Countries with Highest Fertility Rate (2026)

Chad has the highest fertility rate in the world at 6.03 births per woman. A fertility rate of 2.1 is considered the replacement level needed to maintain population without immigration. Countries with the highest fertility rates are predominantly in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Chad

6.03 births/woman

Somalia

6.01 births/woman

DR Congo

5.98 births/woman

Countries with Highest Fertility Rate - 216 countries ranked by Fertility Rate
Rank	Country	Fertility Rate	Population	Region
1	Chad	6.03 births/woman	20,299,123	Africa
2	Somalia	6.01 births/woman	19,009,151	Africa
3	DR Congo	5.98 births/woman	109,276,265	Africa
4	Central African Republic	5.95 births/woman	5,330,690	Africa
5	Niger	5.94 births/woman	27,032,412	Africa
6	Mali	5.51 births/woman	24,478,595	Africa
7	Angola	5.05 births/woman	37,885,849	Africa
8	Burundi	4.79 births/woman	14,047,786	Africa
9	Afghanistan	4.76 births/woman	42,647,492	Asia
10	Mozambique	4.69 births/woman	34,631,766	Africa
11	Mauritania	4.63 births/woman	5,169,395	Africa
12	Tanzania	4.54 births/woman	68,560,157	Africa
13	Yemen	4.50 births/woman	40,583,164	Asia
14	Benin	4.48 births/woman	14,462,724	Africa
15	Nigeria	4.38 births/woman	232,679,478	Africa
16	Sudan	4.26 births/woman	50,448,963	Africa
17	Cameroon	4.26 births/woman	29,123,744	Africa
18	Ivory Coast	4.23 births/woman	31,934,230	Africa
19	Uganda	4.17 births/woman	50,015,092	Africa
20	Guinea	4.13 births/woman	14,754,785	Africa
21	Togo	4.12 births/woman	9,515,236	Africa
22	Equatorial Guinea	4.12 births/woman	1,892,516	Africa
23	Burkina Faso	4.11 births/woman	23,548,781	Africa
24	Republic of the Congo	4.11 births/woman	6,332,961	Africa
25	Zambia	4.04 births/woman	21,314,956	Africa
26	Ethiopia	3.91 births/woman	132,059,767	Africa
27	Madagascar	3.91 births/woman	31,964,956	Africa
28	Gambia	3.91 births/woman	2,759,988	Africa
29	Liberia	3.86 births/woman	5,612,817	Africa
30	Comoros	3.82 births/woman	866,628	Africa
31	Samoa	3.80 births/woman	218,019	Oceania
32	South Sudan	3.79 births/woman	11,943,408	Africa
33	Senegal	3.77 births/woman	18,501,984	Africa
34	Guinea-Bissau	3.76 births/woman	2,201,352	Africa
35	Sierra Leone	3.70 births/woman	8,642,022	Africa
36	Eritrea	3.68 births/woman	3,535,603	Africa
37	Zimbabwe	3.67 births/woman	16,634,373	Africa
38	Rwanda	3.65 births/woman	14,256,567	Africa
39	São Tomé and Príncipe	3.60 births/woman	235,536	Africa
40	Malawi	3.59 births/woman	21,655,286	Africa
41	Gabon	3.59 births/woman	2,538,952	Africa
42	Vanuatu	3.57 births/woman	327,777	Oceania
43	Pakistan	3.55 births/woman	251,269,164	Asia
44	Solomon Islands	3.51 births/woman	819,198	Oceania
45	Uzbekistan	3.49 births/woman	36,361,859	Asia
46	Ghana	3.34 births/woman	34,427,414	Africa
47	Nauru	3.29 births/woman	11,947	Oceania
48	Palestine	3.25 births/woman	5,289,152	Asia
49	Iraq	3.22 births/woman	46,042,015	Asia
50	Namibia	3.21 births/woman	3,030,131	Africa
51	Kenya	3.17 births/woman	56,432,944	Africa
52	Tuvalu	3.17 births/woman	9,646	Oceania
53	Kiribati	3.12 births/woman	134,518	Oceania
54	Tonga	3.10 births/woman	104,175	Oceania
55	Papua New Guinea	3.07 births/woman	10,576,502	Oceania
56	Tajikistan	3.04 births/woman	10,590,927	Asia
57	Kazakhstan	2.98 births/woman	20,592,571	Asia
58	Israel	2.87 births/woman	9,974,400	Asia
59	Marshall Islands	2.86 births/woman	37,548	Oceania
60	Guam	2.75 births/woman	167,777	Oceania
61	Egypt	2.74 births/woman	116,538,258	Africa
62	Micronesia	2.74 births/woman	113,160	Oceania
63	Algeria	2.72 births/woman	46,814,308	Africa
64	Eswatini	2.72 births/woman	1,242,822	Africa
65	Syria	2.70 births/woman	24,672,760	Asia
66	Botswana	2.70 births/woman	2,521,139	Africa
