Births vs. Deaths in the Top 12 Countries by Births

Using The United Nations World Population Prospects projection data for 2025, this chart ranks the 12 countries with the highest total number of births. It also shows how many deaths occurred in each country and whether births exceeded deaths. In 11 of of the 12 countries, births outnumber deaths by varying margins. Only in China do deaths outnumber births. In India, the country with the most births in the world, a baby is born roughly every 1.4 seconds. In China, which also has the most deaths of any country in the world, about 22 people die per minute.

Age structure and fertility rates explain much of the contrast among countries. China has an aging population and very low fertility, a lingering legacy of the one-child policy which ended in 2015. By contrast, younger populations and very high fertility explain the large birth surpluses in countries such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, DRC, and Pakistan.

Births minus deaths measure a natural increase or decrease in population. Other factors like immigration and emigration can also affect population change but are not shown here.