Health > Fertility rate > Total > Births per woman: Countries Compared

Author: chris.lockyer781

Total Fertility Rate is the measure of the number of children a woman is expected to have during her reproductive years, based on age specific fertility rates.

Computation:

Age Specific Fertility Rate = (annual number of births in a given age group /number of women in that age group) x 1000

Total Fertility Rate = (Sum of Age Specific Fertility Rates in all age groups x number of years in each age group)/1000

Description:

Total Fertility Rate is the most commonly used measure to compare fertility among different countries. It shows how many children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime. In developing countries, the issue of overpopulation is a serious problem, with TFR rates in some countries as high as 7. On the other hand, developed countries face different problems, as their total fertility rates continue to decline.

TFR and replacement rate are often compared against each other to predict trends in population growth of a given country. The replacement rate is the average number of children a woman should have to keep the population at equilibrium. In developed countries, the replacement rate is 2.1 while in developing nations, it is set much higher because of increased mortality rates.

The implications of a high or low TFR are important in both the developed and developing world. Concerns over falling birth rates are growing in many developed countries. Some of these countries include those in the Western Europe, Singapore and Japan, where the TFR is below the replacement rate. They face the problem of an increasingly aging population, with higher dependency ratios. This poses a serious risk on economic growth in the future.

One of the identified factors which contribute to declining TFR is the shifting views of women from their traditional roles. Women who have higher educational attainment and income tend to postpone marriage and child bearing and have less children compared to others.

In developing nations, fertility rate trends have shown a slight decreased over the past few decades. However, rapid population growth continues to be their concern. Lack of education and access to family planning methods are the main causes of overpopulation. Higher fertility rates increase the risk for death and disease in women. They also have fewer chances of finding work outside the home. Children who have more siblings find it harder to get out of poverty compared to those who have less.

Citations

1) Population Reference Bureau: Fertility rates in low birth-rate countries, 1996-2011. http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2012/low-fertility-countries-tfr.aspx

2) Trends and Dertminants of Fertility Rates in OECD Countries: The Role of Policies. http://www.oecd.org/els/soc/35304751.pdf

3) UN News Centre: High birth rates hamper development in poorer countries, warns UN forum. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30365&Cr=population&Cr1=mdg#.UyE3jz_6Nsk

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DEFINITION: Total fertility rate represents the number of children that would be born to a woman if she were to live to the end of her childbearing years and bear children in accordance with current age-specific fertility rates.

