Japan vs Spain: Fertility rate: births per woman

Japan
1.21 live births per woman
in 2023
Spain
1.21 live births per woman
in 2023
Japan rank
216th
Spain rank
214th

Fertility rate: births per woman over time

  • Japan
  • Spain
12345192219722023

How they compare

Spain currently reports 1.21 live births per woman against 1.21 live births per woman in Japan, a difference of 0 live births per woman.

The two have swapped places 5 times across 77 shared years of data; in 1947 it was Japan ahead.

Japan ranks 216th and Spain ranks 214th of 236 countries.

Across the 9 decades both report, Japan averaged higher in 5 and Spain in 4.

Head to head by decade

Decade Japan Spain Difference Ahead
1940s 4.48 live births per woman 2.73 live births per woman 1.75 live births per woman Japan
1950s 2.57 live births per woman 2.56 live births per woman 0.003 live births per woman Japan
1960s 1.98 live births per woman 2.89 live births per woman 0.9142 live births per woman Spain
1970s 1.96 live births per woman 2.75 live births per woman 0.7906 live births per woman Spain
1980s 1.7 live births per woman 1.72 live births per woman 0.0215 live births per woman Spain
1990s 1.43 live births per woman 1.22 live births per woman 0.2131 live births per woman Japan
2000s 1.3 live births per woman 1.32 live births per woman 0.0144 live births per woman Spain
2010s 1.38 live births per woman 1.31 live births per woman 0.0709 live births per woman Japan
2020s 1.26 live births per woman 1.2 live births per woman 0.0628 live births per woman Japan

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher fertility rate: births per woman, Japan or Spain?
Spain, at 1.21 live births per woman against 1.21 live births per woman in Japan as of 2023.
What is the difference in fertility rate: births per woman between Japan and Spain?
0 live births per woman, with Spain ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and Spain?
77 years are reported by both, from 1947 to 2023.
How do Japan and Spain rank globally for fertility rate: births per woman?
Japan ranks 216th and Spain ranks 214th 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.