What country has the highest birth rate?

According to the CIA - The World Factbook, the country with the highest birth rate currently is Niger at 51.26 births per 1000 people. The country with the lowest birth rate is Japan at 7.64 births per 1000 people. Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China, is at 7.42 births per 1000 people. As compared to the 1950s, birth rate was at 36 births per 1000 in the 1950s, birth rate has declined by 16 births per 1000 people. In July 2011, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced that the adolescent birth rate continues to decline.

Demographics of the world

Demographics of the world include population density, ethnicity, education level, health measures, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the human population of the planet Earth.

The overall total population of the world is approximately 7.7 billion, as of December 2018.

Its overall population density is 50 people per km² (129.28 per sq. mile), excluding Antarctica. Nearly two-thirds of the population lives in Asia and is predominantly urban and suburban, with more than 2.5 billion in the countries of China and India combined. The world's fairly low literacy rate (83.7%) is attributable to poverty. Lower literacy rates are common in South Asia, West Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The world's largest ethnic group is Han Chinese with Mandarin being the world's most spoken language in terms of native speakers.

Human migration has been shifting toward cities and urban centers, with the urban population jumping from 29% in 1950, to 50.5% in 2005. Working backwards from the United Nations prediction that the world will be 51.3 percent urban by 2010, Dr. Ron Wimberley, Dr. Libby Morris and Dr. Gregory Fulkerson estimated 23 May 2007 to be the first time the urban population outnumbered the rural population in history.
China and India are the most populous countries, as the birth rate has consistently dropped in developed countries and until recently remained high in developing countries. Tokyo is the largest urban conglomeration in the world.

The total fertility rate of the World is estimated as 2.52 children per woman, which is above the global average for the replacement fertility rate of approximately 2.33 (as of 2003). However, world population growth is unevenly distributed, with the total fertility rate going from.91 in Macau, to 7.68 in Niger. The United Nations estimated an annual population increase of 1.14% for the year of 2000.
The current world population growth is approximately 1.09%
People under 18 years of age made up over a quarter of the world population (29.3%), and people age 65 and over made up less than one-tenth (7.9%) in 2011.

The world population more than tripled during the 20th century from about 1.65 billion in 1900 to 5.97 billion in 1999.

It reached the 2 billion mark in 1927, the 3 billion mark in 1960, 4 billion in 1974, and 5 billion in 1987. Currently, population growth is fastest among low wealth, Least Developed Countries countries.

The UN projects a world population of 9.15 billion in 2050, which is a 32.69% increase from 2010 (6.89 billion).

Historical migration of human populations begins with the movement of "Homo erectus" out of Africa across Eurasia about a million years ago. "Homo sapiens" appear to have occupied all of Africa about 150,000 years ago, moved out of Africa 50,000 - 60,000 years ago, and had spread across Australia, Asia and Europe by 30,000 years BC. Migration to the Americas took place 20,000 to 15,000 years ago, and by 2,000 years ago, most of the Pacific Islands were colonized.

Until c. 10,000 years ago, humans lived as hunter-gatherers. They generally lived in small nomadic groups known as band societies. The advent of agriculture prompted the Neolithic Revolution, when access to food surplus led to the formation of permanent human settlements. About 6,000 years ago, the first proto-states developed in Mesopotamia, Egypt's Nile Valley and the Indus Valley. Early human settlements were dependent on proximity to water and, depending on the lifestyle, other natural resources used for subsistence. But humans have a great capacity for altering their habitats by means of technology.

Since 1800, the human population has increased from one billion to over seven billion, In 2004, some 2.5 billion out of 6.3 billion people (39.7%) lived in urban areas. In February 2008, the U.N. estimated that half the world's population would live in urban areas by the end of the year. Problems for humans living in cities include various forms of pollution and crime, especially in inner city and suburban slums. Both overall population numbers and the proportion residing in cities are expected to increase significantly in the coming decades.

The World has hundreds of major cities spread across 6 continents. Most are in coastal regions.

, the World had 62 metropolitan areas with a population of over 3,000,000 people each.

As of 2010, about 3 billion people live in or around urban areas.

The following table shows the populations of the top ten conglomerations.

The world's population is 7 billion and Earth's total area (including land and water) is 510 million square kilometers (197 million square miles). Therefore, the worldwide human population density is 7 billion ÷ 510 million = 13.7 per km² (35.5 per sq. mile). If only the Earth's land area of 150 million km² (58 million sq. miles) is taken into account, then human population density increases to 46.7 per km² (117.2 per sq. mile). This calculation includes all continental and island land area, including Antarctica. If Antarctica is also excluded, then population density rises to 50 people per km² (129.28 per sq. mile). Considering that over half of the Earth's land mass consists of areas inhospitable to human inhabitation, such as deserts and high mountains, and that population tends to cluster around seaports and fresh water sources, this number by itself does not give any meaningful measurement of human population density.