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Totals

#	COUNTRY	AMOUNT	DATE
1	Afghanistan	7.9 births per woman	1987
2	Niger	7.67 births per woman	2005
3	East Timor	7.47 births per woman	2005
4	Uganda	7.1 births per woman	2005
5	Guinea-Bissau	7.08 births per woman	2005
6	Burundi	6.8 births per woman	2005
7	Liberia	6.78 births per woman	2005
8	Mali	6.72 births per woman	2005
9	Democratic Republic of the Congo	6.7 births per woman	2005
10	Angola	6.56 births per woman	2005
11	Sierra Leone	6.48 births per woman	2005
12	Chad	6.3 births per woman	2005
13	Somalia	6.2 births per woman	2005
14	Burkina Faso	5.9 births per woman	2005
15	Equatorial Guinea	5.89 births per woman	2005
16	Yemen	5.87 births per woman	2005
17	Malawi	5.84 births per woman	2005
18	Rwanda	5.8 births per woman	2005
19	Marshall Islands	5.71 births per woman	1999
=20	Benin	5.6 births per woman	2005
=20	Guinea	5.6 births per woman	2005
=20	Congo, Republic of the	5.6 births per woman	2005
23	Mauritania	5.59 births per woman	2005
24	Nigeria	5.5 births per woman	2005
25	Zambia	5.4 births per woman	2005
26	Iraq	5.37 births per woman	1997
27	Ethiopia	5.32 births per woman	2005
28	Mozambique	5.3 births per woman	2005
29	Eritrea	5.24 births per woman	2005
	failed states average (profile)	5.23 births per woman	2005
30	Tanzania	5.2 births per woman	2005
	Sub-Saharan Africa average (profile)	5.12 births per woman	2005
31	Madagascar	5.04 births per woman	2005
32	Togo	5.03 births per woman	2005
33	Cameroon	5 births per woman	2004
34	Kenya	4.98 births per woman	2005
35	Senegal	4.9 births per woman	2005
36	Djibouti	4.74 births per woman	2005
37	Central African Republic	4.73 births per woman	2005
38	Cote d'Ivoire	4.7 births per woman	2005
39	Laos	4.5 births per woman	2005
	Former French colonies average (profile)	4.49 births per woman	2005
40	The Gambia	4.4 births per woman	2005
41	Guatemala	4.33 births per woman	2005
42	Sudan	4.15 births per woman	2005
43	Pakistan	4.12 births per woman	2005
44	Ghana	4.06 births per woman	2005
=45	Solomon Islands	4 births per woman	2005
=45	Maldives	4 births per woman	2005
47	Samoa	3.98 births per woman	2004
48	Swaziland	3.91 births per woman	2005
49	Cambodia	3.89 births per woman	2005
50	Vanuatu	3.87 births per woman	2005
51	Saudi Arabia	3.83 births per woman	2005
	Hot countries average (profile)	3.83 births per woman	2002
52	Papua New Guinea	3.8 births per woman	2005
=53	Comoros	3.76 births per woman	2005
=53	Sao Tome and Principe	3.76 births per woman	2005
55	Haiti	3.75 births per woman	2005
56	Gabon	3.73 births per woman	2005
	Muslim countries average (profile)	3.68 births per woman	2005
57	Paraguay	3.67 births per woman	2005
58	Namibia	3.66 births per woman	2005
=59	Federated States of Micronesia	3.65 births per woman	2005
=59	Bolivia	3.65 births per woman	2005
61	Kiribati	3.6 births per woman	2002
=62	Cape Verde	3.53 births per woman	2005
=62	Tajikistan	3.53 births per woman	2005
64	Honduras	3.47 births per woman	2005
65	Nepal	3.46 births per woman	2005
66	Oman	3.44 births per woman	2005
	Sparsely populated countries average (profile)	3.44 births per woman	2005
67	Lesotho	3.4 births per woman	2005
	Religious countries average (profile)	3.39 births per woman	1997
	Former British colonies average (profile)	3.38 births per woman	2005
	OPEC countries average (profile)	3.36 births per woman	2005
68	Zimbabwe	3.34 births per woman	2005
69	Tonga	3.31 births per woman	2005
70	Jordan	3.29 births per woman	2005
71	Syria	3.24 births per woman	2005
72	Philippines	3.2 births per woman	2005
	South Asia average (profile)	3.11 births per woman	2005
73	Egypt	3.1 births per woman	2005
74	Nicaragua	3.08 births per woman	2005
	East Asia and Pacific average (profile)	3.04 births per woman	2002
75	Botswana	3.03 births per woman	2005
76	Grenada	3 births per woman	2002
	Christian countries average (profile)	2.99 births per woman	2002
77	Bangladesh	2.98 births per woman	2005
78	Belize	2.97 births per woman	2005
	Middle Eastern and North Africa average (profile)	2.92 births per woman	2005
79	Qatar	2.89 births per woman	2005
	Former Spanish colonies average (profile)	2.89 births per woman	2005
	Catholic countries average (profile)	2.88 births per woman	2002
	South and Central Asia average (profile)	2.86 births per woman	2005
80	Libya	2.85 births per woman	2005
81	India	2.84 births per woman	2005
82	Israel	2.82 births per woman	2005
83	Fiji	2.79 births per woman	2005
=84	South Africa	2.78 births per woman	2005
=84	Guam	2.78 births per woman	2005
86	El Salvador	2.76 births per woman	2005
=87	Peru	2.74 births per woman	2005
=87	Malaysia	2.74 births per woman	2005
89	Dominican Republic	2.73 births per woman	2005
90	Ecuador	2.67 births per woman	2005
91	Venezuela	2.65 births per woman	2005
92	Panama	2.62 births per woman	2005
	Latin America and Caribbean average (profile)	2.61 births per woman	2002
93	Turkmenistan	2.6 births per woman	2005
94	Suriname	2.51 births per woman	2005
