Countries with Highest Fertility Rate (2026)

Somalia has the highest fertility rate in the world at 6.13 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.

Somalia

6.13 births/woman

Chad

6.12 births/woman

Niger

6.06 births/woman

Countries with Highest Fertility Rate - 216 countries ranked by Fertility Rate
Rank	Country	Fertility Rate	Population	Region
1	Somalia	6.13 births/woman	19,009,151	Africa
2	Chad	6.12 births/woman	20,299,123	Africa
3	Niger	6.06 births/woman	27,032,412	Africa
4	DR Congo	6.05 births/woman	109,276,265	Africa
5	Central African Republic	6.01 births/woman	5,330,690	Africa
6	Mali	5.61 births/woman	24,478,595	Africa
7	Angola	5.12 births/woman	37,885,849	Africa
8	Burundi	4.88 births/woman	14,047,786	Africa
9	Afghanistan	4.84 births/woman	42,647,492	Asia
10	Mozambique	4.76 births/woman	34,631,766	Africa
11	Mauritania	4.70 births/woman	5,169,395	Africa
12	Tanzania	4.61 births/woman	68,560,157	Africa
13	Yemen	4.59 births/woman	40,583,164	Asia
14	Benin	4.56 births/woman	14,462,724	Africa
15	Nigeria	4.48 births/woman	232,679,478	Africa
16	Sudan	4.32 births/woman	50,448,963	Africa
17	Cameroon	4.32 births/woman	29,123,744	Africa
18	Uganda	4.28 births/woman	50,015,092	Africa
19	Ivory Coast	4.28 births/woman	31,934,230	Africa
20	Guinea	4.22 births/woman	14,754,785	Africa
21	Burkina Faso	4.19 births/woman	23,548,781	Africa
22	Togo	4.19 births/woman	9,515,236	Africa
23	Republic of the Congo	4.16 births/woman	6,332,961	Africa
24	Zambia	4.10 births/woman	21,314,956	Africa
25	Equatorial Guinea	4.08 births/woman	1,892,516	Africa
26	Gambia	4.01 births/woman	2,759,988	Africa
27	Ethiopia	3.99 births/woman	132,059,767	Africa
28	Madagascar	3.97 births/woman	31,964,956	Africa
29	Liberia	3.95 births/woman	5,612,817	Africa
30	Comoros	3.88 births/woman	866,628	Africa
31	South Sudan	3.86 births/woman	11,943,408	Africa
32	Guinea-Bissau	3.84 births/woman	2,201,352	Africa
33	Samoa	3.83 births/woman	218,019	Oceania
34	Senegal	3.82 births/woman	18,501,984	Africa
35	Sierra Leone	3.79 births/woman	8,642,022	Africa
36	Zimbabwe	3.72 births/woman	16,634,373	Africa
37	Eritrea	3.71 births/woman	3,535,603	Africa
38	Rwanda	3.70 births/woman	14,256,567	Africa
39	Malawi	3.65 births/woman	21,655,286	Africa
40	Gabon	3.65 births/woman	2,538,952	Africa
41	São Tomé and Príncipe	3.64 births/woman	235,536	Africa
42	Pakistan	3.61 births/woman	251,269,164	Asia
43	Vanuatu	3.60 births/woman	327,777	Oceania
44	Solomon Islands	3.56 births/woman	819,198	Oceania
45	Uzbekistan	3.50 births/woman	36,361,859	Asia
46	Ghana	3.40 births/woman	34,427,414	Africa
47	Nauru	3.33 births/woman	11,947	Oceania
48	Palestine	3.31 births/woman	5,289,152	Asia
49	Iraq	3.25 births/woman	46,042,015	Asia
50	Kenya	3.21 births/woman	56,432,944	Africa
51	Namibia	3.21 births/woman	3,030,131	Africa
52	Tuvalu	3.21 births/woman	9,646	Oceania
53	Kiribati	3.15 births/woman	134,518	Oceania
54	Tonga	3.13 births/woman	104,175	Oceania
55	Papua New Guinea	3.10 births/woman	10,576,502	Oceania
56	Tajikistan	3.07 births/woman	10,590,927	Asia
57	Kazakhstan	3.01 births/woman	20,592,571	Asia
58	Marshall Islands	2.92 births/woman	37,548	Oceania
59	Israel	2.85 births/woman	9,974,400	Asia
60	Guam	2.78 births/woman	167,777	Oceania
61	Algeria	2.77 births/woman	46,814,308	Africa
62	Egypt	2.75 births/woman	116,538,258	Africa
63	Eswatini	2.75 births/woman	1,242,822	Africa
64	Micronesia	2.75 births/woman	113,160	Oceania
65	Botswana	2.73 births/woman	2,521,139	Africa
66	Saint Martin	2.72 births/woman	26,129	Americas
67	Syria	2.71 births/woman	24,672,760	Asia
68	Timor-Leste	2.71 births/woman	1,400,638	Asia
69	Kyrgyzstan	2.70 births/woman	7,221,868	Asia
70	Mongolia	2.70 births/woman	3,524,788	Asia
71	Turkmenistan	2.69 births/woman	7,494,498	Asia
