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Lowest Fertility Countries

Can you guess the countries where the average woman will have the fewest children in her lifetime?
2023 estimates from the UN Population Fund via Wikipedia
CIA World Factbook as a backup source
Color coded by continent
Data doesn't exist for the Vatican, but it probably wouldn't matter
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: February 22, 2024
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First submittedJanuary 28, 2012
Times taken73,504
Average score52.0%
Rating4.32
4:00
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Rate
Country
0.9
South Korea
1.0
Singapore
1.1
Taiwan
1.2
China
1.2
Malta
1.3
Bosnia and Herzegovina
1.3
Cyprus
1.3
Italy
1.3
Jamaica
Rate
Country
1.3
Japan
1.3
Spain
1.3
Thailand
1.3
Ukraine
1.4
Albania
1.4
Bahamas
1.4
Bhutan
1.4
Croatia
Rate
Country
1.4
Finland
1.4
Greece
1.4
Luxembourg
1.4
Mauritius
1.4
North Macedonia
1.4
Portugal
1.4
Saint Lucia
1.4
United Arab Emirates
+6
Level 82
Apr 14, 2013
It's a pity all these people in the Slavic, Balkan, CIS/east European states aren't even reproducing enough to maintain their population. Some very good genes over there... at least in terms of aesthetic quality. A world with no Czech, Polish, Romanian or Hungarian girls would be impoverished indeed. Same goes for the Asian countries that make the top 4... also a very comely lot... but I suppose we have enough Japanese and Korean people to last a while. The population of Tokyo alone is greater than the total number of Magyars in the world.
+73
Level 75
Dec 23, 2018
When I hear comments saying that "aesthetically pleasing" people should be reproducing more, I feel uncomfortable. I know you didn't mean it this way, but I immediately thought of Hitler's master race of people with "good genes" and aesthetically pleasing blue eyes and blond hair - the Slavs didn't fair very well with the concept back then.
+5
Level 82
Dec 25, 2018
no accounting for taste I guess. Slavic women are the most beautiful in the world. But, don't worry, I will never have any political power.
+31
Level 67
Feb 4, 2019
He meant there should be good-looking girls for guys to look at (and possibly available for sex..)not sure that's such a great thing either. Like it is a mans right. And a girls job to be pretty, that s what we are there for right...
+8
Level 82
Mar 12, 2019
oh get lost. If I'd said the same about men you would stand up and applaud and nobody would have a single criticism about the comment.
+37
Level 79
Nov 8, 2023
Oh get over yourself dude, holy crap. You said something pretty weird, if you'd said it about men it still would've been weird. "What a shame that these countries are the ones with the pretty girls." Don't need to know (or care) unless I'm pulling a Donald and shopping for a trophy wife.
+4
Level 67
Mar 14, 2024
I can't believe people like you are still out there. Quit whining and grow up; you act like you're oppressed because people don't like you being a creep
+23
Level 75
Sep 1, 2020
I have very beautiful granddaughters but they each have special traits - some are funny, some athletic, some have kind hearts, all are very intelligent - of all those traits, "aesthetically pleasing" is the last one I would hope their future partners would think most important, and I hope it wouldn't be the first one on their own lists. That one should be how much money the men make and what kind of cars they drive. (Just kidding.)
+3
Level 82
Sep 2, 2020
Russian and Polish women are also some of the smartest and best educated I've encountered. But.... that doesn't mean we can't observe or appreciate their physical beauty. There's nothing at all wrong with that.
+42
Level 72
Sep 3, 2020
Well Kal, I haven't seen any of your comments about beautiful men on other quizzes, now, have I? Or about the smartness and education of women, for that matter. Which reinforces the argument that you've been objectifying women on this site for years now. In fact, I just commented about the very same thing on another quiz before taking this one and seeing yet another of your comments of this kind. Doesn't mean you're a bad person. Just that what you consider harmless banter and interesting conversation starters isn't shared by a lot of people here.
+2
Level 82
Sep 3, 2020
So?
+15
Level 79
Nov 8, 2023
brilliant comeback
+1
Level 73
Mar 14, 2024
* slow clap *
+1
Level 52
Mar 14, 2024
My God he made a joke.
+5
Level 82
Apr 27, 2013
