304,337	62.7
23	Timor-Leste	2.7	1,384,286	67.7
24	Thailand	1.2	71,702,435	76.4
25	Tanzania	4.6	66,617,606	67
26	Tajikistan	3.1	10,389,799	71.8
27	Syrian Arab Republic	2.7	23,594,623	72.1
28	Switzerland	1.3	8,888,822	84.2
29	Sweden	1.5	10,536,632	83.3
30	Suriname	2.2	628,886	73.6
31	Sudan	4.3	50,042,791	66.3
32	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	1.8	101,323	71.2
33	St. Martin (French part)	2.7	27,515	80.2
34	St. Lucia	1.4	179,285	72.7
35	St. Kitts and Nevis	1.5	46,758	72.1
36	Sri Lanka	2	22,037,000	77.5
37	Spain	1.1	48,352,528	83.9
38	South Sudan	3.9	11,483,374	57.6
39	South Africa	2.2	63,212,384	66.1
40	Somalia, Fed. Rep.	6.1	18,358,615	58.8
41	Solomon Islands	3.6	800,005	70.5
42	Slovenia	1.5	2,120,461	81.9
43	Slovak Republic	1.5	5,426,740	78.1
44	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	1.4	42,749	76.4
45	Singapore	1	5,917,648	83.1
46	Sierra Leone	3.8	8,460,512	61.8
47	Seychelles	2.2	119,773	75.4
48	Serbia	1.6	6,623,183	76.1
49	Senegal	3.8	18,077,573	68.7
50	Saudi Arabia	2.3	33,702,731	78.7
51	Sao Tome and Principe	3.6	230,871	69.7
52	San Marino	1.1	33,860	85.7
53	Samoa	3.8	216,663	71.7
54	Rwanda	3.7	13,954,471	67.8
55	Russian Federation	1.4	143,826,130	73.3
56	Romania	1.5	19,061,062	76.4
57	Qatar	1.7	2,656,032	82.4
58	Puerto Rico (US)	0.9	3,203,792	81.7
59	Portugal	1.5	10,578,174	82.3
60	Poland	1.2	36,687,353	78.3
61	Philippines	1.9	114,891,199	69.8
62	Peru	2	33,845,617	77.7
63	Paraguay	2.4	6,844,146	73.8
64	Papua New Guinea	3.1	10,389,635	66.1
65	Panama	2.1	4,458,759	79.6
66	Palau	1.9	17,727	69.3
67	Pakistan	3.6	247,504,495	67.6
68	Oman	2.5	5,049,269	80
69	Norway	1.4	5,519,601	83
70	Northern Mariana Islands	2.3	45,143	78.8
71	North Macedonia	1.5	1,827,816	75.3
72	Nigeria	4.5	227,882,945	54.5
73	Niger	6.1	26,159,867	61.2
74	Nicaragua	2.2	6,823,613	74.9
75	New Zealand	1.6	5,200,000	81.8
76	New Caledonia	2	289,870	78.8
77	Netherlands	1.4	17,877,117	81.9
78	Nepal	2	29,694,614	70.4
79	Nauru	3.3	11,875	62.1
80	Namibia	3.2	2,963,095	67.4
81	Myanmar	2.1	54,133,798	66.9
82	Mozambique	4.8	33,635,160	63.6
83	Morocco	2.2	37,712,505	75.3
84	Montenegro	1.7	623,529	77.6
85	Mongolia	2.7	3,481,145	72.1
86	Monaco	2.1	38,956	86.4
87	Moldova	1.7	2,457,783	71.2
88	Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	2.7	112,630	67.2
89	Mexico	1.9	129,739,759	75.1
90	Mauritius	1.4	1,248,647	73.4
91	Mauritania	4.7	5,022,441	68.5
92	Marshall Islands	2.9	38,827	66.9
93	Malta	1.1	552,747	83.4
94	Mali	5.6	23,769,127	60.4
95	Maldives	1.6	525,994	81
96	Malaysia	1.6	35,126,298	76.7
97	Malawi	3.6	21,104,482	67.4
98	Madagascar	4	31,195,932	63.6
99	Luxembourg	1.3	666,430	83.3
100	Lithuania	1.2	2,871,585	77.3
101	Liechtenstein	1.5	39,846	84.6
102	Libya	2.4	7,305,659	69.3
103	Liberia	4	5,493,031	62.2
104	Lesotho	2.7	2,311,472	57.4
105	Lebanon	2.2	5,773,493	77.8
106	Latvia	1.4	1,883,710	75.4
107	Lao PDR	2.4	7,664,993	69
108	Kyrgyz Republic	2.7	7,099,750	72.2
109	Kuwait	1.5	4,853,420	83.2
110	Kosovo	1.5	1,682,668	78
111	Korea, Rep.	0.7	51,712,619	83.4
112	Korea, Dem. People's Rep.	1.8	26,418,204	73.6
113	Kiribati	3.1	132,530	66.5
114	Kenya	3.2	55,339,003	63.6
115	Kazakhstan	3	20,330,104	74.4
116	Jordan	2.6	11,439,213	77.8
117	Japan	1.2	124,516,650	84
118	Jamaica	1.4	2,839,786	71.5
119	Italy	1.2	58,984,216	83.4
120	Isle of Man	1.5	84,165	81
121	Ireland	1.5	5,311,538	82.8
122	Iraq	3.2	45,074,049	72.3
123	Iran, Islamic Rep.	1.7	90,608,707	77.7
124	Indonesia	2.1	281,190,067	71.1
125	India	2	1,438,069,596	72
126	Iceland	1.6	385,663	82.5
127	Hungary	1.6	9,592,186	76.6
128	Honduras	2.5	10,644,851	72.9
129	Haiti	2.7	11,637,398	64.9
130	Guyana	2.4	826,353	70.2
131	Guinea-Bissau	3.8	2,153,339	64.1
132	Guinea	4.2	14,405,468	60.7
133	Guatemala	2.3	18,124,838	72.6
134	Guam	2.8	166,506	77.2
135	Grenada	1.5	117,081	75.2
136	Greenland	1.8	56,865	71
137	Greece	1.3	10,407,351	81.7
138	Ghana	3.4	33,787,914	65.5
139	Germany	1.4	83,287,273	81