Several of the most densely populated territories in the world are city-states, microstates or dependencies. These territories share a relatively small area and a high urbanization level, with an economically specialized city population drawing also on rural resources outside the area, illustrating the difference between high population density and overpopulation.

The table below lists religions classified by philosophy; however, religious philosophy is not always the determining factor in local practice. Please note that this table includes heterodox movements as adherents to their larger philosophical category, although this may be disputed by others within that category. For example, Cao Đài is listed because it claims to be a separate category from Buddhism, while Hòa Hảo is not, even though they are similar new religious movements.

The population numbers below are computed by a combination of census reports, random surveys (in countries where religion data is not collected in census, for example United States or France), and self-reported attendance numbers, but results can vary widely depending on the way questions are phrased, the definitions of religion used and the bias of the agencies or organizations conducting the survey. Informal or unorganized religions are especially difficult to count. Some organizations may wildly inflate their numbers.

Since the late 19th century, the demographics of religion have changed a great deal. Some countries with a historically large Christian population have experienced a significant decline in the numbers of professed active Christians: see demographics of atheism. Symptoms of the decline in active participation in Christian religious life include declining recruitment for the priesthood and monastic life, as well as diminishing attendance at church. On the other hand, since the 19th century, large areas of sub-Saharan Africa have been converted to Christianity, and this area of the world has the highest population growth rate. In the realm of Western civilization, there has been an increase in the number of people who identify themselves as secular humanists. In many countries, such as the People's Republic of China, communist governments have discouraged religion, making it difficult to count the actual number of believers. However, after the collapse of communism in numerous countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, religious life has been experiencing resurgence there, both in the form of traditional Eastern Christianity and in the forms of Neopaganism and Far Eastern religions.

Following is some available data based on the work of the "World Christian Encyclopedia":

Studies conducted by the Pew Research Center have found that, generally, poorer nations had a larger proportion of citizens who found religion to be very important than richer nations, with the exceptions of the United States and Kuwait.

The average age of marriage varies greatly from country to country and has varied through time. Women tend to marry earlier than men and currently varies from 17.6 for women in Niger, to 32.4 for women in Denmark while men range from 22.6 in Mozambique to 35.1 in Sweden.

The average number of hospital beds per 1,000 population is 2.94. Compare to Switzerland (18.3) and Mexico (1.1)

96% of the urban population has access to improved drinking water, while only 78% of rural inhabitants have improved drinking water. A total average of 87% of urban and rural have access to improved drinking water.

4% of the urban population does not have access to improved drinking water, leaving 22% of rural people without improved drinking water with a total world population of 13% not having access to drinking water.

76% of the urban population has access to sanitation facilities, while only 45% of the rural population has access. A total world average of 39% do not have access to sanitation facilities.

As of 2009, there are an estimated 33.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS, which is approximately 0.8% of the world population, and there have been an estimated 1.8 million deaths attributed to HIV/AIDS.

As of 2010, 925 million people are undernourished.

Life Expectancy at Birth:

Infant Mortality

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.

According to the 2006 CIA World Factbook, around 27% of the world's population is below 15 years of age.

According to a report by the Global Social Change Research Project, worldwide, the percent of the population age 0-14 declined from 34% in 1950 to 27% in 2010. On the other hand, the percent elderly (60+) increased during the same period from 8% to 11%.

Globally, the growth rate of the human population has been declining since peaking in 1962 and 1963 at 2.20% per annum. In 2009, the estimated annual growth rate was 1.1%. The CIA World Factbook gives the world annual birthrate, mortality rate, and growth rate as 1.915%, 0.812%, and 1.092% respectively The last one hundred years have seen a rapid increase in population due to medical advances and massive increase in agricultural productivity made possible by the Green Revolution.
The actual annual growth in the number of humans fell from its peak of 88.0 million in 1989, to a low of 73.9 million in 2003, after which it rose again to 75.2 million in 2006. Since then, annual growth has declined. In 2009, the human population increased by 74.6 million, which is projected to fall steadily to about 41 million per annum in 2050, at which time the population will have increased to about 9.2 billion. Each region of the globe has seen great reductions in growth rate in recent decades, though growth rates remain above 2% in some countries of the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa, and also in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

Some countries experienced negative population growth, especially in Eastern Europe mainly due to low fertility rates, high death rates and emigration. In Southern Africa, growth is slowing due to the high number of HIV-related deaths. Some Western Europe countries might also encounter negative population growth. Japan's population began decreasing in 2005.