72	Lesotho	2.69 births/woman	2,337,423	Africa
73	Haiti	2.66 births/woman	11,772,557	Americas
74	Jordan	2.64 births/woman	11,552,876	Asia
75	Djibouti	2.61 births/woman	1,168,722	Africa
76	Cambodia	2.58 births/woman	17,638,801	Asia
77	Bolivia	2.55 births/woman	12,413,315	Americas
78	Oman	2.53 births/woman	5,281,538	Asia
79	Honduras	2.50 births/woman	10,825,703	Americas
80	Laos	2.42 births/woman	7,769,819	Asia
81	Paraguay	2.42 births/woman	6,929,153	Americas
82	Guyana	2.41 births/woman	831,087	Americas
83	Libya	2.36 births/woman	7,381,023	Africa
84	Northern Mariana Islands	2.35 births/woman	44,278	Oceania
85	Guatemala	2.31 births/woman	18,406,359	Americas
86	American Samoa	2.29 births/woman	46,765	Oceania
87	Saudi Arabia	2.28 births/woman	35,300,280	Asia
88	Fiji	2.28 births/woman	928,784	Oceania
89	Suriname	2.25 births/woman	634,431	Americas
90	Dominican Republic	2.24 births/woman	11,427,557	Americas
91	Lebanon	2.24 births/woman	5,805,962	Asia
92	Morocco	2.23 births/woman	38,081,173	Africa
93	South Africa	2.22 births/woman	64,007,187	Africa
94	Nicaragua	2.22 births/woman	6,916,140	Americas
95	Bangladesh	2.16 births/woman	173,562,364	Asia
96	Indonesia	2.13 births/woman	283,487,931	Asia
97	Myanmar	2.12 births/woman	54,500,091	Asia
98	Panama	2.12 births/woman	4,515,577	Americas
99	Monaco	2.11 births/woman	38,631	Europe
100	Venezuela	2.08 births/woman	28,405,543	Americas
101	Seychelles	2.02 births/woman	121,354	Africa
102	Belize	2.01 births/woman	417,072	Americas
103	India	1.98 births/woman	1,450,935,791	Asia
104	Peru	1.98 births/woman	34,217,848	Americas
105	Nepal	1.98 births/woman	29,651,054	Asia
106	New Caledonia	1.98 births/woman	292,639	Oceania
107	United States Virgin Islands	1.98 births/woman	104,377	Americas
108	Sri Lanka	1.97 births/woman	21,916,000	Asia
109	Philippines	1.92 births/woman	115,843,670	Asia
110	Mexico	1.91 births/woman	130,861,007	Americas
111	Vietnam	1.91 births/woman	100,987,686	Asia
112	Palau	1.91 births/woman	17,695	Oceania
113	Armenia	1.90 births/woman	3,033,500	Asia
114	Gibraltar	1.89 births/woman	39,329	Europe
115	Faroe Islands	1.86 births/woman	54,681	Europe
116	Tunisia	1.83 births/woman	12,277,109	Africa
117	Ecuador	1.82 births/woman	18,135,478	Americas
118	Bahrain	1.82 births/woman	1,588,670	Asia
119	Bulgaria	1.81 births/woman	6,441,421	Europe
120	Georgia	1.81 births/woman	3,699,557	Asia
121	North Korea	1.78 births/woman	26,498,823	Asia
122	El Salvador	1.78 births/woman	6,338,193	Americas
123	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	1.78 births/woman	100,616	Americas
124	Greenland	1.77 births/woman	56,836	Americas
125	Brunei	1.75 births/woman	462,721	Asia
126	Montenegro	1.74 births/woman	623,525	Europe
127	Qatar	1.73 births/woman	2,857,822	Asia
128	Moldova	1.73 births/woman	2,402,306	Europe
129	Romania	1.71 births/woman	19,051,804	Europe
130	Barbados	1.71 births/woman	282,467	Americas
131	Iran	1.70 births/woman	91,567,738	Asia
132	France	1.66 births/woman	68,551,653	Europe
133	Colombia	1.65 births/woman	52,886,363	Americas
134	United States	1.62 births/woman	340,110,988	Americas
135	Brazil	1.62 births/woman	211,998,573	Americas
136	Serbia	1.61 births/woman	6,586,476	Europe
137	Aruba	1.60 births/woman	107,995	Americas
138	Iceland	1.59 births/woman	386,506	Europe
139	Maldives	1.58 births/woman	527,799	Asia
140	Antigua and Barbuda	1.58 births/woman	93,772	Americas
141	United Kingdom	1.56 births/woman	69,226,000	Europe
142	New Zealand	1.56 births/woman	5,287,500	Oceania
143	Malaysia	1.55 births/woman	35,557,673	Asia
144	Azerbaijan	1.55 births/woman	10,202,830	Asia
145	Kosovo	1.55 births/woman	1,594,353	Europe
146	Isle of Man	1.55 births/woman	84,160	Europe
147	Trinidad and Tobago	1.53 births/woman	1,368,333	Americas
148	Cayman Islands	1.53 births/woman	74,457	Americas
