Cameroon vs Nigeria: Fertility rate: births per woman

Cameroon
4.32 live births per woman
in 2023
Nigeria
4.48 live births per woman
in 2023
Cameroon rank
18th
Nigeria rank
16th

Fertility rate: births per woman over time

  • Cameroon
  • Nigeria
0246195019862023

How they compare

Nigeria currently reports 4.48 live births per woman against 4.32 live births per woman in Cameroon, a difference of 0.16 live births per woman.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 74 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Nigeria ahead.

Cameroon ranks 18th and Nigeria ranks 16th of 236 countries.

Nigeria has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Cameroon Nigeria Difference Ahead
1950s 5.73 live births per woman 6.4 live births per woman 0.6681 live births per woman Nigeria
1960s 5.84 live births per woman 6.38 live births per woman 0.5352 live births per woman Nigeria
1970s 6.39 live births per woman 6.72 live births per woman 0.3244 live births per woman Nigeria
1980s 6.55 live births per woman 6.66 live births per woman 0.1087 live births per woman Nigeria
1990s 5.98 live births per woman 6.27 live births per woman 0.2908 live births per woman Nigeria
2000s 5.39 live births per woman 6.07 live births per woman 0.6797 live births per woman Nigeria
2010s 4.88 live births per woman 5.49 live births per woman 0.6049 live births per woman Nigeria
2020s 4.44 live births per woman 4.59 live births per woman 0.1565 live births per woman Nigeria

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher fertility rate: births per woman, Cameroon or Nigeria?
Nigeria, at 4.48 live births per woman against 4.32 live births per woman in Cameroon as of 2023.
What is the difference in fertility rate: births per woman between Cameroon and Nigeria?
0.16 live births per woman, with Nigeria ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Cameroon and Nigeria?
74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.
How do Cameroon and Nigeria rank globally for fertility rate: births per woman?
Cameroon ranks 18th and Nigeria ranks 16th of 236 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Human Fertility Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Fertility rate: births per woman. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Fertility rate: births per woman
Unit
live births per woman
Source
Human Fertility Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 17,683 data points, 1891–2023
Last refreshed

The 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.