If 2026 rates held for a lifetime, a woman in Bhutan would have about 1.43 children, below the 2.1 needed to sustain the population. Over the preceding five years it has fallen by 0.06 children per woman. About 9,783 babies are born a year, a crude birth rate of 12.2 per 1,000. Its net reproduction rate sits at 0.68, well below the 1.0 that marks generational replacement. Women are having children later in life, at a mean age of 30.1 years, up from 28.4 in 1980. By 2100, projections see it reaching 1.53 children per woman.
Key statistics for 2026
Fertility rate
1.43 children/woman
Birth rate
12.2 per 1,000 people
Total births
9.8K
Mean age at birth
30.1 years
Key terms
Total fertility rate (TFR)
— Average number of children a woman would have over her lifetime at current rates.
Crude birth rate (CBR)
— Births per 1,000 people per year.
Net reproduction rate (NRR)
— Average number of daughters per woman surviving to reproductive age.
Replacement level
— TFR of approximately 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population without migration.
In 2026, the net reproduction rate of 0.68 means each generation of women falls short of replacing itself: fewer daughters survive to reproductive age than mothers.
Mean age at childbearing has risen slightly from 28.4 in 1980 to 30.1 years in 2026; the sex ratio at birth is 105 males per 100 females, within the natural range.
The bottom line
Bhutan's fertility rate has fallen dramatically from 6.8 children per woman in 1950 to 1.43 today, below the 2.1 replacement level.