India has the most babies born annually, with over 23 million in 2024, followed by China and Nigeria, although countries like Niger and Somalia have the highest birth rates (babies per woman). India leads in total births due to its large population, while African nations dominate high fertility rate rankings.
All figures are estimates. In 2024, the fertility rate in Taiwan was estimated to be at 1.11 children per woman, making it the lowest fertility rate worldwide. The fertility rate is the average number of children born per woman of child-bearing age in a country.
The country with the highest birth rate according to the data is Niger. The fertility rate in Niger is 6.8 children per family. The next countries on the list with the highest fertility rate are Somalia and Chad, both located in Africa.
The highest fertility levels are observed in Niger (13.6 children on average), South Sudan (13.5 children), Chad (12.1 children) and in the Sahelian countries more generally. In only four countries (South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia) is male fertility below 6 children per man.
In 2022, teen birth rates of American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, Black, and Hispanic adolescents were more than double the rate for White adolescents, and more than 10 times higher than the rate among Asian adolescents.
In the United States, the highest fertility rates (per 1,000 women ages 15-44) during 2021-2023 (average) were to Hispanic women (64.4), followed by Blacks (55.2), Whites (52.5), American Indian/Alaska Natives (49.3) and Asian/Pacific Islanders (48.1).
There remain to be high fertility rates in India because the poor peoples' livelihood thrives from agriculture. Many poor people consider it necessary to have many children because they are considered their parents' insurance and the greater number of children increases the wealth of the family due to child labor.
The term lowest-low fertility is defined as a TFR at or below 1.3. Lowest-low fertility is found almost mostly within East Asian countries and European countries. The East Asian American community in the United States also exhibits lowest-low fertility.
Babies born in Japan, Iceland and Singapore have the best chance at survival, while newborns in Pakistan, the Central African Republic and Afghanistan face the worst odds.
Ranked: Countries With the Fewest Children by Population Share. Hong Kong (12.6%), South Korea (12.9%), and Japan (14.0%) have the fewest children as a share of the population in 2025. Relatedly, they also have some of the highest shares of seniors.
Among mothers near the end of their childbearing years, Hispanics and blacks have the largest families. On average, a Hispanic mother ages 40 to 44 has had about 2.6 children. By comparison, black mothers have had about 2.5. White and Asian mothers have families that are a bit smaller, on average.
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China now has the highest number and percentage of only children in the world due to their policy that strongly encouraged young families to have solely one child.
These colonial policies moved unemployed artisans into farming, and transformed India into a region increasingly abundant in land, unskilled labour, and low productivity. This consequently made India scarce in skilled labour, capital and knowledge.
Assuming no net migration and unchanged mortality, a total fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman ensures a broadly stable population.
Without sex selection in India, the sex ratio at birth would be roughly 105 boys per 100 girls. This natural sex ratio at birth was the balance for decades before prenatal sex detection technology was introduced in the 1970s. When the natural sex ratio at birth prevails, about 48.8% of all children born are girls.
Hispanics have the youngest, 27.6. Non-Hispanic blacks (32.9) and non-Hispanic Asians (35.9) also are younger than whites. Related to their younger age profiles, racial and ethnic minority groups also include a higher share of women in the prime child-bearing ages of 20-34.
These studies consistently find higher fertility among more religiously active women across denominations, although the magnitude of the effect varies with the measures used for fertility and for religiosity.
So, we go from seven out of ten for African Americans, to one out of ten for Asian Americans; from a little less than three out of ten for whites, to a little more than five out of ten for Hispanics.
In our study, black women had a significantly higher odds of ever having experienced infertility than white women. Even after adjustment for socioeconomic position, marital status, and other risk factors for infertility, this disparity persisted.
From a biological point of view, studies establish that the best age to have children with the least amount of complications in pregnancy and post-partum, is between 25 and 29.9 years old. Indeed, female fertility reaches its peak levels within this age range.
The majority (66%) of births to black mothers were characterized as unintended, compared with roughly one-third of births to whites (36%) and Asians (33%), and about one-half of those to Hispanics (46%) and women of other races and ethnicities (53%).