The world: 10% fewer babies are born than in 2012
The peak was 146M births in 2012; in 2023, 132M, although there are 12% more people on Earth. There are also fewer children under five than at the 2017 peak: 654M against 698M.
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Births: how many babies were born on Earth in a year, as estimated by the UN. Women have had fewer children for decades, but while the number of young women grew, so did births. Since about 2012 the decline in fertility has outweighed it.
The line is births in the world by year; the dot is the peak.
- Births thousand births per year
146,055 (2012) → 132,110 (2023)
- Population thousand persons, 1 July
7,201,202 (2012) → 8,091,735 (2023)
- Children under 5 thousand persons, 1 July
697,928 (2017) → 654,028 (2023)
UN estimates (World Population Prospects 2024) for 237 countries and territories, the last estimated year being 2023. The peak is the largest value of the series; it counts if at least five years have passed since.
Many countries do not register every birth, and the UN fills the gaps from censuses and surveys, so these are estimates. Children under five: the population on 1 July.
A question for this picture
When will deaths first outnumber births in the world?