149	Kuwait	1.52 births/woman	4,897,263	Asia
150	Cape Verde	1.52 births/woman	524,877	Africa
151	Turkey	1.51 births/woman	85,518,661	Asia
152	Hungary	1.51 births/woman	9,562,065	Europe
153	Slovenia	1.51 births/woman	2,127,400	Europe
154	Saint Kitts and Nevis	1.51 births/woman	46,843	Americas
155	Argentina	1.50 births/woman	45,696,159	Americas
156	Australia	1.50 births/woman	27,196,812	Oceania
157	Denmark	1.50 births/woman	5,976,992	Europe
158	Ireland	1.50 births/woman	5,395,790	Europe
159	North Macedonia	1.50 births/woman	1,824,359	Europe
160	French Polynesia	1.50 births/woman	281,807	Oceania
161	Slovakia	1.49 births/woman	5,422,069	Europe
162	Bosnia and Herzegovina	1.49 births/woman	3,164,253	Europe
163	Grenada	1.49 births/woman	117,207	Americas
164	Dominica	1.48 births/woman	66,205	Americas
165	Belgium	1.47 births/woman	11,858,610	Europe
166	Croatia	1.46 births/woman	3,866,200	Europe
167	Bhutan	1.46 births/woman	791,524	Asia
168	Turks and Caicos Islands	1.46 births/woman	46,535	Americas
169	Czechia	1.45 births/woman	10,905,028	Europe
170	Sweden	1.45 births/woman	10,569,709	Europe
171	Sint Maarten	1.45 births/woman	43,350	Americas
172	Liechtenstein	1.45 births/woman	40,450	Europe
173	Cuba	1.44 births/woman	10,979,783	Americas
174	Portugal	1.44 births/woman	10,694,681	Europe
175	Netherlands	1.43 births/woman	17,993,485	Europe
176	Russia	1.41 births/woman	143,533,851	Europe
177	Uruguay	1.41 births/woman	3,386,588	Americas
178	Norway	1.40 births/woman	5,572,279	Europe
179	Bermuda	1.40 births/woman	64,636	Americas
180	Germany	1.39 births/woman	83,516,593	Europe
181	Cyprus	1.39 births/woman	1,358,282	Europe
182	Mauritius	1.39 births/woman	1,245,779	Africa
183	Saint Lucia	1.38 births/woman	179,744	Americas
184	Bahamas	1.37 births/woman	401,283	Americas
185	Jamaica	1.36 births/woman	2,839,175	Americas
186	Latvia	1.36 births/woman	1,866,124	Europe
187	Albania	1.35 births/woman	2,377,128	Europe
188	Switzerland	1.33 births/woman	9,005,582	Europe
189	Costa Rica	1.33 births/woman	5,129,910	Americas
190	Greece	1.32 births/woman	10,405,134	Europe
191	Austria	1.32 births/woman	9,177,982	Europe
192	Estonia	1.31 births/woman	1,372,341	Europe
193	Canada	1.26 births/woman	41,288,599	Americas
194	Finland	1.26 births/woman	5,619,911	Europe
195	Luxembourg	1.25 births/woman	677,012	Europe
196	Thailand	1.21 births/woman	71,668,011	Asia
197	Belarus	1.21 births/woman	9,132,629	Europe
198	Japan	1.20 births/woman	123,975,371	Asia
199	Italy	1.20 births/woman	58,952,704	Europe
200	United Arab Emirates	1.20 births/woman	10,986,400	Asia
201	Curaçao	1.20 births/woman	155,967	Americas
202	Lithuania	1.18 births/woman	2,888,278	Europe
203	Chile	1.17 births/woman	19,764,771	Americas
204	Poland	1.16 births/woman	36,559,233	Europe
205	San Marino	1.15 births/woman	33,977	Europe
206	Spain	1.12 births/woman	48,848,840	Europe
207	Andorra	1.08 births/woman	81,938	Europe
208	Malta	1.06 births/woman	568,847	Europe
209	British Virgin Islands	1.05 births/woman	39,471	Americas
210	China	1.00 births/woman	1,408,975,000	Asia
211	Ukraine	0.98 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	0.75 births/woman	7,524,100	Asia
215	South Korea	0.72 births/woman	51,751,065	Asia
216	Macau	0.59 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 2.38 births per woman.

Somalia has the highest fertility rate at 6.13, followed by Chad (6.12) and Niger (6.06).

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.

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All Rankings

Countries with Highest Fertility Rate (2026)

Somalia

Chad

Niger

What Is the Fertility Rate and Why Does It Matter?

Why Is Fertility Highest in Sub-Saharan Africa?

The Demographic Dividend Opportunity

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