Population in the world increased from 1990 to 2008 with 1,423 million and 27% growth. Measured by persons, the increase was highest in India (290 million) and China (192 million). Population growth was highest in Qatar (174%) and United Arab Emirates (140%).

Data required on total number of births per year, and distribution by country.

As of 2009, the average birth rate (unclear whether this is the weighted average rate per country [with each country getting a weight of 1], or the unweighted average of the entire world population) for the whole world is 19.95 per year per 1000 total population, a 0.48% decline from 2003's world birth rate of 20.43 per 1000 total population.

According to the CIA - The World Factbook, the country with the highest birth rate currently is Niger at 51.26 births per 1000 people. The country with the lowest birth rate is Japan at 7.64 births per 1000 people. Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region of China, is at 7.42 births per 1000 people. As compared to the 1950s, birth rate was at 36 births per 1000 in the 1950s, birth rate has declined by 16 births per 1000 people. In July 2011, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced that the adolescent birth rate continues to decline.

Birth rates vary even within the same geographic areas. In Europe, as of July 2011, Ireland's birth rate is 16.5 per cent, which is 3.5 per cent higher than the next-ranked country, the UK. France has a birth rate of 12.8 per cent while Sweden is at 12.3 per cent. In July 2011, the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced a 2.4% increase in live births in the UK in 2010 alone. This is the highest birth rate in the UK in 40 years. By contrast, the birth rate in Germany is only 8.3 per 1,000, which is so low that both the UK and France, which have significantly smaller populations, produced more births in 2010. Birth rates also vary within the same geographic area, based on different demographic groups. For example, in April 2011, the U.S. CDC announced that the birth rate for women over the age of 40 in the U.S. rose between 2007 and 2009, while it fell among every other age group during the same time span. In August 2011, Taiwan's government announced that its birth rate declined in the previous year, despite the fact that it implemented a host of approaches to encourage its citizens to have babies.

Birth rates ranging from 10-20 births per 1000 are considered low, while rates from 40-50 births per 1000 are considered high. There are problems associated with both an extremely high birth rate and an extremely low birth rate. High birth rates can cause stress on the government welfare and family programs to support a youthful population. Additional problems faced by a country with a high birth rate include educating a growing number of children, creating jobs for these children when they enter the workforce, and dealing with the environmental effects that a large population can produce. Low birth rates can put stress on the government to provide adequate senior welfare systems and also the stress on families to support the elders themselves. There will be less children or working age population to support the constantly growing aging population.

The ten countries with the highest crude death rate, according to the 2015 CIA World Factbook estimates, are:

See list of countries by death rate for worldwide statistics.

According to the World Health Organization, the 10 leading causes of death in 2002 were:Causes of death vary greatly between first and third world countries.

According to Jean Ziegler (the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food for 2000 to March 2008), mortality due to malnutrition accounted for 58% of the total mortality in 2006: "In the world, approximately 62 millions people, all causes of death combined, die each year. In 2006, more than 36 millions died of hunger or diseases due to deficiencies in micronutrients".

Of the roughly 150,000 people who died each day across the globe, about two thirds—100,000 per day—died of age-related causes in 2001, according to an article which counts all deaths "due to causes that kill hardly anyone under the age of 40" as age-related. In industrialized nations, the proportion was even higher according to that article, reaching 90%.

The Northern Mariana Islands have the highest female ratio with 0.77 males per female. Qatar has the highest male ratio, with 2.87 males/female. For the group aged below 15, Sierra Leone has the highest female ratio with 0.96 males/female, and the Republic of Georgia and the People's Republic of China are tied for the highest male ratio with 1.13 males/female (according to the 2006 CIA World Factbook).

The value for the entire world population is 1.02 males/female, with 1.07 at birth, 1.06 for those under 15, 1.02 for those between 15 and 64, and 0.78 for those over 65.

The "First World" G7 members all have a gender ratio in the range of 0.95–0.98 for the total population, of 1.05–1.07 at birth, of 1.05–1.06 for the group below 15, of 1.00–1.04 for the group aged 15–64, and of 0.70–0.75 for those over 65.

