Hong Kong: lower fertility than Italy
children per woman, 2025
Now 0.73 children per woman, against 1.14 in Italy. In 1950: 4.26 against 2.52. It fell below Italy first in 1989, and without a break since 1997.
More
The total fertility rate: how many children a woman would have on average at the age-specific birth rates of the year.
Blue is the country of the headline, orange the one it is compared with; one scale. The ring marks where the lines crossed; the gap after it is shaded. The large numbers are the latest year both share.
- Hong Kong: Total fertility rate children per woman
4.26 (1950) → 0.73 (2025)
UN DESA, World Population Prospects 2024 → Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) Table 115-01012A (births, release 18 Sep 2026) and Table 115-01011 (TFR, release 3 Aug 2026)
- Italy: Total fertility rate children per woman
2.52 (1950) → 1.14 (2025)
UN DESA, World Population Prospects 2024 → Eurostat demo_gind (births, provisional); Istat Indicatori demografici 2025 (TFR estimate, 31 Mar 2026)
Well-known countries against every country of sufficient size. An overtaking counts if the country was well behind at the start, ahead in no more than a fifth of the years before it, and it lasts to the latest shared year (at least two or three years in a row). A short dip of up to two years does not end a lead and is named. At most three overtakings per well-known country, and each country in at most one card of a kind.
UN estimates and national statistics for recent years where published. The rate of a year also moves when births are put off to later ages. Where statistics print one decimal, the lead must be at least 0.05.
A question for this picture
What changed faster: incomes, cities, or the idea of how many children is “normal”?