Fertility rate, total in World
World: Fertility rate, total was 2.19 births per woman in 2024. ▼ Falling
Fertility rate, total in World, 1960–2024
Source: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division. Measured in births per woman.
Analysis
World recorded 2.19 births per woman for fertility rate, total in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 65 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.3% on the previous year and down 13.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, fertility rate, total in World peaked at 5.31 births per woman in 1963 and was at its lowest, 2.19 births per woman, in 2024.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 65 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 4.95 births per woman | 4.56 births per woman | 5.31 births per woman | 10 |
| 1970s | 4.22 births per woman | 3.76 births per woman | 4.84 births per woman | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.56 births per woman | 3.35 births per woman | 3.73 births per woman | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.93 births per woman | 2.72 births per woman | 3.31 births per woman | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.64 births per woman | 2.59 births per woman | 2.73 births per woman | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.49 births per woman | 2.35 births per woman | 2.57 births per woman | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.22 births per woman | 2.19 births per woman | 2.28 births per woman | 5 |
More health data for World
- Population, male 50.3% (2025)
- Population ages 65 and above, female 474.56 million (2025)
- Population ages 15-64, total 5.36 billion (2025)
- Population ages 15-64, male 65.8% (2025)
- Population ages 65 and above, total 854.60 million (2025)
- Population ages 65 and above 10.4% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64, female 64.5% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64, male 2.72 billion (2025)
- Population, female 4.09 billion (2025)
- Age dependency ratio 54.5% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is fertility rate, total in World?
- Fertility rate, total in World was 2.19 births per woman in 2024, according to World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division.
- What is the highest fertility rate, total recorded in World?
- The highest recorded value was 5.31 births per woman in 1963.
- What is the lowest fertility rate, total recorded in World?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.19 births per woman in 2024.
- Is fertility rate, total rising or falling in World?
- Over the last ten years it is down 13.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this World data come from?
- The figures come from World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division, published as part of Fertility rate, total (births per woman). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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 age-specific fertility rates of the specified year.