How total fertility rates below 2.1 children per woman appear across countries at different income levels.
Total fertility rate and income vary together across countries.
Each dot represents one country or territory, positioned by its GNI per capita, PPP (horizontal axis, log scale) and its total fertility rate (vertical axis). Across 186 countries and territories with data for both measures, total fertility rate ranges from 0.7 to 6.4 children per woman, and GNI per capita ranges from $950 to $118,710. The scatter shows a broad negative association between income and fertility, but countries at similar income levels can have quite different fertility rates.
Fertility rates below 2.1 children per woman, a commonly used approximation of replacement-level fertility, appear across several income levels.
Of the 186 countries and territories with data for both measures, 93 have a total fertility rate below 2.1. This includes 52 of 57 high-income, 31 of 53 upper-middle-income, and 10 of 54 lower-middle-income countries and territories. None of the 22 low-income countries and territories in this dataset are below 2.1.
India, Thailand, and South Korea illustrate this range.
India, a lower-middle-income country, has a total fertility rate of 2.0 children per woman and a GNI per capita of $10,030. Thailand, an upper-middle-income country, has a total fertility rate of 1.0 and a GNI per capita of $22,880. South Korea, a high-income country, has a total fertility rate of 0.7 and a GNI per capita of $55,040. All three are below 2.1, at three different income levels.