Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea: Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling was 3.07 live births per woman in 2024. ▼ Falling
Latest (2024)
3.07 live births per woman
Change on year
down 0.9%
World rank
57th
of 236 countries
All-time high
6.26 live births per woman
in 1969
All-time low
3.07 live births per woman
in 2024
Years of data
75
1950–2024
Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling in Papua New Guinea, 1950–2024
Source: Human Fertility Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in live births per woman.
Analysis
In 2024, fertility rate vs. average years of schooling in Papua New Guinea stood at 3.07 live births per woman. That is the lowest value across all 75 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.9% on the previous year and down 15.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, fertility rate vs. average years of schooling in Papua New Guinea peaked at 6.26 live births per woman in 1969 and was at its lowest, 3.07 live births per woman, in 2024.
Papua New Guinea ranks 57th of 236 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 75 years of available data.
Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling in Papua New Guinea, year by year
| Year | live births per woman | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 5.71 live births per woman | — |
| 1951 | 5.74 live births per woman | +0.5% |
| 1952 | 5.76 live births per woman | +0.3% |
| 1953 | 5.79 live births per woman | +0.6% |
| 1954 | 5.78 live births per woman | -0.3% |
| 1955 | 5.82 live births per woman | +0.7% |
| 1956 | 5.84 live births per woman | +0.4% |
| 1957 | 5.89 live births per woman | +0.8% |
| 1958 | 5.93 live births per woman | +0.7% |
| 1959 | 5.96 live births per woman | +0.5% |
| 1960 | 6.02 live births per woman | +1.0% |
| 1961 | 6.07 live births per woman | +0.9% |
| 1962 | 6.13 live births per woman | +1.0% |
| 1963 | 6.15 live births per woman | +0.3% |
| 1964 | 6.19 live births per woman | +0.6% |
| 1965 | 6.2 live births per woman | +0.2% |
| 1966 | 6.23 live births per woman | +0.5% |
| 1967 | 6.24 live births per woman | +0.2% |
| 1968 | 6.25 live births per woman | +0.2% |
| 1969 | 6.26 live births per woman | +0.1% |
| 1970 | 6.25 live births per woman | -0.1% |
| 1971 | 6.23 live births per woman | -0.3% |
| 1972 | 6.2 live births per woman | -0.5% |
| 1973 | 6.16 live births per woman | -0.6% |
| 1974 | 6.11 live births per woman | -0.7% |
| 1975 | 6.07 live births per woman | -0.8% |
| 1976 | 6.02 live births per woman | -0.8% |
| 1977 | 5.96 live births per woman | -1.0% |
| 1978 | 5.88 live births per woman | -1.3% |
| 1979 | 5.79 live births per woman | -1.6% |
| 1980 | 5.71 live births per woman | -1.4% |
| 1981 | 5.64 live births per woman | -1.1% |
| 1982 | 5.59 live births per woman | -1.0% |
| 1983 | 5.56 live births per woman | -0.4% |
| 1984 | 5.51 live births per woman | -0.9% |
| 1985 | 5.47 live births per woman | -0.8% |
| 1986 | 5.42 live births per woman | -1.0% |
| 1987 | 5.36 live births per woman | -1.0% |
| 1988 | 5.3 live births per woman | -1.1% |
| 1989 | 5.24 live births per woman | -1.1% |
| 1990 | 5.18 live births per woman | -1.2% |
| 1991 | 5.11 live births per woman | -1.4% |
| 1992 | 5.03 live births per woman | -1.5% |
| 1993 | 4.96 live births per woman | -1.4% |
| 1994 | 4.87 live births per woman | -1.9% |
| 1995 | 4.78 live births per woman | -1.8% |
| 1996 | 4.73 live births per woman | -1.1% |
| 1997 | 4.68 live births per woman | -1.0% |
| 1998 | 4.63 live births per woman | -1.0% |
| 1999 | 4.59 live births per woman | -1.0% |
| 2000 | 4.53 live births per woman | -1.4% |
| 2001 | 4.47 live births per woman | -1.2% |
| 2002 | 4.42 live births per woman | -1.1% |
| 2003 | 4.36 live births per woman | -1.3% |
| 2004 | 4.28 live births per woman | -1.8% |
| 2005 | 4.22 live births per woman | -1.5% |
| 2006 | 4.15 live births per woman | -1.7% |
| 2007 | 4.08 live births per woman | -1.7% |
| 2008 | 4.01 live births per woman | -1.5% |
| 2009 | 3.94 live births per woman | -1.8% |
| 2010 | 3.88 live births per woman | -1.5% |
| 2011 | 3.82 live births per woman | -1.7% |
| 2012 | 3.75 live births per woman | -1.8% |
