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Indicator

Fertility Rate by African country

2024

Births per woman over a lifetime at current rates.

Africa, 202454 of 54 countries
4.06population-weighted average
Highest in 2024Chad · 6.03Lowest in 2024Mauritius · 1.44Reported in 202454 of 54 countries surveyed
Click a country to pin it — pinned countries are named on the map. Hatching means no record.
Western Sahara — no separate recordTanzania — 4.54Democratic Republic of the Congo — 5.98Somalia — 6.01Kenya — 3.17Sudan — 4.26Chad — 6.03South Africa — 2.21Lesotho — 2.66Zimbabwe — 3.67Botswana — 2.70Namibia — 3.21Senegal — 3.77Mali — 5.51Mauritania — 4.63Benin — 4.48Niger — 5.93Nigeria — 4.38Cameroon — 4.26Togo — 4.12Ghana — 3.34Cote d'Ivoire — 4.23Guinea — 4.13Guinea-Bissau — 3.76Liberia — 3.86Sierra Leone — 3.70Burkina Faso — 4.11Central African Republic — 5.95Republic of the Congo — 4.11Gabon — 3.59Equatorial Guinea — 4.12Zambia — 4.04Malawi — 3.59Mozambique — 4.69Eswatini — 2.72Angola — 5.05Burundi — 4.79Madagascar — 3.91Gambia — 3.91Tunisia — 1.82Algeria — 2.72Eritrea — 3.68Morocco — 2.21Egypt — 2.73Libya — 2.30Ethiopia — 3.91Djibouti — 2.62Uganda — 4.17Rwanda — 3.65South Sudan — 3.79Nigeria 4.38Nigeria 4.38Ethiopia 3.91Ethiopia 3.91Kenya 3.17Kenya 3.17South Africa 2.21South Africa 2.212024HIGHEST IN 2024Chad6.03Somalia6.01Democratic Republic of the Congo5.98Central African Republic5.95Niger5.93LOWEST IN 2024Mauritiusnot drawn1.44Cabo Verdenot drawn1.51Tunisia1.82Seychellesnot drawn1.85South Africa2.21PINNEDEthiopia3.9125 of 54Kenya3.1741 of 54Nigeria4.3813 of 54OTHER ISLAND STATES · NOT DRAWNComorosnot drawn3.82Sao Tome and Principenot drawn3.60births per woman · quintiles of the observed range1.442.723.684.044.486.03no record
20142024
World Bank · national statistics offices · the provider's own estimates where a country has not reportedCC BY 4.0
Countries

By region

Population-weighted, so a region’s figure is the share of its people, not the average of its countries.
Middle Africa9 of 9 countries5.48
Western Africa16 of 16 countries4.37
Eastern Africa18 of 18 countries4.06
Northern Africa6 of 6 countries2.89
Southern Africa5 of 5 countries2.29
Africaall 54 countries · 54 with a 2024 figure4.06

What to know before you quote this

Specific to this series. For how we treat data generally, see methods.
Certainty is judged year by yearA country can be Reported in one year and Modelled the next. The tag follows the year on the scrubber, so the 2024 assessment is not a verdict on the whole series.

About this data

Fertility RateBirths per woman over a lifetime at current rates.
SourceWorld Bank, with processing by Africa API
Unitbirths per woman
Last updated15 Oct 2026
Next expected updateOct 2027
Date range1960–2024
Coverage54 of 54 countries · 54 reported, 0 modelled, 0 with no usable figure

How the figure is made

ReportedA national statistics office or the original provider published the figure for that year directly. 54 countries did so for 2024 — the certainty shown on this page is that 2024 assessment, not a per-series one.ModelledNo direct figure that year. The provider’s own estimate, interpolation or projection stands in, and is marked as such wherever it appears.No dataNo usable figure within the window. Drawn hatched on the map and left blank in the table — not zero, and not filled in.

These three states are used the same way across every indicator on the site — how we treat certainty explains the full set and what we never do to a number.

Reuse and cite

Everything on this page is open under CC BY 4.0 — use it anywhere, including commercially, as long as Africa API and the original provider are credited. The provider’s own licence still applies to their data.

How to cite this page
Africa API (2026) — "Fertility Rate". Data adapted from World Bank. Retrieved 18 Oct 2026 from africa-api.com/indicators/fertility-rate
The request behind this view
GET /v1/data?metric_key=fertility_rate_births_per_woman&year=2024&limit=100

Read next

The measures that explain this one.
DemographicsPopulationTotal mid-year population.DemographicsPopulation GrowthAnnual population growth rate.DemographicsLife ExpectancyLife expectancy at birth, in years.

Fertility Rate: most recent figure per country, highest to lowest

54 countries · each with its own period

The figures at the top of the page compare every country in the same year. This list takes each country’s newest figure instead, whatever its period, so the order can differ.

#CountryFertility RatePeriod
1Chad6.032024
2Somalia6.012024
3Democratic Republic of the Congo5.982024
4Central African Republic5.952024
5Niger5.942024
6Mali5.512024
7Angola5.052024
8Burundi4.792024
9Mozambique4.692024
10Mauritania4.632024
11Tanzania4.542024
12Benin4.482024
13Nigeria4.382024
14Sudan4.262024
15Cameroon4.262024
16Cote d'Ivoire4.232024
17Uganda4.172024
18Guinea4.132024
19Togo4.122024
20Equatorial Guinea4.122024
21Burkina Faso4.112024
22Republic of the Congo4.112024
23Zambia4.042024
24Madagascar3.912024
25Ethiopia3.912024
26Gambia3.912024
27Liberia3.862024
28Comoros3.822024
29South Sudan3.792024
30Senegal3.772024
31Guinea-Bissau3.762024
32Sierra Leone3.72024
33Eritrea3.682024
34Zimbabwe3.672024
35Rwanda3.652024
36Sao Tome and Principe3.62024
37Gabon3.592024
38Malawi3.592024
39Ghana3.342024
40Namibia3.212024
41Kenya3.172024
42Egypt2.742024
43Algeria2.722024
44Eswatini2.722024
45Botswana2.72024
46Lesotho2.662024
47Djibouti2.622024
48Libya2.32024
49Morocco2.212024
50South Africa2.212024
51Seychelles1.852024
52Tunisia1.822024
53Cabo Verde1.512024
54Mauritius1.442024
Which observations are included?
The ranking includes 54 of 54 countries with available observations for 2023 or later and within 2 years of the freshest result. Each figure shows its reporting period. Countries without an eligible observation are omitted.
Does a higher value mean a better result?
The ranking is sorted by value, from highest to lowest. The order does not rate a country's performance. Interpretation depends on the indicator and its definition.

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