Pakistan Birth Rate: Latest Figures and 75-Year Trend
Pakistan’s birth rate — the number of babies born per 1,000 people each year — is at its lowest in recorded history and still falling. Here are the latest figures, the 75-year trend, and what the birth rate tells us that the fertility rate doesn’t.
Quick answer: Pakistan’s crude birth rate is about 27 births per 1,000 people (2024, World Bank; 27.1 projected for mid-2025, UN) — falling for 16 straight years. It peaked at 46.7 per 1,000 in 1960. The birth rate measures births across the whole population; the fertility rate (about 3.5 children per woman) measures births per woman of childbearing age.
In this guide
The latest birth rate figures
The World Bank records Pakistan’s crude birth rate at 27.0 births per 1,000 people for 2024 (indicator SP.DYN.CBRT.IN, CC BY 4.0 data). The UN’s World Population Prospects 2024 projects 27.07 for mid-2025 — the lowest on record. Both series agree: the rate has fallen every year for 16 years running.
The 75-year trend
In 1960, Pakistan’s birth rate was 46.7 per 1,000 — nearly one birth for every 21 people, every year. The decline has been steady rather than dramatic:
- 2012: 32.0 per 1,000
- 2016: 30.0 per 1,000
- 2020: 29.0 per 1,000
- 2024: 27.0 per 1,000
Over the full UN series since 1950, the birth rate has fallen by a factor of about 1.7 — a slower proportional decline than the fertility rate, because Pakistan’s young population keeps a large share of people in childbearing age.
Birth rate vs fertility rate
The birth rate divides annual births by the entire population — it reflects both family size and age structure. The fertility rate (~3.5) divides births by women of childbearing age only — it reflects family size alone. That’s why both matter: fertility tells you how many children families have; the birth rate tells you how fast the population is actually growing. (Subtract the crude death rate from the birth rate and you get the rate of natural increase.)
What comes next
With fertility at ~3.5 — still well above the 2.1 replacement level — Pakistan’s birth rate will keep falling gradually but births will remain high in absolute numbers for decades: population momentum. Nearly 1.5 million young people enter the labour force each year. The full demographic picture — fertility trends, the urban-rural divide and regional comparison — is in our complete Pakistan fertility rate guide; the technical definition is covered in crude birth rate in Pakistan.
FAQs
What is the birth rate of Pakistan?
About 27 births per 1,000 people (2024, World Bank) — the lowest in recorded history and falling for 16 consecutive years.
What was Pakistan’s highest birth rate?
46.7 births per 1,000 people in 1960, the earliest year in the UN series.
What is the difference between birth rate and fertility rate?
The birth rate counts births per 1,000 people in the whole population; the fertility rate counts children per woman of childbearing age. Pakistan’s birth rate is ~27 per 1,000; its fertility rate is ~3.5 children per woman.
 — lowest on record, falling 16 years straight. Latest figures and the 75-year trend.){kind=link}