140	Georgia	1.8	3,715,483	74.5
141	Gambia, The	4	2,697,845	65.9
142	Gabon	3.6	2,484,789	68.3
143	French Polynesia	1.5	281,118	84.1
144	France	1.7	68,372,286	82.8
145	Finland	1.3	5,583,911	81.6
146	Fiji	2.3	924,145	67.3
147	Faroe Islands	1.9	54,414	83
148	Ethiopia	4	128,691,692	67.3
149	Eswatini	2.8	1,230,506	64.1
150	Estonia	1.3	1,370,286	78.8
151	Eritrea	3.7	3,470,390	68.6
152	Equatorial Guinea	4.1	1,847,549	63.7
153	El Salvador	1.8	6,309,624	72.1
154	Egypt, Arab Rep.	2.8	114,535,772	71.6
155	Ecuador	1.8	17,980,083	77.4
156	Dominican Republic	2.2	11,331,265	73.7
157	Dominica	1.5	66,510	71.1
158	Djibouti	2.6	1,152,944	66
159	Denmark	1.5	5,946,952	81.8
160	Czechia	1.5	10,864,042	79.8
161	Cyprus	1.4	1,344,976	81.6
162	Curacao	1.3	154,654	76.8
163	Cuba	1.4	11,019,931	78.1
164	Croatia	1.5	3,859,686	78.5
165	Cote d'Ivoire	4.3	31,165,654	61.9
166	Costa Rica	1.3	5,105,525	80.8
167	Congo, Rep.	4.2	6,182,885	65.8
168	Congo, Dem. Rep.	6.1	105,789,731	61.9
169	Comoros	3.9	850,387	66.8
170	Colombia	1.6	52,321,152	77.7
171	China	1	1,410,710,000	78
172	Chile	1.2	19,658,835	81.2
173	Chad	6.1	19,319,064	55.1
174	Central African Republic	6	5,152,421	57.4
175	Cayman Islands	1.5	73,038	80.4
176	Canada	1.3	40,083,484	81.6
177	Cameroon	4.3	28,372,687	63.7
178	Cambodia	2.6	17,423,880	70.7
179	Cabo Verde	1.5	522,331	76.1
180	Burundi	4.9	13,689,450	63.7
181	Burkina Faso	4.2	23,025,776	61.1
182	Bulgaria	1.8	6,446,596	75.8
183	Brunei Darussalam	1.7	458,949	75.3
184	British Virgin Islands	1	38,985	77.3
185	Brazil	1.6	211,140,729	75.8
186	Botswana	2.7	2,480,244	69.2
187	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.5	3,185,073	77.9
188	Bolivia	2.5	12,244,159	68.6
189	Bhutan	1.5	786,385	73
190	Bermuda	1.4	64,698	82.3
191	Benin	4.6	14,111,034	60.8
192	Belize	2	411,106	73.6
193	Belgium	1.5	11,779,946	82.4
194	Belarus	1.2	9,178,298	74.2
195	Barbados	1.7	282,336	76.2
196	Bangladesh	2.2	171,466,990	74.7
197	Bahrain	1.8	1,577,059	81.3
198	Bahamas, The	1.4	399,440	74.6
199	Azerbaijan	1.6	10,153,958	74.4
200	Austria	1.3	9,131,761	81.8
201	Australia	1.5	26,659,922	83.1
202	Aruba	1.6	107,359	76.4
203	Armenia	1.9	2,964,300	77.5
204	Argentina	1.5	45,538,401	77.4
205	Antigua and Barbuda	1.6	93,316	77.6
206	Angola	5.1	36,749,906	64.6
207	Andorra	1.1	80,856	84
208	American Samoa	2.3	47,521	72.9
209	Algeria	2.8	46,164,219	76.3
210	Albania	1.3	2,414,095	79.6
211	Afghanistan	4.8	41,454,761	66

Methodology

Rankings are based on American Community Survey (ACS) 2023 5-Year estimates from the US Census Bureau. All 50 states and the District of Columbia are included. The ACS surveys approximately 3.5 million households annually and provides detailed demographic, social, economic, and housing data. 5-Year estimates offer the most reliable data for state-level comparisons by averaging responses over a 60-month period. Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Somalia, Fed. Rep. has the highest fertility rate (births per woman) at 6.13, according to Census ACS 2023 data. Chad and Niger round out the top three.

Korea, Rep. has the lowest fertility rate (births per woman) at 0.72. Puerto Rico (US) is second-lowest at 0.92.

The median across all 211 states is 1.97. Note that the national median and the state-level median are calculated differently — the state median represents the midpoint when all states are ranked.

This data comes from the American Community Survey (ACS) 2023 5-Year estimates published by the US Census Bureau. The ACS surveys approximately 3.5 million households annually and provides the most comprehensive demographic data available between decennial censuses.

Rankings are based on the latest available Census ACS data (currently 2023 5-Year estimates). The Census Bureau releases new ACS data annually, typically in September. Our data was last updated on April 12, 2026.

Sources: US Census Bureau ACS 2023 5-Year Estimates