Norway vs Sweden: Birth rate

Norway
9.34 births per 1,000 people
in 2023
Sweden
9.28 births per 1,000 people
in 2023
Norway rank
181st
Sweden rank
182nd

Birth rate over time

  • Norway
  • Sweden
10203040175118872023

How they compare

Norway currently reports 9.34 births per 1,000 people against 9.28 births per 1,000 people in Sweden, a difference of 0.06 births per 1,000 people.

The two have swapped places 12 times across 178 shared years of data; in 1846 it was Norway ahead.

Norway ranks 181st and Sweden ranks 182nd of 236 countries.

Across the 19 decades both report, Norway averaged higher in 16 and Sweden in 3.

Head to head by decade

Decade Norway Sweden Difference Ahead
1840s 31.03 births per 1,000 people 30.81 births per 1,000 people 0.2182 births per 1,000 people Norway
1850s 32.86 births per 1,000 people 32.62 births per 1,000 people 0.2456 births per 1,000 people Norway
1860s 31.39 births per 1,000 people 32.22 births per 1,000 people 0.8321 births per 1,000 people Sweden
1870s 30.88 births per 1,000 people 30.58 births per 1,000 people 0.3072 births per 1,000 people Norway
1880s 30.86 births per 1,000 people 29.27 births per 1,000 people 1.59 births per 1,000 people Norway
1890s 30.3 births per 1,000 people 27.33 births per 1,000 people 2.97 births per 1,000 people Norway
1900s 27.96 births per 1,000 people 26.1 births per 1,000 people 1.85 births per 1,000 people Norway
1910s 24.87 births per 1,000 people 22.3 births per 1,000 people 2.57 births per 1,000 people Norway
1920s 21.12 births per 1,000 people 18.4 births per 1,000 people 2.73 births per 1,000 people Norway
1930s 15.41 births per 1,000 people 14.5 births per 1,000 people 0.9067 births per 1,000 people Norway
1940s 19.32 births per 1,000 people 18.41 births per 1,000 people 0.9086 births per 1,000 people Norway
1950s 18.34 births per 1,000 people 14.94 births per 1,000 people 3.4 births per 1,000 people Norway
1960s 17.42 births per 1,000 people 14.63 births per 1,000 people 2.79 births per 1,000 people Norway
1970s 14.57 births per 1,000 people 12.74 births per 1,000 people 1.83 births per 1,000 people Norway
1980s 12.68 births per 1,000 people 11.94 births per 1,000 people 0.7442 births per 1,000 people Norway
1990s 13.81 births per 1,000 people 12.16 births per 1,000 people 1.65 births per 1,000 people Norway
2000s 12.47 births per 1,000 people 11.14 births per 1,000 people 1.33 births per 1,000 people Norway
2010s 11.28 births per 1,000 people 11.62 births per 1,000 people 0.3435 births per 1,000 people Sweden
2020s 9.73 births per 1,000 people 10.26 births per 1,000 people 0.529 births per 1,000 people Sweden

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher birth rate, Norway or Sweden?
Norway, at 9.34 births per 1,000 people against 9.28 births per 1,000 people in Sweden as of 2023.
What is the difference in birth rate between Norway and Sweden?
0.06 births per 1,000 people, with Norway ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Norway and Sweden?
178 years are reported by both, from 1846 to 2023.
How do Norway and Sweden rank globally for birth rate?
Norway ranks 181st and Sweden ranks 182nd of 236 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Birth rate. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Birth rate
Unit
births per 1,000 people
Source
Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 18,723 data points, 1751–2023
Last refreshed

The total number of births per 1,000 people in a given year.