Germany vs Russia: Number of live births

Germany
784,884 births
in 2017
Russia
1.58 million births
in 2018
Germany rank
3rd
Russia rank
2nd

Number of live births over time

  • Germany
  • Russia
500.0k1.0M1.5M2.0M2.5M3.0M195619872018

How they compare

Russia currently reports 1.58 million births against 784,884 births in Germany, a difference of 794,676 births.

That makes Russia's figure about 2.0 times Germany's.

Across all 59 years both countries report, Russia has been ahead every year.

Germany ranks 3rd and Russia ranks 2nd of 34 countries.

Russia has averaged higher in every one of the 7 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade Germany Russia Difference Ahead
1950s 1.24 million births 2.80 million births 1.55 million births Russia
1960s 1.29 million births 2.18 million births 896,609 births Russia
1970s 859,624 births 2.07 million births 1.21 million births Russia
1980s 853,284 births 2.35 million births 1.50 million births Russia
1990s 804,204 births 1.46 million births 654,260 births Russia
2000s 702,409 births 1.50 million births 795,384 births Russia
2010s 715,720 births 1.84 million births 1.13 million births Russia

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher number of live births, Germany or Russia?
Russia, at 1.58 million births against 784,884 births in Germany as of 2018.
What is the difference in number of live births between Germany and Russia?
794,676 births, with Russia ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Germany and Russia?
59 years are reported by both, from 1959 to 2017.
How do Germany and Russia rank globally for number of live births?
Germany ranks 3rd and Russia ranks 2nd of 34 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Human Fertility Database (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Number of live births. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Number of live births
Unit
births
Source
Human Fertility Database (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
34 places, 2,331 data points, 1891–2024
Last refreshed

The total number of live births recorded in a given year.