Falling fertility in Botswana provides chance for future economic growth

Friday, May 26, 2017

The World Bank’s Forever Young report highlights the fertility decline experienced by Botswana since the 1980s has put the country at the edge of a window of demographic opportunity, decades before the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.

In 1980 the total fertility rate (TFR) was 6.2 children per woman and in 2015 it was 2.7 children per woman, the greatest fertility decline in Africa in the last three decades. As a consequence, the proportion of child dependents is declining rapidly, while the working-age population will increase by 29% between now and 2050.

The report’s findings were presented to government officials, academia, and other stakeholders in Gaborone in March.

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Falling fertility in Botswana provides chance for future economic growth

The World Bank’s Forever Young report highlights the fertility decline experienced by Botswana since the 1980s has put the country at the edge of a window of demographic opportunity, decades before the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.