Children per Woman in Botswana: 1800 to Today (and Tomorrow)

At MYRIAD, we examine the statistics of human lives to understand the shape of our shared history. Behind every demographic metric lies the reality of family and community. For Botswana, the average number of children a woman would bear over her lifetime tells a story of profound generational change across three centuries, mapping the shifting rhythms of birth and survival that have defined the lives actually lived there.

For generations, family size remained remarkably stable. From the 1800s estimate through the 1890s estimate, and into the 1900s estimate, the average held steady at 6.5 births. This baseline shifted only slightly upward through the middle decades, reaching 6.7 in the 1980s. A downward turn followed, bringing the figure down to 6.2 in the 1990s, 5.7 in the 2000s, and 5.15 in the 2010s, before settling in the 2020s at 4.6 births — ranking #4 of 157 countries.

If you were born in Botswana during the 2020s, you are part of a rapid demographic transition, with future projections anticipating a continued decline toward 3.73 in the 2030s projection, 3.12 in the 2040s projection, 2.69 in the 2050s projection, 2.4 in the 2060s projection, 2.19 in the 2070s projection, 2.04 in the 2080s projection, 1.94 in the 2090s projection, and 1.87 in the 2100s projection.

Where do YOU rank among everyone ever born? →