Fertility rate: births per woman in Netherlands
Netherlands: Fertility rate: births per woman was 1.43 live births per woman in 2023. ▼ Falling
Fertility rate: births per woman in Netherlands, 1950–2023
Source: Human Fertility Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in live births per woman.
Analysis
In 2023, fertility rate: births per woman in Netherlands stood at 1.43 live births per woman. That is the lowest value across all 74 years on record.
That represents a change of down 5.5% on the previous year and down 14.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, fertility rate: births per woman in Netherlands peaked at 3.21 live births per woman in 1961 and was at its lowest, 1.43 live births per woman, in 2023.
Netherlands ranks 188th of 236 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 74 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 3.07 live births per woman | 3.03 live births per woman | 3.16 live births per woman | 10 |
| 1960s | 3 live births per woman | 2.71 live births per woman | 3.21 live births per woman | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.88 live births per woman | 1.56 live births per woman | 2.57 live births per woman | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.53 live births per woman | 1.47 live births per woman | 1.6 live births per woman | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.59 live births per woman | 1.53 live births per woman | 1.66 live births per woman | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.73 live births per woman | 1.71 live births per woman | 1.78 live births per woman | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.67 live births per woman | 1.57 live births per woman | 1.79 live births per woman | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.53 live births per woman | 1.43 live births per woman | 1.62 live births per woman | 4 |
Countries ranked near Netherlands
More reference data data for Netherlands
- Number of child deaths per woman 0.0069 under-five deaths per woman (2024)
- Fertility rate: births per woman 1.43 live births per woman (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. Human Development Index 1.43 live births per woman (2023)
- Human Development Index 0.955 (2023)
- Rule of Law - Governance estimate 1.71 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 (2024)
- Rule of Law - Governance score 86.34 0-100 (2024)
- Voice and Accountability - Governance estimate 1.65 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 (2024)
- Voice and Accountability - Governance score 85.79 0-100 (2024)
- Political Stability - Governance estimate 0.4281 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 (2024)
- Political Stability - Governance score 73.21 0-100 (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is fertility rate: births per woman in Netherlands?
- Fertility rate: births per woman in Netherlands was 1.43 live births per woman in 2023, according to Human Fertility Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest fertility rate: births per woman recorded in Netherlands?
- The highest recorded value was 3.21 live births per woman in 1961.
- What is the lowest fertility rate: births per woman recorded in Netherlands?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.43 live births per woman in 2023.
- How does Netherlands rank for fertility rate: births per woman?
- Netherlands ranks 188th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is fertility rate: births per woman rising or falling in Netherlands?
- Over the last ten years it is down 14.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Netherlands data come from?
- The figures come from Human Fertility Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Fertility rate: births per woman. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The average number of live births a hypothetical cohort of women would have at the end of their reproductive period if they were subject during their whole lives to the fertility rates of a given period and if they were not subject to mortality.