Something else interesting about these figures... if you go to the wikipedia page on population projections into the future and look in the talk section, there are some really thick people there trying to say that the numbers are made up for political reasons. They interpret it as some kind of insult to say that a country has a declining population. I find this incredibly ironic since, really, if you look at all the data the countries with sharply rising populations are the ones that have the most poverty, illiteracy, unskilled workers, and underdeveloped economies. Having a low fertility rate is a good thing. It usually means people in that country have a high quality of life, are well-educated, and appreciate the impact that their reproductive decisions have on themselves and the world in general. It could also be a sign of a stagnant economy or poor outlook on life- but still, I'd rather live in Eastern Europe than Sub-Saharan Africa.
+11
Level 79
Nov 8, 2023
Of course you would, you obviously have a thing for the women there
+4
Level 72
Feb 22, 2024
I wasn't fond of his argument either, but I think most would take Eastern Europe over Sub-Saharan Africa any day.
+1
Level 66
Apr 27, 2014
7/22 :(
+1
Level 47
Sep 5, 2014
Some surprising data! Why not taking one of mine? Leave a comment too! :)
+1
Level 34
Sep 5, 2014
can't believe i got them all. andorra with 20 seconds left. it's easier when you recognize a theme
+1
Level 32
Sep 6, 2014
13/20 . A good score for me
+2
Level 45
Sep 7, 2014
Easy: I simply guessed each of the Asian Tigers and then every country in Europe. Finished with 2:30 left.
+1
Level 68
Jan 30, 2015
Ex-communist countries... since them planing their families
+1
Level 77
Jul 20, 2016
Very interesting quizz thanks for creating it
+1
Level 76
Sep 4, 2016
Shouldn't Vatican City be #1?
+4
Level 60
Sep 4, 2016
If the quiz didn't have the caveat saying that, then yes, the Vatican would be at 0.00
+1
Level 53
Sep 4, 2016
It's amazing how the top two countries on the list are in the bottom four in the stats. (I'm not saying I got them; I didn't.)
+4
Level 82
Sep 4, 2016
I'm willing to bet the Vatican would have won, although I'm sure a few of those cardinals have some secrets.
+2
Level 69
Sep 5, 2016
Good Lord, we, Slavs, are really dying out...
+1
Level 56
Sep 7, 2016
My parents originated from Romania and when I visited the country last year most people had 2-3 kids. Which was surprising because usually poorer countries have more kids.
+4
Level 59
Dec 31, 2016
Fertility is quite different from birthrate. I can be fertile like a bunny rabbit, but choose not to act upon it and remaining happy & childless. Therefore birthrate tells very little about actual fertility, except if they really are all medically infertile.
+11
Level 83
Aug 19, 2018
That's not what "fertility rate" means in a geographical context.
+3
Level 50
Nov 10, 2022
Yeah, it's pretty weird that they use the word fertility to describe birth rate, because it really isn't accurate. But nevertheless it's the word that organizations use
+3
Level 73
Mar 7, 2024
I'd guess it's because "birth rate" is already used, referring to number of births per 1000 people. Number of children per woman is a different measure.
+10
Level 71
Dec 31, 2016
Overpopulation is the greatest problem for the future. Any country that keeps its population down will anyway be eventually swamped by people from overcrowded countries. The Earth does not have enough resources to constantly find an increasing amount. We can all play the ostrich game and stick our heads in the sand but there is no denying that too many people at present are going without just the bare essentials at 7+ Billion. At 8 Billion, 9 Billion ......... 10 Billion etc. The human race will be in a heap of trouble.
+4
Level 57
Oct 16, 2020
But these countries have below replacement rate fertility, which will present a multitude of problems for them, such as 1 in 4 Japanese will be over 65.
+4
Level 68
Jun 18, 2022
Sure, there are many cities that are overpopulated. But certainly not the world. The entire population of the world could fit comfortably in Texas. And the USA alone wastes enough food every year to feed the world.
+5
Level 79
Nov 8, 2023
It's not a problem of fitting people into physical space. The way we treat and run the planet is not sustainable for a world population approaching 10 billion.
+2
Level 83
Mar 1, 2024
Earth has plenty of resources and living space. What we do have is an overabundance of greed and inequitable distribution of resources thanks to rich, powerful, selfish pigs. And apparently a very effective propaganda campaign that poses life, not greed, as the source of the problem.
+1
Level 43
Mar 14, 2024
The growth rate across the world is shrinking constantly. Don't worry.
+1
Level 64
Mar 1, 2017
I hardly got any for the longest time and then I got south korea, taiwan, and singapore. Then I just started guessing in Europe and got them all with 0:29 to spare!
+1
Level 65
Apr 28, 2017
No Vatican???
+1
Level 74
May 2, 2017
i had already wasted half of my time trying to input the microcountries of the world before i realized i was doing it completely wrong and that most of them were in central asia/ the balkans. interesting...

oh, and why isn't china on here?

+1
Level 88
Jul 17, 2018
My Italian colleague is incensed by this quiz! He is of the belief that a woman only has to sit on a chair - recently occupied by a red-blooded Italian male - to immediately fall pregnant with triplets!
+1
Level 75
Dec 23, 2018
They told us the same thing in junior high, and we girls were to stay far away from any red-blooded male, Italian or otherwise. :)
+1
Level 69
Dec 14, 2018
I would think that Vatican City would have the lowest birth rate on the planet.
+1
Level 80
Dec 23, 2018
If they would have more than 0.0 heads would roll
+1
Level 73
Mar 14, 2024
There are still a few women (swiss guard wives) and considering their religious beliefs I think they would have a higher birthrate.
+1
Level 71
Dec 23, 2018
1,67 for the Czech Republic according to the Czech Statistical Office.
+1
Level 65
Jan 25, 2019
At this rate (and with zero immigration), Singapore will be empty of people in 358 years.
+1
Level 71
Mar 11, 2019
Should be titled "Countries with best Contraception"
+3
Level 57
Oct 16, 2020
I don’t think Poland is known for having friendly abortion laws.
+7
Level 84
Apr 14, 2022
Contraception ≠ abortion
+2
Level 62
Aug 2, 2019
The rules I used when guessing were:

1. Is the country not run by religious fundamentalists?

2. Are there things to do to keep the people occupied?

Only missed Cyprus and Singapore

+2
Level 79
Nov 8, 2023
Correlation not causation, I think. Most countries are not run by religious fundamentalists and generally, there are things in the world to keep people busy (one of which is making other humans). Not sure it's the most rigorous set of rules.
+1
Level 79
Oct 25, 2019
Wow, I tried all countries in Europe (except Luxembourg and Liechtenstein) but Poland!
+1
Level 79
Oct 25, 2019
What are the fertility rates in Monaco and San Marino?
+1
Level 89
Nov 20, 2019
If we're using the source for the quiz, Monaco is 1.53 and San Marino is 1.50.
+1
Level 79
Apr 3, 2020
Okay, interesting, somewhat higher than I thought.
+1
Level 47
Oct 25, 2019
Why so many Slavic countries? Where is Mother Russia to help us?
+4
Level 82
Apr 24, 2020
Poor countries often have poor education systems and widespread ignorance and religiosity, in addition to low standards of living and bad healthcare systems which all combine to produce very high birth rates. However, in Eastern Europe, while most of the countries are relatively poor and the standards of living are relatively low, they also have reasonably high standards for education and healthcare. This produces a population with a low standard of living that is aware of their lot and less interested in reproducing, subjecting their offspring to the same. At the same time they are more aware of and have better access to effective birth control.

Just a theory. There's also widespread alcoholism, depression, and a lot of economic migration which has led to large gender imbalances.

+2
Level 69
Sep 6, 2021
I've once heard an opinion that communism has something to do with it. It accelerated the migration from rural to urban areas (rural areas in general have higher fertility rates) without raising the standard of living to the same levels as in Western Europe.
+1
Level 70
Jul 11, 2020
These are not the estimates for 2020?! https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/356rank.html
+1
Level ∞
Jul 11, 2020
Most of them were. But there were some mistakes now fixed.
+4
Level ∞
Jul 11, 2020
Wouldn't be surprised to see these numbers fall dramatically in the next few years. Hard to make babies if people aren't even dating...
+2
Level 71
Sep 1, 2020
Wasn't there a report recently that said that birth rates were falling basically everywhere outside sub-Saharan Africa? And even in Africa, I'm predicting that sometime in the next few decades birth rates will start falling with more development, increased education, and wider access to birth control.
+2
Level ∞
Oct 28, 2020
I'm not sure which report you're referring to, but you are right. Some countries with formerly high birth rates, such as Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and Iran have fallen so much they are now below replacement levels. The only country in the developed world with a birth rate above replacement is Israel.
+1
Level 71
Dec 15, 2020
I wanna say I was talking about this when I wrote that comment (I initially read about it in a BBC article).

This, along with another source from the UN seem to indicate declines in fertility rate in Africa are already happening, it's just taking longer than in other parts of the world.

+2
Level 67
Sep 19, 2022
Birth rates in Africa are falling decently fast, which we better pray continues, Nigeria might end up with over a billion if it doesn't slow.
+1
Level 71
Jul 17, 2020
In less than a century, it's estimated Africa will have 5x the population of Europe. We will start to see the mass emigration into Europe/North America/Arabian Peninsula just to fill the needs of their existing societies. We will all be the same color at some point :)
+7
Level 66
Sep 1, 2020
That does not make me happy and I'm not talking about the colour. Im talking about the culture what these people take with them to Europe. It will ruin the European peoples and their cultures.
+1
Level 75
Jan 16, 2021
It's funny how the technologically advanced countries will die out for failing at the simplest task of natural life, which is to survive and reproduce.

I personally don't mind one bit, I will be long dead and have zero concerns about the world and the changes that affect it.

+3
Level 79
Nov 8, 2023
Sure sounds like it's about the color, whether you recognize it or not.
+1
Level 43
Mar 14, 2024
Euros are so funny about immigrants.

North and South America has taken in boatloads of immigrants for hundreds of years and they haven't fallen to pieces.

+1
Level 83
Mar 15, 2024
because all the countries in the Americas are so positive about immigration especially the big one between Mexico and Canada which has never wanted to build walls to stop immigration ever
+1
Level 50
Nov 10, 2022
By that point, Africa will probably be undergoing economic booms and Europeans will be moving there.
+1
Level 76
Jul 29, 2020
According to their own studies, around half of the Vatican population have tried real hard with each other and some random dudes in thematic bars in Rome, but the holy spirit has refused to appear. It must be the end of times.
+2
Level 57
Sep 1, 2020
Careerism, reluctance to have a child for personal freedom, and culture in general has a lot to do with it.
+1
Level 79
Nov 8, 2023
I think those are actually pretty low on the list.
+1
Level 61
Sep 2, 2020
Never taken a test where the only two I missed were at the very top of the list.
+1
Level 71
Sep 2, 2020
Well, I know those are estimates, but those numbers are really off. Czechia for example has 1.71 TFR.
+1
Level ∞
Oct 28, 2020
Our source is listed.
+1
Level 67
Jan 10, 2022
Ran out of time before I could guess Bosnia and Croatia
+2
Level 87
Apr 14, 2022
I was surprised that Russia and Belarus were not on this list.
+2
Level 82
Jun 18, 2022
Belarus would be #23 on the list. After that you've got pretty much the rest of Europe, Thailand, and Trinidad and Tobago. Interesting to me if you look at the stats is that if you counted Puerto Rico as a sovereign nation it would show up here between Italy and Spain. But it makes some sense - similar in many ways to the situation I described above for Eastern Europe: poor economy, but relatively high levels of education, yet easy for economic migrants to leave and get jobs elsewhere.
+3
Level 68
Jun 18, 2022
africans have 10 children each while europeans dont have any. its over.
+2
Level 82
Jun 18, 2022
What is?
+5
Level 79
Nov 8, 2023
I always wonder if it's fun to live in a bubble of ignorant fear, hissing at people who aren't like you and crying about how hard your life is. Seems like it wouldn't be.
+1
Level 73
Mar 7, 2024
Actually from 2015-2020, Africans were on average only having 4.4 children each. (Europeans were having 1.6)
+1
Level 42
Jun 18, 2022
Bruh just name europian countries
+6
Level 82
Jun 18, 2022
What the heck? Mauritius?
+11
Level 75
Jun 18, 2022
We don't like kids :) On a more serious note, for an "African" country, we do have a relatively high standard of living, a good healthcare system and a good education system. Plus, our women are very career-oriented. The fact that we are quite far geographically from the African continent is definitely a factor. In general, our culture and mentality is much more similar to Europe and to a few Asian countries, than to Africa.

