World Bank Data · 212 countries

Countries With Highest Fertility Rates

Source·World Bank Open DataUpdated·Apr 12, 2026Reviewed by·Population Review Data Team

Raw data·Download countries.csv· no email required ·all datasets

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 #212 Korea, Rep. (0.72) is 541.1 percentage points.
3The national median across all states is 1.92 (Philippines 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 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	Taiwan	0.9	23,400,000	80.9
28	Syrian Arab Republic	2.7	23,594,623	72.1
29	Switzerland	1.3	8,888,822	84.2
30	Sweden	1.5	10,536,632	83.3
31	Suriname	2.2	628,886	73.6
32	Sudan	4.3	50,042,791	66.3
33	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	1.8	101,323	71.2
34	St. Martin (French part)	2.7	27,515	80.2
35	St. Lucia	1.4	179,285	72.7
36	St. Kitts and Nevis	1.5	46,758	72.1
37	Sri Lanka	2	22,037,000	77.5
38	Spain	1.1	48,352,528	83.9
39	South Sudan	3.9	11,483,374	57.6
40	South Africa	2.2	63,212,384	66.1
41	Somalia, Fed. Rep.	6.1	18,358,615	58.8
42	Solomon Islands	3.6	800,005	70.5
43	Slovenia	1.5	2,120,461	81.9
44	Slovak Republic	1.5	5,426,740	78.1
45	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	1.4	42,749	76.4
46	Singapore	1	5,917,648	83.1
47	Sierra Leone	3.8	8,460,512	61.8
48	Seychelles	2.2	119,773	75.4
49	Serbia	1.6	6,623,183	76.1
50	Senegal	3.8	18,077,573	68.7
51	Saudi Arabia	2.3	33,702,731	78.7
52	Sao Tome and Principe	3.6	230,871	69.7
53	San Marino	1.1	33,860	85.7
54	Samoa	3.8	216,663	71.7
55	Rwanda	3.7	13,954,471	67.8
56	Russian Federation	1.4	143,826,130	73.3
57	Romania	1.5	19,061,062	76.4
58	Qatar	1.7	2,656,032	82.4
59	Puerto Rico (US)	0.9	3,203,792	81.7
60	Portugal	1.5	10,578,174	82.3
61	Poland	1.2	36,687,353	78.3
62	Philippines	1.9	114,891,199	69.8
63	Peru	2	33,845,617	77.7
64	Paraguay	2.4	6,844,146	73.8
65	Papua New Guinea	3.1	10,389,635	66.1
66	Panama	2.1	4,458,759	79.6
67	Palau	1.9	17,727	69.3
68	Pakistan	3.6	247,504,495	67.6
69	Oman	2.5	5,049,269	80
70	Norway	1.4	5,519,601	83
71	Northern Mariana Islands	2.3	45,143	78.8
72	North Macedonia	1.5	1,827,816	75.3
73	Nigeria	4.5	227,882,945	54.5
74	Niger	6.1	26,159,867	61.2
75	Nicaragua	2.2	6,823,613	74.9
76	New Zealand	1.6	5,200,000	81.8
77	New Caledonia	2	289,870	78.8
78	Netherlands	1.4	17,877,117	81.9
79	Nepal	2	29,694,614	70.4
80	Nauru	3.3	11,875	62.1
81	Namibia	3.2	2,963,095	67.4
82	Myanmar	2.1	54,133,798	66.9
83	Mozambique	4.8	33,635,160	63.6
84	Morocco	2.2	37,712,505	75.3
85	Montenegro	1.7	623,529	77.6
86	Mongolia	2.7	3,481,145	72.1
87	Monaco	2.1	38,956	86.4
88	Moldova	1.7	2,457,783	71.2
89	Micronesia, Fed. Sts.	2.7	112,630	67.2
90	Mexico	1.9	129,739,759	75.1
91	Mauritius	1.4	1,248,647	73.4
92	Mauritania	4.7	5,022,441	68.5
93	Marshall Islands	2.9	38,827	66.9
94	Malta	1.1	552,747	83.4
95	Mali	5.6	23,769,127	60.4
96	Maldives	1.6	525,994	81
97	Malaysia	1.6	35,126,298	76.7
98	Malawi	3.6	21,104,482	67.4
99	Madagascar	4	31,195,932	63.6
100	Luxembourg	1.3	666,430	83.3
101	Lithuania	1.2	2,871,585	77.3
102	Liechtenstein	1.5	39,846	84.6
103	Libya	2.4	7,305,659	69.3
104	Liberia	4	5,493,031	62.2
105	Lesotho	2.7	2,311,472	57.4
106	Lebanon	2.2	5,773,493	77.8
107	Latvia	1.4	1,883,710	75.4
108	Lao PDR	2.4	7,664,993	69
109	Kyrgyz Republic	2.7	7,099,750	72.2
110	Kuwait	1.5	4,853,420	83.2
111	Kosovo	1.5	1,682,668	78
112	Korea, Rep.	0.7	51,712,619	83.4
113	Korea, Dem. People's Rep.	1.8	26,418,204	73.6
114	Kiribati	3.1	132,530	66.5
115	Kenya	3.2	55,339,003	63.6
116	Kazakhstan	3	20,330,104	74.4
117	Jordan	2.6	11,439,213	77.8
118	Japan	1.2	124,516,650	84
119	Jamaica	1.4	2,839,786	71.5
120	Italy	1.2	58,984,216	83.4
