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The 10 Countries Where Women Have the Fewest Children |
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The World Bank updated its fertility data on October 8. Twelve days later, the Population Reference Bureau reported that more than 70% of the world’s people now live where fertility is at or below replacement. South Korea is lowest, at 0.75 children per woman. Three countries are now below one. |
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Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (updated Oct 8, 2026). Total fertility rate, births per woman, 2024. Territories excluded. |
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China is fifth. In 1970, Chinese women had six children each. In 2024 they had 1.01, fewer than women in Japan (1.15). China replaced its one-child policy with a two-child policy on January 1, 2016. Fertility rose for two years, to 1.80. Then it fell 44%. Births are falling faster still. China recorded 9.54 million in 2024 and 7.92 million in 2025. That is a 17% drop in one year. Ukraine is third. Its rate was 1.15 in 2021 and 0.90 in 2022, the year of the full-scale invasion. These are modelled estimates for a country at war. Chile, tied with Poland at 1.14, is the only country from the Americas. Its statistics office says Chile fell to 0.99 in 2025. |
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South Korea at #1 surprises no one. Korean women had six children each in 1960. The rate fell below replacement in 1983 and reached 0.72 in 2023, four decades later. It has now risen two years running: 0.75 in 2024, 0.80 in 2025. Europe holds six of the ten places. The EU hit a record low of 1.34 in 2024, Eurostat says. Malta is lowest at 1.01. Bulgaria is highest at 1.72. No EU country is close to 2.1. The other end of the table is Africa. Chad: 6.03. Somalia: 6.01. DR Congo: 5.98. A woman in Chad has eight times as many children as a woman in South Korea. The world average is 2.19, down from 4.84 in 1970. |
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14 Grandchildren for every 100 South Koreans if today’s rate holds for two generations. One hundred people have 37 children. Those 37 have 14. |
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0.87 Singapore’s fertility rate in 2025, a record low. Citizen births fell 10.8% in a year, to 26,071. |
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20% The fall in Taiwan’s births in 2025, to 107,812. The World Bank doesn’t list Taiwan. Its 2025 rate is reported near 0.70, below Korea’s. |
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7.92 million Babies born in China in 2025. Deaths: 11.31 million. The population shrank for a fourth straight year. |
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66 of 217 Economies in the World Bank’s table where women average fewer than 1.5 children. In 119, the rate is below 2.1. |
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Statistics Korea publishes its 2026 birth figures in late February. Korea has risen two years running, and Seoul went from 0.58 to 0.63 in 2025. Taiwan has not yet confirmed its 2025 rate. If it lands near 0.70, South Korea is no longer the country with the fewest children per woman. We’ll be watching. |