67	Saint Martin	2.67 births/woman	26,129	Americas
68	Turkmenistan	2.66 births/woman	7,494,498	Asia
69	Lesotho	2.66 births/woman	2,337,423	Africa
70	Haiti	2.63 births/woman	11,772,557	Americas
71	Timor-Leste	2.63 births/woman	1,400,638	Asia
72	Djibouti	2.62 births/woman	1,168,722	Africa
73	Jordan	2.60 births/woman	11,552,876	Asia
74	Kyrgyzstan	2.60 births/woman	7,221,868	Asia
75	Cambodia	2.55 births/woman	17,638,801	Asia
76	Bolivia	2.52 births/woman	12,413,315	Americas
77	Oman	2.51 births/woman	5,281,538	Asia
78	Mongolia	2.50 births/woman	3,524,788	Asia
79	Honduras	2.48 births/woman	10,825,703	Americas
80	Paraguay	2.42 births/woman	6,929,153	Americas
81	Laos	2.40 births/woman	7,769,819	Asia
82	Guyana	2.40 births/woman	831,087	Americas
83	Northern Mariana Islands	2.32 births/woman	44,278	Oceania
84	Saudi Arabia	2.31 births/woman	35,300,280	Asia
85	Libya	2.30 births/woman	7,381,023	Africa
86	Guatemala	2.29 births/woman	18,406,359	Americas
87	Fiji	2.27 births/woman	928,784	Oceania
88	American Samoa	2.27 births/woman	46,765	Oceania
89	Lebanon	2.23 births/woman	5,805,962	Asia
90	Suriname	2.23 births/woman	634,431	Americas
91	Dominican Republic	2.22 births/woman	11,427,557	Americas
92	South Africa	2.21 births/woman	64,007,187	Africa
93	Morocco	2.21 births/woman	38,081,173	Africa
94	Nicaragua	2.21 births/woman	6,916,140	Americas
95	Bangladesh	2.14 births/woman	173,562,364	Asia
96	Indonesia	2.12 births/woman	283,487,931	Asia
97	Panama	2.11 births/woman	4,515,577	Americas
98	Myanmar	2.10 births/woman	54,500,091	Asia
99	Monaco	2.10 births/woman	38,631	Europe
100	Venezuela	2.08 births/woman	28,405,543	Americas
101	Belize	2.02 births/woman	417,072	Americas
102	Peru	1.97 births/woman	34,217,848	Americas
103	United States Virgin Islands	1.97 births/woman	104,377	Americas
104	India	1.96 births/woman	1,450,935,791	Asia
105	Nepal	1.96 births/woman	29,651,054	Asia
106	New Caledonia	1.96 births/woman	292,639	Oceania
107	Sri Lanka	1.95 births/woman	21,916,000	Asia
108	Faroe Islands	1.91 births/woman	54,681	Europe
109	Vietnam	1.90 births/woman	100,987,686	Asia
110	Mexico	1.89 births/woman	130,861,007	Americas
111	Philippines	1.89 births/woman	115,843,670	Asia
112	Gibraltar	1.89 births/woman	39,329	Europe
113	Palau	1.88 births/woman	17,695	Oceania
114	Seychelles	1.85 births/woman	121,354	Africa
115	Tunisia	1.82 births/woman	12,277,109	Africa
116	Ecuador	1.81 births/woman	18,135,478	Americas
117	Bahrain	1.81 births/woman	1,588,670	Asia
118	Georgia	1.80 births/woman	3,699,557	Asia
119	Montenegro	1.80 births/woman	623,525	Europe
120	North Korea	1.78 births/woman	26,498,823	Asia
121	El Salvador	1.77 births/woman	6,338,193	Americas
122	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1.76 births/woman	100,616	Americas
123	Moldova	1.73 births/woman	2,402,306	Europe
124	Brunei	1.73 births/woman	462,721	Asia
125	Bulgaria	1.72 births/woman	6,441,421	Europe
126	Qatar	1.72 births/woman	2,857,822	Asia
127	Barbados	1.71 births/woman	282,467	Americas
128	Greenland	1.71 births/woman	56,836	Americas
129	Armenia	1.70 births/woman	3,033,500	Asia
130	Iran	1.68 births/woman	91,567,738	Asia
131	Serbia	1.64 births/woman	6,586,476	Europe
132	United States	1.63 births/woman	340,110,988	Americas
133	Colombia	1.63 births/woman	52,886,363	Americas
134	Brazil	1.61 births/woman	211,998,573	Americas
135	France	1.61 births/woman	68,551,653	Europe
136	Aruba	1.61 births/woman	107,995	Americas
137	Antigua and Barbuda	1.58 births/woman	93,772	Americas
138	New Zealand	1.57 births/woman	5,287,500	Oceania
139	Kuwait	1.56 births/woman	4,897,263	Asia
140	Maldives	1.56 births/woman	527,799	Asia
141	Iceland	1.56 births/woman	386,506	Europe
142	United Kingdom	1.55 births/woman	69,226,000	Europe
