Total fertility rate of Yemen 1925-2020

In 1900, the present-day region of Yemen had a total fertility rate of approximately 6.9 children per woman, meaning that women born in Yemen at this time could expect to have approximately seven children over the course of their reproductive years. Contrary to global trends, Yemeni fertility increased throughout most of the 20^th century, peaking at almost nine births per woman in the 1980s; between 1977 and 1994, Yemen had the highest fertility rate in the world, and no other country is ever estimated to have had a fertility rate exceeding 8.5 births per woman. Various reasons have been cited for this increase, primarily child marriage, lack of literacy or educational opportunities for women, and the wars within and between the partitioned Yemeni states in the 1970s and 1980s.

Following Yemen’s unification in the 1990s, the total fertility rate began to fall significantly. Despite ongoing violence and political turmoil, advancements in healthcare and humanitarian aid helped Yemen's fertility rate drop below seven births per woman at the end of the 20^th century, and below four births per woman in the year 2020. The decline has slowed in the past five years, however, due to the Yemen Civil War which began in 2014. Yemen is currently experiencing what is arguably the most severe humanitarian crisis in the world, and its healthcare system has been almost decimated through war, famine and the lack of water or sanitation; it remains to be seen how these estimates may change in the coming years, given the long-term impact of the civil war and the humanitarian crisis.