Where fertility is falling fastest

Countries and areas with the largest fall in the total fertility rate over the last 20 years, showing how quickly rates of 4–6 are approaching 2. 154 countries and areas, based on 2026 figures.

#	Country / area	Change in fertility (20 years)	Then → now
1	Timor-Leste	-2.97	5.47 → 2.50
2	Uganda	-2.46	6.43 → 3.97
3	Malawi	-2.35	5.80 → 3.45
4	Ethiopia	-2.33	6.05 → 3.72
5	Burkina Faso	-2.26	6.17 → 3.91
6	South Sudan	-2.22	5.85 → 3.63
7	Sierra Leone	-2.21	5.74 → 3.53
8	Afghanistan	-2.13	6.69 → 4.56
9	Niger	-2.10	7.74 → 5.64
10	Burundi	-2.09	6.66 → 4.57
11	Gambia	-2.04	5.74 → 3.70
12	Nigeria	-1.85	6.05 → 4.20
13	Liberia	-1.82	5.53 → 3.71
14	Rwanda	-1.80	5.34 → 3.54
15	Guinea-Bissau	-1.79	5.41 → 3.62
16	Zambia	-1.77	5.68 → 3.91
17	Guinea	-1.74	5.70 → 3.96
18	Somalia	-1.69	7.49 → 5.80
19	Kenya	-1.68	4.75 → 3.07
20	State of Palestine	-1.61	4.74 → 3.13
21	Philippines	-1.61	3.47 → 1.86
22	Guatemala	-1.61	3.84 → 2.23
23	Equatorial Guinea	-1.55	5.50 → 3.95
24	Angola	-1.53	6.42 → 4.89
25	American Samoa	-1.47	3.69 → 2.22
26	Sao Tome and Principe	-1.46	4.93 → 3.47
27	Marshall Islands	-1.43	4.20 → 2.77
28	Senegal	-1.40	5.06 → 3.66
29	Djibouti	-1.36	3.90 → 2.54
30	Côte d'Ivoire	-1.35	5.45 → 4.10
31	Madagascar	-1.35	5.13 → 3.78
32	Mali	-1.35	6.68 → 5.33
33	Iraq	-1.33	4.46 → 3.13
34	Eritrea	-1.33	4.88 → 3.55
35	Benin	-1.33	5.67 → 4.34
36	Chad	-1.28	7.12 → 5.84
37	Cameroon	-1.25	5.37 → 4.12
38	Bhutan	-1.23	2.66 → 1.43
39	Lao People's Democratic Republic	-1.23	3.56 → 2.33
40	Comoros	-1.22	4.93 → 3.71
41	Haiti	-1.21	3.76 → 2.55
42	Sudan	-1.20	5.33 → 4.13
43	Jordan	-1.17	3.71 → 2.54
44	Papua New Guinea	-1.16	4.15 → 2.99
45	Pakistan	-1.15	4.59 → 3.44
46	Ghana	-1.14	4.40 → 3.26
47	Kuwait	-1.10	2.59 → 1.49
48	United Republic of Tanzania	-1.10	5.51 → 4.41
49	Tonga	-1.10	4.14 → 3.04
50	Yemen	-1.08	5.41 → 4.33
51	Togo	-1.07	5.08 → 4.01
52	Cabo Verde	-1.07	2.56 → 1.49
53	Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	-1.06	3.53 → 2.47
54	Nepal	-1.05	2.97 → 1.92
55	Honduras	-1.03	3.45 → 2.42
56	Belize	-1.03	3.02 → 1.99
57	Eswatini	-0.99	3.63 → 2.64
58	Kosovo (under UNSC res. 1244)	-0.97	2.49 → 1.52
59	Ecuador	-0.97	2.75 → 1.78
60	Solomon Islands	-0.97	4.39 → 3.42
61	India	-0.94	2.87 → 1.93
62	Syrian Arab Republic	-0.94	3.56 → 2.62
63	Mauritania	-0.92	5.40 → 4.48
64	Saudi Arabia	-0.91	3.18 → 2.27
65	Mozambique	-0.91	5.45 → 4.54
66	Curaçao	-0.91	1.98 → 1.07
67	Argentina	-0.89	2.40 → 1.51
68	Tokelau	-0.88	3.42 → 2.54
69	Puerto Rico	-0.86	1.80 → 0.94
70	Micronesia (Fed. States of)	-0.84	3.51 → 2.67
71	Cook Islands	-0.83	2.80 → 1.97
72	Qatar	-0.82	2.51 → 1.69
73	Lesotho	-0.80	3.41 → 2.61
74	Malaysia	-0.79	2.31 → 1.52
75	Kiribati	-0.76	3.82 → 3.06
76	Jamaica	-0.76	2.09 → 1.33