143	Malaysia	1.54 births/woman	35,557,673	Asia
144	Kosovo	1.54 births/woman	1,594,353	Europe
145	Trinidad and Tobago	1.54 births/woman	1,368,333	Americas
146	Isle of Man	1.54 births/woman	84,160	Europe
147	Cayman Islands	1.53 births/woman	74,457	Americas
148	Saint Kitts and Nevis	1.53 births/woman	46,843	Americas
149	Slovenia	1.52 births/woman	2,127,400	Europe
150	Cape Verde	1.51 births/woman	524,877	Africa
151	Argentina	1.50 births/woman	45,696,159	Americas
152	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.49 births/woman	3,164,253	Europe
153	French Polynesia	1.49 births/woman	281,807	Oceania
154	Turkey	1.48 births/woman	85,518,661	Asia
155	Australia	1.48 births/woman	27,196,812	Oceania
156	Dominica	1.48 births/woman	66,205	Americas
157	Denmark	1.47 births/woman	5,976,992	Europe
158	Ireland	1.47 births/woman	5,395,790	Europe
159	Grenada	1.47 births/woman	117,207	Americas
160	Slovakia	1.46 births/woman	5,422,069	Europe
161	Croatia	1.46 births/woman	3,866,200	Europe
162	Cuba	1.45 births/woman	10,979,783	Americas
163	Norway	1.45 births/woman	5,572,279	Europe
164	Bhutan	1.45 births/woman	791,524	Asia
165	Turks and Caicos Islands	1.45 births/woman	46,535	Americas
166	Belgium	1.44 births/woman	11,858,610	Europe
167	Mauritius	1.44 births/woman	1,245,779	Africa
168	Sint Maarten	1.44 births/woman	43,350	Americas
169	Netherlands	1.43 births/woman	17,993,485	Europe
170	Sweden	1.43 births/woman	10,569,709	Europe
171	Azerbaijan	1.43 births/woman	10,202,830	Asia
172	Russia	1.42 births/woman	143,533,851	Europe
173	Portugal	1.41 births/woman	10,694,681	Europe
174	Hungary	1.41 births/woman	9,562,065	Europe
175	Bermuda	1.41 births/woman	64,636	Americas
176	Uruguay	1.40 births/woman	3,386,588	Americas
177	North Macedonia	1.40 births/woman	1,824,359	Europe
178	Curaçao	1.40 births/woman	155,967	Americas
179	Romania	1.39 births/woman	19,051,804	Europe
180	Saint Lucia	1.39 births/woman	179,744	Americas
181	Cyprus	1.38 births/woman	1,358,282	Europe
182	Bahamas	1.37 births/woman	401,283	Americas
183	Liechtenstein	1.37 births/woman	40,450	Europe
184	Germany	1.36 births/woman	83,516,593	Europe
185	Czechia	1.36 births/woman	10,905,028	Europe
186	Jamaica	1.35 births/woman	2,839,175	Americas
187	Albania	1.34 births/woman	2,377,128	Europe
188	Costa Rica	1.32 births/woman	5,129,910	Americas
189	Austria	1.31 births/woman	9,177,982	Europe
190	Switzerland	1.29 births/woman	9,005,582	Europe
191	Canada	1.25 births/woman	41,288,599	Americas
192	Finland	1.25 births/woman	5,619,911	Europe
193	Luxembourg	1.25 births/woman	677,012	Europe
194	Greece	1.24 births/woman	10,405,134	Europe
195	Latvia	1.24 births/woman	1,866,124	Europe
196	Belarus	1.22 births/woman	9,132,629	Europe
197	United Arab Emirates	1.21 births/woman	10,986,400	Asia
198	Thailand	1.20 births/woman	71,668,011	Asia
199	Italy	1.18 births/woman	58,952,704	Europe
200	Estonia	1.18 births/woman	1,372,341	Europe
201	San Marino	1.16 births/woman	33,977	Europe
202	Japan	1.15 births/woman	123,975,371	Asia
203	Poland	1.14 births/woman	36,559,233	Europe
204	Chile	1.14 births/woman	19,764,771	Americas
205	Lithuania	1.11 births/woman	2,888,278	Europe
206	Spain	1.10 births/woman	48,848,840	Europe
207	Andorra	1.09 births/woman	81,938	Europe
208	British Virgin Islands	1.05 births/woman	39,471	Americas
209	China	1.01 births/woman	1,408,975,000	Asia
210	Malta	1.01 births/woman	568,847	Europe
211	Ukraine	0.99 births/woman	37,860,221	Europe
212	Singapore	0.97 births/woman	6,036,860	Asia
213	Puerto Rico	0.92 births/woman	3,203,295	Americas
214	Hong Kong	0.84 births/woman	7,524,100	Asia
215	South Korea	0.75 births/woman	51,751,065	Asia
216	Macau	0.58 births/woman	687,000	Asia

