Ten countries with the lowest fertility rates in 2025

Fewer and fewer women across the planet are opting to give birth nowadays, with the global fertility rate continuing to drop in the last decades. 

In 2025, the global fertility rate stood at 2.4 births per woman, or 16.1 births per 1,000 people, marking a 0.37% decline from 2024, according to data corroborating channels Statista, Visual Capitalist and Macrotrends. 

South Korea 

Various developed countries in Asia and Europe have recorded the lowest fertility rates in the past year, with South Korea leading the line-up with 0.68 births per woman, or 4.8 births per 1000 people. 

According to South Korea’s Ministry of Data and Statistics, 254,500 births took place in the country in 2025, the largest annual increase in 15 years. 

However, the rebound was not enough to save the wealthy East Asian nation from a shrinking population, as it remained to be the only member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with a fertility rate below 1.0.

The rapid ageing in the country of 52 million is seen as a leading factor for the demographic strain, with more than 20 per cent of the population now aged 65 or older, according to a recent report by Newsweek. 

Speaking on the matter, Chairman of the Korea Institute for Future Population Studies Kim Jong-hoon said: “South Korea is developing a distorted demographic structure in which the working-age population is rapidly shrinking whilst the burden of supporting the elderly is increasing.”

Albania to Hong Kong

After South Korea, Albania has been ranked by Statista as the second country in the world with the lowest fertility rate, with 1.09 births per woman recorded here in 2025. 

Another East Asian country, Taiwan, came next, with a 1.12 fertility rate, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina with 1.15, and Singapore with 1.18. 

Malta in Europe landed at sixth with a 1.18 fertility rate, followed respectively by China, Lithuania and Ukraine, which all projected a 1.22 fertility rate in the past year. 

Hong Kong completes the top 10 list with a 1.24 fertility rate. 

Statista noted in the report that “all figures are estimates” based on data presented by relevant international agencies. 

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Rich country problem? 

The chart shed light on how countries with advanced economies tend to have much lower fertility rates than those on the flipside of the spectrum, owing to the affordability of birth control measures and the scope of opportunities available. 

In developed countries, fertility rates are usually much lower, as birth control is easier to obtain and women often choose a career before becoming a mother, according to Statista.  

Developing countries, on the other hand, have a higher fertility rate due to lack of access to birth control measures, and women usually forgo a higher education, or even any education at all, in favour of taking care of housework, it noted. 

However, economic standpoint does not entirely prevent a country from facing an alarming population decline. 

The Philippines, which is classified as a third-world country, recently reported a significant demographic strain, as the nation’s fertility rate dropped to a record low of 1.7 children per woman in 2025. 

A study published by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on March 30 showed that the 1.7 fertility rate marks a significant decline from 4.1 children per woman recorded in 1993. 

“The information collected is intended to assist policymakers and program managers in evaluating strategies that aim to improve the health and development of Filipinos,” the report stated, as quoted by the Philippine News Agency.

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