77	French Polynesia	-0.75	2.22 → 1.47
78	United Arab Emirates	-0.75	1.96 → 1.21
79	Democratic Republic of the Congo	-0.75	6.55 → 5.80
80	Grenada	-0.74	2.19 → 1.45
81	Wallis and Futuna Islands	-0.72	2.11 → 1.39
82	Western Sahara	-0.70	2.83 → 2.13
83	Peru	-0.69	2.62 → 1.93
84	Uruguay	-0.69	2.07 → 1.38
85	Bahrain	-0.69	2.46 → 1.77
86	Fiji	-0.68	2.91 → 2.23
87	Chile	-0.68	1.80 → 1.12
88	Gabon	-0.68	4.17 → 3.49
89	Cambodia	-0.68	3.17 → 2.49
90	Maldives	-0.67	2.20 → 1.53
91	Bangladesh	-0.67	2.76 → 2.09
92	Congo	-0.66	4.65 → 3.99
93	El Salvador	-0.66	2.40 → 1.74
94	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	-0.66	1.95 → 1.29
95	Bahamas	-0.66	2.02 → 1.36
96	Turks and Caicos Islands	-0.65	2.08 → 1.43
97	Colombia	-0.64	2.24 → 1.60
98	Costa Rica	-0.63	1.94 → 1.31
99	Samoa	-0.62	4.32 → 3.70
100	Saint Barthélemy	-0.61	1.45 → 0.84
101	Dominica	-0.61	2.07 → 1.46
102	Mexico	-0.61	2.46 → 1.85
103	China	-0.61	1.64 → 1.03
104	Vanuatu	-0.60	4.10 → 3.50
105	Iceland	-0.59	2.08 → 1.49
106	Türkiye	-0.57	2.19 → 1.62
107	Nicaragua	-0.57	2.73 → 2.16
108	French Guiana	-0.57	3.82 → 3.25
109	Niue	-0.56	3.00 → 2.44
110	Panama	-0.55	2.62 → 2.07
111	Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	-0.55	2.59 → 2.04
112	Egypt	-0.54	3.22 → 2.68
113	Suriname	-0.54	2.73 → 2.19
114	Finland	-0.53	1.83 → 1.30
115	Paraguay	-0.52	2.89 → 2.37
116	United States Virgin Islands	-0.52	2.57 → 2.05
117	Mauritius	-0.50	1.71 → 1.21
118	Libya	-0.49	2.70 → 2.21
119	Norway	-0.48	1.90 → 1.42
120	Botswana	-0.48	3.11 → 2.63
121	Namibia	-0.47	3.60 → 3.13
122	United States of America	-0.47	2.09 → 1.62
123	Morocco	-0.45	2.61 → 2.16
124	Oman	-0.44	2.88 → 2.44
125	Thailand	-0.44	1.63 → 1.19
126	Tuvalu	-0.43	3.53 → 3.10
127	Sweden	-0.41	1.85 → 1.44
128	Myanmar	-0.41	2.47 → 2.06
129	Saint Kitts and Nevis	-0.40	1.90 → 1.50
130	Saint Lucia	-0.40	1.77 → 1.37
131	Belgium	-0.39	1.79 → 1.40
132	Indonesia	-0.38	2.46 → 2.08
133	Tajikistan	-0.38	3.34 → 2.96
134	Republic of Korea	-0.38	1.14 → 0.76
135	South Africa	-0.38	2.55 → 2.17
136	Bermuda	-0.37	1.79 → 1.42
137	Albania	-0.37	1.69 → 1.32
138	New Zealand	-0.37	2.01 → 1.64
139	Isle of Man	-0.37	1.90 → 1.53
140	Northern Mariana Islands	-0.37	2.61 → 2.24
141	Azerbaijan	-0.36	2.02 → 1.66
142	Sri Lanka	-0.36	2.29 → 1.93
143	Greenland	-0.36	2.26 → 1.90
144	Sint Maarten (Dutch part)	-0.34	1.76 → 1.42
145	Dominican Republic	-0.34	2.51 → 2.17
146	France	-0.33	1.97 → 1.64
147	Denmark	-0.32	1.84 → 1.52
148	Faroe Islands	-0.32	2.51 → 2.19
149	Réunion	-0.32	2.44 → 2.12
150	New Caledonia	-0.31	2.24 → 1.93
151	Guyana	-0.31	2.66 → 2.35
152	Ireland	-0.31	1.91 → 1.60
153	Brazil	-0.31	1.90 → 1.59
154	Ukraine	-0.30	1.30 → 1.00

Source: UN World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant).