STT-39 · Global Development · World

World Fertility Rate

The average woman worldwide has 2.19 children (2024), versus 2.2 a year earlier — the global fertility rate has fallen by more than half since the 1960s.

2.19Latest · 2024
-0.5%vs. 2023
AnnualRelease cadence

Updated July 12, 2026

FIG 01 · STT-39 · WorldAnnual

World Fertility Rate

births per woman, world average
Unlocking full history…
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (SP.DYN.TFRT.IN). License: CC BY 4.0.statspanda.com/statistics/world-fertility-rate
02

Download this statistic

Checking access…
03

Embed this chart

Free to embed anywhere — the widget keeps the StatsPanda attribution link.

04

Use & publication rights

  • View, cite & link — free

    Quote the number, cite this page, or link it anywhere. The underlying data is CC BY 4.0 — re-charting it yourself with a citation to World Bank costs nothing, ever.

  • Download & internal use — StatsPanda Premium

    Downloaded files are for personal use and internal use inside your team — decks, memos, analysis. Keep the baked-in source line intact.

  • Commercial republication — per-chart license

    Republishing the StatsPanda-designed chart in a commercial publication (paid report, book, paywalled site) needs a publication license. Request a publication license →

How this statistic is built

Definition

Total fertility rate for the world: the number of children a woman would bear if she lived through current age-specific fertility rates.

Limitations

A period measure — cohorts alive today may end up with different completed family sizes. Recent years rely on UN estimates where registration is incomplete.

Source & licenseWorld BankWorld Development Indicators (SP.DYN.TFRT.IN), World aggregate. License: CC BY 4.0 (license deed). View original source →

Frequently Asked Questions

The average woman worldwide has 2.19 children (2024), versus 2.2 a year earlier — the global fertility rate has fallen by more than half since the 1960s.

World Fertility Rate fell 0.5% compared with 2023, reaching 2024's reading.

World Bank — World Development Indicators (SP.DYN.TFRT.IN), World aggregate. License: CC BY 4.0. StatsPanda charts the original series directly and cites it on every download.

The underlying series is released on a annual cadence. This page was last updated July 12, 2026, and refreshes with each source release.

Related statistics

Sovrn site verification