In 1950, the total fertility rate of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was approximately six children per woman; meaning that the average woman born in the DRC in the given year could expect to have six children over the course of their reproductive years. Despite a lack of any significant access to contraception, fertility rates in the DRC in the 1950s remained lower than anything seen in the country until 2020. This can be attributed to extremely low fertility rates in the Congo’s two northern provinces, where studies believe a high level of sexual permissiveness helped promote sexually-transmitted infections (STIs), ultimately leading to high rates of sterility and childlessness as part of a wider “infertility belt” stretching from Cameroon to southern Chad.
Fertility in the Congo would begin to increase rapidly beginning in the 1960s, an increase attributed to the large-scale anti-venereal disease programs, and a reduction in prolonged postpartum abstinence (i.e. the time between childbirth and subsequent impregnation; a widespread practice in Central Africa). While fertility in the DRC’s urban population would fall, reductions in sterility and increases in mortality from the civil war in the country would result in fertility in the country’s rural regions rising greatly, driving the country’s total fertility rate up to a peak of 6.77 children per woman in the 1990s. However, following the end of the Second Congo War in 2003, which would see foreign military forces withdraw from the country, fertility has declined in the 21st century, and in 2020, it is estimated that a woman born in the Congo can expect to have just under six children over the course of their reproductive years.
Total fertility rate in Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1950 to 2020*
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UN DESA, & Gapminder. (August 31, 2019). Total fertility rate in Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1950 to 2020* [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved July 22, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1069233/fertility-rate-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-historical/
UN DESA, und Gapminder. "Total fertility rate in Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1950 to 2020*." Chart. August 31, 2019. Statista. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1069233/fertility-rate-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-historical/
UN DESA, Gapminder. (2019). Total fertility rate in Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1950 to 2020*. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: July 22, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1069233/fertility-rate-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-historical/
UN DESA, and Gapminder. "Total Fertility Rate in Democratic Republic of The Congo from 1950 to 2020*." Statista, Statista Inc., 31 Aug 2019, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1069233/fertility-rate-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-historical/
UN DESA & Gapminder, Total fertility rate in Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1950 to 2020* Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1069233/fertility-rate-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-historical/ (last visited July 22, 2024)
Total fertility rate in Democratic Republic of the Congo from 1950 to 2020* [Graph], UN DESA, & Gapminder, August 31, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1069233/fertility-rate-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-historical/