Fertility rate: births per woman in Zambia
Zambia: Fertility rate: births per woman was 4.1 live births per woman in 2023. ▼ Falling
Fertility rate: births per woman in Zambia, 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 Zambia stood at 4.1 live births per woman. That is the lowest value across all 74 years on record.
That represents a change of down 1.8% on the previous year and down 18.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, fertility rate: births per woman in Zambia peaked at 7.42 live births per woman in 1975 and was at its lowest, 4.1 live births per woman, in 2023.
That places Zambia 25th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top 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 | 6.81 live births per woman | 6.77 live births per woman | 6.9 live births per woman | 10 |
| 1960s | 7.09 live births per woman | 6.95 live births per woman | 7.18 live births per woman | 10 |
| 1970s | 7.32 live births per woman | 7.22 live births per woman | 7.42 live births per woman | 10 |
| 1980s | 6.92 live births per woman | 6.63 live births per woman | 7.14 live births per woman | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.25 live births per woman | 6 live births per woman | 6.57 live births per woman | 10 |
| 2000s | 5.69 live births per woman | 5.45 live births per woman | 5.92 live births per woman | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.86 live births per woman | 4.42 live births per woman | 5.36 live births per woman | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.21 live births per woman | 4.1 live births per woman | 4.32 live births per woman | 4 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
More reference data data for Zambia
- Number of child deaths per woman 0.2201 under-five deaths per woman (2024)
- Fertility rate: births per woman 4.1 live births per woman (2023)
- Fertility rate vs. Human Development Index 4.1 live births per woman (2023)
- Human Development Index 0.595 (2023)
- Rule of Law - Governance estimate -0.5612 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 (2024)
- Rule of Law - Governance score 47.31 0-100 (2024)
- Voice and Accountability - Governance score 49.72 0-100 (2024)
- Voice and Accountability - Governance estimate -0.4076 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 (2024)
- Political Stability - Governance estimate -0.1008 approx. -2.5 to +2.5 (2024)
- Political Stability - Governance score 64.17 0-100 (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is fertility rate: births per woman in Zambia?
- Fertility rate: births per woman in Zambia was 4.1 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 Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 7.42 live births per woman in 1975.
- What is the lowest fertility rate: births per woman recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.1 live births per woman in 2023.
- How does Zambia rank for fertility rate: births per woman?
- Zambia ranks 25th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is fertility rate: births per woman rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 18.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Zambia 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.