121	Isle of Man	1.5	84,165	81
122	Ireland	1.5	5,311,538	82.8
123	Iraq	3.2	45,074,049	72.3
124	Iran, Islamic Rep.	1.7	90,608,707	77.7
125	Indonesia	2.1	281,190,067	71.1
126	India	2	1,438,069,596	72
127	Iceland	1.6	385,663	82.5
128	Hungary	1.6	9,592,186	76.6
129	Honduras	2.5	10,644,851	72.9
130	Haiti	2.7	11,637,398	64.9
131	Guyana	2.4	826,353	70.2
132	Guinea-Bissau	3.8	2,153,339	64.1
133	Guinea	4.2	14,405,468	60.7
134	Guatemala	2.3	18,124,838	72.6
135	Guam	2.8	166,506	77.2
136	Grenada	1.5	117,081	75.2
137	Greenland	1.8	56,865	71
138	Greece	1.3	10,407,351	81.7
139	Ghana	3.4	33,787,914	65.5
140	Germany	1.4	83,287,273	81
141	Georgia	1.8	3,715,483	74.5
142	Gambia, The	4	2,697,845	65.9
143	Gabon	3.6	2,484,789	68.3
144	French Polynesia	1.5	281,118	84.1
145	France	1.7	68,372,286	82.8
146	Finland	1.3	5,583,911	81.6
147	Fiji	2.3	924,145	67.3
148	Faroe Islands	1.9	54,414	83
149	Ethiopia	4	128,691,692	67.3
150	Eswatini	2.8	1,230,506	64.1
151	Estonia	1.3	1,370,286	78.8
152	Eritrea	3.7	3,470,390	68.6
153	Equatorial Guinea	4.1	1,847,549	63.7
154	El Salvador	1.8	6,309,624	72.1
155	Egypt, Arab Rep.	2.8	114,535,772	71.6
156	Ecuador	1.8	17,980,083	77.4
157	Dominican Republic	2.2	11,331,265	73.7
158	Dominica	1.5	66,510	71.1
159	Djibouti	2.6	1,152,944	66
160	Denmark	1.5	5,946,952	81.8
161	Czechia	1.5	10,864,042	79.8
162	Cyprus	1.4	1,344,976	81.6
163	Curacao	1.3	154,654	76.8
164	Cuba	1.4	11,019,931	78.1
165	Croatia	1.5	3,859,686	78.5
166	Cote d'Ivoire	4.3	31,165,654	61.9
167	Costa Rica	1.3	5,105,525	80.8
168	Congo, Rep.	4.2	6,182,885	65.8
169	Congo, Dem. Rep.	6.1	105,789,731	61.9
170	Comoros	3.9	850,387	66.8
171	Colombia	1.6	52,321,152	77.7
172	China	1	1,410,710,000	78
173	Chile	1.2	19,658,835	81.2
174	Chad	6.1	19,319,064	55.1
175	Central African Republic	6	5,152,421	57.4
176	Cayman Islands	1.5	73,038	80.4
177	Canada	1.3	40,083,484	81.6
178	Cameroon	4.3	28,372,687	63.7
179	Cambodia	2.6	17,423,880	70.7
180	Cabo Verde	1.5	522,331	76.1
181	Burundi	4.9	13,689,450	63.7
182	Burkina Faso	4.2	23,025,776	61.1
183	Bulgaria	1.8	6,446,596	75.8
184	Brunei Darussalam	1.7	458,949	75.3
185	British Virgin Islands	1	38,985	77.3
186	Brazil	1.6	211,140,729	75.8
187	Botswana	2.7	2,480,244	69.2
188	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.5	3,185,073	77.9
189	Bolivia	2.5	12,244,159	68.6
190	Bhutan	1.5	786,385	73
191	Bermuda	1.4	64,698	82.3
192	Benin	4.6	14,111,034	60.8
193	Belize	2	411,106	73.6
194	Belgium	1.5	11,779,946	82.4
195	Belarus	1.2	9,178,298	74.2
196	Barbados	1.7	282,336	76.2
197	Bangladesh	2.2	171,466,990	74.7
198	Bahrain	1.8	1,577,059	81.3
199	Bahamas, The	1.4	399,440	74.6
200	Azerbaijan	1.6	10,153,958	74.4
201	Austria	1.3	9,131,761	81.8
202	Australia	1.5	26,659,922	83.1
203	Aruba	1.6	107,359	76.4
204	Armenia	1.9	2,964,300	77.5
205	Argentina	1.5	45,538,401	77.4
206	Antigua and Barbuda	1.6	93,316	77.6
207	Angola	5.1	36,749,906	64.6
208	Andorra	1.1	80,856	84
209	American Samoa	2.3	47,521	72.9
210	Algeria	2.8	46,164,219	76.3
211	Albania	1.3	2,414,095	79.6
212	Afghanistan	4.8	41,454,761	66

Methodology

Rankings are based on American Community Survey (ACS) 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 latest Census ACS data. Chad and Niger round out the top three.

Korea, Rep. has the lowest fertility rate (births per woman) at 0.72. Taiwan is second-lowest at 0.87.

The median across all 212 states is 1.92. 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) 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 5-Year estimates. The Census Bureau releases new ACS data annually. Our data was last updated on April 12, 2026.

Sources: US Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS, 2026.