Which country in Africa has the highest fertility rate?

Chad has the highest fertility rate in Africa: 6.03 births per woman (2024). Next come Somalia (6.01 births per woman) and the DR Congo (5.98 births per woman).

Which country in Africa has the lowest fertility rate?

Mauritius, with 1.44 births per woman (2024).

What is the typical fertility rate of a country in Africa?

The median of the 54 countries in Africa is 3.84 births per woman: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.

Where do the figures come from?

Births per woman: how many children a woman would have if the birth rates of the year held all her life. Source: World Bank, 2024. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately. A country’s continent follows Natural Earth; the handful of island states it files under the open ocean are placed by their UN subregion.

Countries in Africa by fertility rate

Births per woman: how many children a woman would have if the birth rates of the year held all her life. 54 countries in Africa, highest first. World Bank, 2024

See it on the map

Map: Fertility rate — Africa — **1.41.51.72.22.73.8**No data

Highest

6.03

Chad

Median country

3.84

half above, half below

Lowest

1.44

Mauritius

Countries in Africa by fertility rate, World Bank, 2024
#	Country	Births per woman	Region
1	Chad	6.03	Middle Africa
2	Somalia	6.01	Eastern Africa
3	DR Congo	5.98	Middle Africa
4	Central African Republic	5.95	Middle Africa
5	Niger	5.94	Western Africa
6	Mali	5.51	Western Africa
7	Angola	5.05	Middle Africa
8	Burundi	4.79	Eastern Africa
9	Mozambique	4.69	Eastern Africa
10	Mauritania	4.63	Western Africa
11	Tanzania	4.54	Eastern Africa
12	Benin	4.48	Western Africa
13	Nigeria	4.38	Western Africa
=14	Cameroon	4.26	Middle Africa
=14	Sudan	4.26	Northern Africa
16	Côte d'Ivoire	4.23	Western Africa
17	Uganda	4.17	Eastern Africa
18	Guinea	4.13	Western Africa
=19	Equatorial Guinea	4.12	Middle Africa
=19	Togo	4.12	Western Africa
=21	Burkina Faso	4.11	Western Africa
=21	Congo	4.11	Middle Africa
23	Zambia	4.04	Eastern Africa
=24	Ethiopia	3.91	Eastern Africa
=24	Gambia	3.91	Western Africa
=24	Madagascar	3.91	Eastern Africa
27	Liberia	3.86	Western Africa
28	Comoros	3.82	Eastern Africa
29	South Sudan	3.79	Eastern Africa
30	Senegal	3.77	Western Africa
31	Guinea-Bissau	3.76	Western Africa
32	Sierra Leone	3.70	Western Africa
33	Eritrea	3.68	Eastern Africa
34	Zimbabwe	3.67	Eastern Africa
35	Rwanda	3.65	Eastern Africa
36	São Tomé and Principe	3.60	Middle Africa
=37	Gabon	3.59	Middle Africa
=37	Malawi	3.59	Eastern Africa
39	Ghana	3.34	Western Africa
40	Namibia	3.21	Southern Africa
41	Kenya	3.17	Eastern Africa
42	Egypt	2.74	Northern Africa
=43	Algeria	2.72	Northern Africa
=43	Eswatini	2.72	Southern Africa
45	Botswana	2.70	Southern Africa
46	Lesotho	2.66	Southern Africa
47	Djibouti	2.62	Eastern Africa
48	Libya	2.30	Northern Africa
=49	Morocco	2.21	Northern Africa
=49	South Africa	2.21	Southern Africa
51	Seychelles	1.85	Eastern Africa
52	Tunisia	1.82	Northern Africa
53	Cabo Verde	1.51	Western Africa
54	Mauritius	1.44	Eastern Africa

Questions

Which country in Africa has the highest fertility rate?: Chad has the highest fertility rate in Africa: 6.03 births per woman (2024). Next come Somalia (6.01 births per woman) and the DR Congo (5.98 births per woman).
Which country in Africa has the lowest fertility rate?: Mauritius, with 1.44 births per woman (2024).
What is the typical fertility rate of a country in Africa?: The median of the 54 countries in Africa is 3.84 births per woman: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.
Where do the figures come from?: Births per woman: how many children a woman would have if the birth rates of the year held all her life. Source: World Bank, 2024. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately. A country’s continent follows Natural Earth; the handful of island states it files under the open ocean are placed by their UN subregion.

Source: World Bank (CC BY 4.0). Figures more than 5 years older than the newest are left out rather than shown beside current ones. Countries sharing a value share a rank. All sources.