95	Bhutan	2.5 births per woman	2005
96	Algeria	2.44 births per woman	2005
97	United Arab Emirates	2.43 births per woman	2005
98	Kyrgyzstan	2.41 births per woman	2005
=99	Morocco	2.4 births per woman	2005
=99	Colombia	2.4 births per woman	2005
101	Kuwait	2.39 births per woman	2005
=102	Brunei	2.38 births per woman	2005
=102	Jamaica	2.38 births per woman	2005
104	Greenland	2.36 births per woman	2003
105	Bahrain	2.34 births per woman	2005
=106	Mongolia	2.33 births per woman	2005
=106	Azerbaijan	2.33 births per woman	2005
108	French Polynesia	2.31 births per woman	2005
109	New Caledonia	2.3 births per woman	2005
	Heavily indebted countries average (profile)	2.29 births per woman	2005
=110	Brazil	2.29 births per woman	2005
=110	Argentina	2.29 births per woman	2005
112	Indonesia	2.27 births per woman	2005
=113	The Bahamas	2.25 births per woman	2005
=113	Lebanon	2.25 births per woman	2005
115	Burma	2.23 births per woman	2005
116	Uzbekistan	2.22 births per woman	2005
117	Virgin Islands	2.2 births per woman	2005
118	Turkey	2.19 births per woman	2005
119	Guyana	2.18 births per woman	2005
120	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	2.12 births per woman	2004
=121	Mexico	2.11 births per woman	2005
=121	Saint Kitts and Nevis	2.11 births per woman	2002
123	Seychelles	2.1 births per woman	2003
	Emerging markets average (profile)	2.08 births per woman	2005
=124	Iran	2.07 births per woman	2005
=124	Saint Lucia	2.07 births per woman	2005
=124	Netherlands Antilles	2.07 births per woman	2005
=127	United States	2.05 births per woman	2005
=127	Iceland	2.05 births per woman	2005
129	Tunisia	2.04 births per woman	2005
=130	Costa Rica	2 births per woman	2005
=130	New Zealand	2 births per woman	2005
=130	Uruguay	2 births per woman	2005
133	Mauritius	1.98 births per woman	2005
134	Chile	1.97 births per woman	2005
135	North Korea	1.96 births per woman	2005
136	France	1.92 births per woman	2005
137	Sri Lanka	1.91 births per woman	2005
138	Dominica	1.9 births per woman	2003
139	Thailand	1.89 births per woman	2005
140	Ireland	1.88 births per woman	2005
141	Norway	1.84 births per woman	2005
142	China	1.81 births per woman	2005
=143	Finland	1.8 births per woman	2005
=143	Denmark	1.8 births per woman	2005
=143	United Kingdom	1.8 births per woman	2005
=143	Puerto Rico	1.8 births per woman	2005
=147	Albania	1.78 births per woman	2005
=147	Vietnam	1.78 births per woman	2005
	Former Soviet republics average (profile)	1.78 births per woman	2005
=149	Australia	1.77 births per woman	2005
=149	Sweden	1.77 births per woman	2005
=151	Bermuda	1.75 births per woman	2005
=151	Kazakhstan	1.75 births per woman	2005
153	Netherlands	1.73 births per woman	2005
154	Belgium	1.72 births per woman	2005
	Cold countries average (profile)	1.72 births per woman	2005
=155	Luxembourg	1.7 births per woman	2005
=155	Antigua and Barbuda	1.7 births per woman	2002
157	Barbados	1.69 births per woman	2004
	Non-religious countries average (profile)	1.67 births per woman	2005
	High income OECD countries average (profile)	1.63 births per woman	2005
=158	Serbia and Montenegro	1.61 births per woman	2005
=158	Trinidad and Tobago	1.61 births per woman	2005
	Group of 7 countries (G7) average (profile)	1.6 births per woman	2005
	NATO countries average (profile)	1.53 births per woman	2005
	Europe average (profile)	1.51 births per woman	2005
160	Canada	1.51 births per woman	2005
=161	Estonia	1.5 births per woman	2005
=161	Cuba	1.5 births per woman	2005
	Eurozone average (profile)	1.5 births per woman	2005
	European Union average (profile)	1.48 births per woman	2005
=163	Cyprus	1.42 births per woman	2005
=163	Croatia	1.42 births per woman	2005
=163	Switzerland	1.42 births per woman	2005
166	Austria	1.41 births per woman	2005
167	Portugal	1.4 births per woman	2005
168	Georgia	1.39 births per woman	2005
	Eastern Europe average (profile)	1.38 births per woman	2005
=169	Armenia	1.37 births per woman	2005
=169	Malta	1.37 births per woman	2005
171	Germany	1.36 births per woman	2005
172	Spain	1.33 births per woman	2005
=173	Italy	1.32 births per woman	2005
=173	Hungary	1.32 births per woman	2005
=173	Romania	1.32 births per woman	2005
=176	Bulgaria	1.31 births per woman	2005
=176	Latvia	1.31 births per woman	2005
178	Russia	1.29 births per woman	2005
=179	Greece	1.28 births per woman	2005
=179	Czech Republic	1.28 births per woman	2005
=181	Moldova	1.27 births per woman	2005
=181	Lithuania	1.27 births per woman	2005
183	Japan	1.26 births per woman	2005
184	Slovakia	1.25 births per woman	2005
=185	Belarus	1.24 births per woman	2005
=185	Poland	1.24 births per woman	2005
=185	Singapore	1.24 births per woman	2005
188	Slovenia	1.23 births per woman	2005
189	Ukraine	1.2 births per woman	2005
190	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.19 births per woman	2005
191	South Korea	1.08 births per woman	2005
192	Hong Kong	0.97 births per woman	2005
193	Macau	0.88 births per woman	2005

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