I read it somewhere that by 2030 (?), our population will start declining.

+1
Level 66
Jun 20, 2022
I think our population may have already started declining in fact. World Bank shows our population has essentially peaked. Quite sad I think :(
+1
Level 82
Jun 20, 2022
Why is that sad? I can't imagine you've got much space to expand. You want the country to get very overcrowded?
+5
Level 66
Jun 27, 2022
No, of course I don't want an overcrowded country, although the land could support a higher density from living there. But having a constant population is ideal - it feels like there is a loss of culture almost with a decreasing population (by virtue of less people being alive in that culture).

Regardless, I think these concerns matter less than the autonomy of any individual, and some people will think differently anyway.

+2
Level 50
Nov 10, 2022
Mauritius has a population roughly 1/5 of Singapore, with an area roughly 3x the size of Singapore. So, I think they have more than enough area to expand. But, with a lower population at least the impact on nature is smaller. Mauritius has great natural beauty.
+1
Level 71
Jun 18, 2022
Its interesting how much the numbers differ. According to the Czech Statistical Office the fertility rate is 1.83.
+1
Level 51
Jun 18, 2022
Got Mauritius with 1 second left. Also, the fact that most of them are European is interesting.
+1
Level 72
Oct 16, 2022
I literally just typed in Mauritius with 8 secs left and it some how ended up being on there
+1
Level 56
Jan 27, 2023
A guest essay in the New York Times today said South Korean fertility rate for third quarter 2022 was 0.79.
+1
Level 67
May 2, 2023
Got Mauritius somehow. Forgot about China
+2
Level 66
May 14, 2023
It'd sound kind of nice to hear that a country was self-regulating their population size. Or decreasing density.

Unfortunately some of their governments and outside interests seem quite interested in destroying their population's cultures by shipping in third world leeches.

Imagine travelling to Japan, stepping out of the airport, and seeing little Haiti. What a tragedy ):

+9
Level 79
Nov 8, 2023
What? Sweet lord, I hope you get some help. "I'm so sad that these imported infidels are ruining my culture with their own filthy, underdeveloped ways." The world is globalizing. Rapidly. Try learning something new instead of cowering in fear because people from a country that isn't Japan somehow ended up in Japan. Is that really a tragic highlight to you in today's world?
+1
Level 68
Feb 26, 2024
lmao kalbahamut please leave this body
+1
Level 73
Mar 7, 2024
Hm, what do you mean by "outside interests"?
+2
Level 43
Mar 14, 2024
leeches? i bet those immigrants work harder than you do.
+1
Level 76
May 19, 2023
Bro how Mauritius????? that makes no sense
+2
Level 65
Mar 14, 2024
It'd make more sense if you actually knew anything about Mauritius...
+1
Level 39
Dec 4, 2023
Finland sweden norway denmark and iceland should all be on the list they are 1.3-1.7
+1
Level 38
Feb 26, 2024
A bit harder than the highest fertility quiz
+1
Level 35
Mar 15, 2024
Wow, never knew Jamaica was that low