Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
The fertility rate is the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime in a specific population. It is a crucial demographic indicator that helps understand population growth or decline.
Related terms
Population Growth: The increase in the number of individuals in a population, often influenced by the fertility rate.
Demography: The scientific study of human populations, including their sizes, compositions, distributions, densities, growth, and other characteristics.
Birth Rate: The number of live births per 1,000 people in a population in a given year, closely related but not identical to fertility rate