FRED recently added fertility data from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators. A few examples are listed above, and they show a general trend toward lower fertility. The measure used here is the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. A rate just above two is necessary to replenish a population, taking into account that some children die before becoming fertile and having children of their own. In the graph above, a few observations are remarkable: 1. The United States remains at just two children per woman. 2. China experienced a big drop, no doubt due to the one-child policy; but the number is still quite a bit above one child, as the policy does not apply to everyone. 3. Mexico also exhibits a sharp decline. 4. This decline is more recent for Benin, which has still quite a ways to go.
How this graph was created: Look for the fertility series, select the countries you’re interested in, and add them to the graph. There are several pages of listings, so you may need to add some from the graph page itself.
Suggested by Christian Zimmermann.
