Afghanistan: women have fewer children, yet 24% more babies are born than in 2010
From 2010 to 2023 children per woman fell from 6.20 to 4.84, and births per 1,000 girls aged 15–19 fell by 39%. Yet annual births rose from 1.18M to 1.47M. That happens when the number of women of childbearing age grows faster than fertility falls; the population grew by 47% over these years.
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Children per woman fall while the number of newborns grows. A rate and a count can move in different directions: the count also depends on how many women are of childbearing age.
One percentage scale relative to 2010: 0% is the starting value, +100% is a doubling, −50% is a halving. Lines show the yearly path; on a short screen, bars show the change to 2023. Equal distances mean equal relative changes. For shares, this is relative change, not percentage points. Gaps are not filled; original values and units are below.
- Births thousand births per year
1,181 (2010) → 1,469 (2023)
- Total fertility rate children per woman
6.195 (2010) → 4.84 (2023)
- Adolescent fertility rate births per 1,000 women aged 15-19
105.648 (2010) → 64.068 (2023)
- Population thousand persons, 1 July
28,284 (2010) → 41,455 (2023)
Start: 2010; end: the latest year up to 2023 with every series (2023). Published values, no gap filling or smoothing. Births and children per woman come from the same source at both ends: UN estimates are not compared with national statistics, whose level differs. Thresholds select a story and do not establish statistical significance.
Children per woman is how many a woman would have at this year’s birth rates at every age, not the lifetime outcome of today’s women. The number and ages of women are not shown here.
A question for this picture
What should maternity wards and schools watch: children per woman or the number of future births?