| 2013 | 3.68 live births per woman | -1.7% |
| 2014 | 3.62 live births per woman | -1.6% |
| 2015 | 3.56 live births per woman | -1.8% |
| 2016 | 3.5 live births per woman | -1.8% |
| 2017 | 3.43 live births per woman | -1.8% |
| 2018 | 3.38 live births per woman | -1.5% |
| 2019 | 3.32 live births per woman | -1.8% |
| 2020 | 3.27 live births per woman | -1.4% |
| 2021 | 3.21 live births per woman | -1.8% |
| 2022 | 3.17 live births per woman | -1.6% |
| 2023 | 3.1 live births per woman | -2.1% |
| 2024 | 3.07 live births per woman | -0.9% |
Papua New Guinea compared with similar countries
- Papua New Guinea's 3.07 live births per woman is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 3.12 live births per woman, 98% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Papua New Guinea's 3.07 live births per woman is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 2.12 live births per woman, 1.5× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 5.82 live births per woman | 5.71 live births per woman | 5.96 live births per woman | 10 |
| 1960s | 6.18 live births per woman | 6.02 live births per woman | 6.26 live births per woman | 10 |
| 1970s | 6.07 live births per woman | 5.79 live births per woman | 6.25 live births per woman | 10 |
| 1980s | 5.48 live births per woman | 5.24 live births per woman | 5.71 live births per woman | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.86 live births per woman | 4.59 live births per woman | 5.18 live births per woman | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.25 live births per woman | 3.94 live births per woman | 4.53 live births per woman | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.59 live births per woman | 3.32 live births per woman | 3.88 live births per woman | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.17 live births per woman | 3.07 live births per woman | 3.27 live births per woman | 5 |
Countries ranked near Papua New Guinea
- 54 Kenya 3.17 live births per woman compare
- 55 Kiribati 3.12 live births per woman compare
- 56 Tonga 3.1 live births per woman compare
- 58 Tajikistan 3.04 live births per woman compare
- 59 Kazakhstan 2.98 live births per woman compare
- 60 Marshall Islands 2.86 live births per woman compare
More education data for Papua New Guinea
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 14,791 (2016)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 80,915 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 226,545 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 208,353 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 655,030 (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.65 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 10.31 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1593 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is fertility rate vs. average years of schooling in Papua New Guinea?
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling in Papua New Guinea was 3.07 live births per woman in 2024, according to Human Fertility Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest fertility rate vs. average years of schooling recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The highest recorded value was 6.26 live births per woman in 1969.
- What is the lowest fertility rate vs. average years of schooling recorded in Papua New Guinea?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.07 live births per woman in 2024.
- How does Papua New Guinea rank for fertility rate vs. average years of schooling?
- Papua New Guinea ranks 57th out of 236 countries with data for 2024.
- Is fertility rate vs. average years of schooling rising or falling in Papua New Guinea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 15.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Papua New Guinea data come from?
- The figures come from Human Fertility Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 75 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Average number of live births a hypothetical cohort of women would have at the end of their reproductive period if they were subject during their whole lives to the fertility rates of a given period and if they were not subject to mortality.