What Is the Fertility Rate and Why Does It Matter?

The total fertility rate (TFR) represents the average number of children a woman would have over her lifetime based on current birth rates. A TFR of 2.1 is considered the "replacement level" needed to maintain a stable population without immigration. The global average is approximately 2.35 births per woman.

Chad has the highest fertility rate at 6.03, followed by Somalia (6.01) and DR Congo (5.98).

Why Is Fertility Highest in Sub-Saharan Africa?

18 of the top 20 countries by fertility are in Sub-Saharan Africa. High fertility is driven by several interrelated factors: limited access to modern contraception, lower levels of female education, cultural preferences for larger families, high child mortality (which can motivate having more children), and economic structures where children contribute to household labor.

Fertility rates have been declining globally for decades — from about 5 births per woman in 1950 to under 2.5 today. Even countries at the top of this ranking generally have lower fertility than a generation ago.

The Demographic Dividend Opportunity

High fertility has wide-ranging implications. Countries with TFR above 4 face pressure to expand education and create jobs. If these investments are made successfully, declining fertility combined with a large working-age population can create a period of accelerated economic growth. Access to education, particularly for girls, is consistently associated with lower fertility across all regions.

Related Research

GDP Per Capita vs Life Expectancy

Does wealth buy longer lives?

Fertility Rate vs GDP Per Capita

The demographic-economic paradox

Internet Access vs GDP Per Capita

The global digital divide

All Rankings

Countries with Highest Fertility Rate (2026)

Chad

Somalia

DR Congo

What Is the Fertility Rate and Why Does It Matter?

Why Is Fertility Highest in Sub-Saharan Africa?

The Demographic Dividend Opportunity

Related Research

All Rankings

Population

Geography

Health

Demographics

Economy

Education