Which country has the lowest fertility rates in the world?

The UAE has been reported as having one of the lowest fertility rates in the Arab world, with studies showing the number of children per woman has dropped sharply over the last decade. Some reports put the country’s fertility rate around 1.5 or even lower, which is well below the replacement level needed to maintain population growth naturally.

A lot of experts seem to connect it to people marrying later, career pressure, high living costs, infertility issues, and changing lifestyles. One thing that surprised me was learning how quickly the numbers dropped compared to previous generations in the UAE.

But technically, the UAE is not always ranked as the absolute lowest in the world overall. Countries like South Korea and some parts of East Asia still tend to rank lower globally in recent fertility data. The UAE is more often discussed as having one of the lowest fertility rates in the Middle East or Arab region.

The latest world bank data indicates that fertility rates in the UAE (the total number of children per woman) have dropped to 1.5 in 2021, almost half of what they were in the 90s.

The decline in fertility has been going on since the 1960s, when a woman in the UAE would on average have 6+ kids.

According to market research conducted by Colliers, infertility rate in the Middle East is estimated to be at 15%, split across men and women. This is significantly higher than the 10% infertility rate over the rest of the world, as estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The reasons for growing infertility among UAE women:

1. Lack of sun exposure

2. Obesity

3. Poor lifestyle choices, smoking, drinking

4. Late marriages

A healthier lifestyle, more nutritious diet and simply getting some exercise and sun exposure every week, may help improve egg quality in women.