Births per 1,000 women, by age of mother

Fertility in South Africa, 1978

South Africa
1978
Total fertility rate: 4.85
Total fertility rate, 1950–2100 · click to pick a year

Year

-5 -1   1978  +1 +5

Country

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

The total fertility rate of South Africa was 4.85 children per woman in 1978 — above the replacement level of about 2.1. Births were most frequent among women aged 25-29 (239 per 1,000 women in that age group), and the average mother was 29.2 years old. In total, 977,732 babies were born. Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects 2024.

Total fertility rate
4.85
Births
977,732
Births per 1,000 people
35.1
Mean age of mothers
29.2
Births to mothers aged 15–19
13.4%
Net reproduction rate
2.03
Boys per 100 girls at birth
104.0
Population
27,869,507
The net reproduction rate counts only daughters who survive to their mothers' age: below 1, each generation of women is smaller than the one before.
Mother's ageBirths per 1,000 womenShare of total fertilityBirths
10-146.20.6%10,249
15-1993.49.6%130,772
20-24217.822.4%264,483
25-29239.324.6%249,596
30-34192.919.9%176,743
35-39122.212.6%89,220
40-4479.58.2%46,646
45-4919.02.0%9,515
50-541.20.1%508