Countries on the Arabian Peninsula tend to have a 'natural' ratio of about 1.05 at birth but a very high ratio of males for those over 65 (Saudi Arabia 1.13, United Arab Emirates 2.73, Qatar 2.84), indicating either an above-average mortality rate for females or a below-average mortality for males, or, more likely in this case, a large population of aging male guest workers. Conversely, countries of Eastern Europe (the Baltic states, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia) tend to have a 'normal' ratio at birth but a very low ratio of males among those over 65 (Russia 0.46, Latvia 0.48, Ukraine 0.52); similarly, Armenia has a far above average male ratio at birth (1.17), and a below-average male ratio above 65 (0.67). This effect may be caused by emigration and higher male mortality as result of higher post-Soviet era deaths; it may also be related to the enormous (by western standards) rate of alcoholism in the former Soviet states. Another possible contributory factor is an aging population, with a higher than normal proportion of relatively elderly people: we recall that due to higher differential mortality rates the ratio of males to females reduces for each year of age.

There is an inverse correlation between income and fertility, wherein developed countries usually have a much lower fertility rate. Various fertility factors may be involved, such as education and urbanization. Mortality rates are low, birth control is understood and easily accessible, and costs are often deemed very high because of education, clothing, feeding, and social amenities. With wealth, contraception becomes affordable. However, in countries like Iran where contraception was made artificially affordable before the economy accelerated, birth rate also rapidly declined. Further, longer periods of time spent getting higher education often mean women have children later in life. Female labor participation rate also has substantial negative impact on fertility. However, this effect is neutralized among Nordic or liberalist countries.

In undeveloped countries on the other hand, families desire children for their labour and as caregivers for their parents in old age. Fertility rates are also higher due to the lack of access to contraceptives, generally lower levels of female education, and lower rates of female employment in industry.

8.7% (2010 est.)
8.2% (2009 est.)
note: 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2007 est.)

The demonym for Earth's inhabitants is Earthling or, as either a noun or an adjective, Terran.

Worldwide, English is used widely as a lingua franca and can be seen to be the dominant language at this time. The world's largest language by native speakers is Mandarin Chinese which is a first language of around 960 million people, or 12.44% of the population, predominantly in Greater China. Spanish is spoken by around 330 to 400 million people, predominantly in the Americas and Spain. Arabic is spoken by around 280 million people. Bengali is spoken by around 250 to 300 million people worldwide, predominantly in Bangladesh and India. Hindi is spoken by about 200 million speakers, mostly in India. Portuguese is spoken by about 230 million speakers in Portugal, Brazil, East Timor, and Southern Africa.

There are numerous other languages, grouped into nine major families:There are also hundreds of non-verbal sign languages.

Total population: 83.7% over the age of 15 can read and write, 88.3% male and 79.2% female
note: over two-thirds of the world's 793 million illiterate adults are found in only eight countries (Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan); of all the illiterate adults in the world, two-thirds are women; extremely low literacy rates are concentrated in three regions, the Arab states, South and West Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa, where around one-third of the men and half of all women are illiterate (2005-09 est.)

As of 2008, the school life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) for a man or woman is 11 years.

According to the CIA's "The World Factbook", the country with the highest birth rate is Niger at 6.49 children born per woman and the country with the lowest birth rate is Taiwan, at 1.13 children born per woman.

Birth rate

The birth rate (technically, births/population rate) is the total number of live births per 1,000 in a population in a year or period. The rate of births in a population is calculated in several ways: live births from a universal registration system for births, deaths, and marriages; population counts from a census, and estimation through specialized demographic techniques. The birth rate (along with mortality and migration rate) are used to calculate population growth.

The "crude birth rate" is the number of live births per year per 1,000 mid-year population. Another term used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude death rate is subtracted from the crude birth rate, the result is the rate of natural increase (RNI). This is equal to the rate of population change (excluding migration).

The total (crude) birth rate (which includes all births)—typically indicated as births per 1,000 population—is distinguished from an age-specific rate (the number of births per 1,000 persons in an age group). The first known use of the term "birth rate" in English occurred in 1859.

The average global birth rate is 18.5 births per 1,000 total population in 2016.
The death rate is 7.8 per 1,000 per year. The RNI is thus 1.06 percent.
In 2012 the average global birth rate was 19.611 according to the World Bank and 19.15 births per 1,000 total population according to the CIA, compared to 20.09 per 1,000 total population in 2007.

The 2016 average of 18.6 births per 1,000 total population is estimated to be about 4.3 births/second or about 256 births/minute for the world.

The birth rate is an issue of concern and policy for national governments. Some (including those of Italy and Malaysia) seek to increase the birth rate with financial incentives or provision of support services to new mothers. Conversely, other countries have policies to reduce the birth rate (for example, China's one-child policy which was in effect from 1978 to 2015). Policies to increase the crude birth rate are known as pro-natalist policies, and policies to reduce the crude birth rate are known as anti-natalist policies. Non-coercive measures such as improved information on birth control and its availability have achieved good results in countries such as Iran and Bangladesh.

There has also been discussion on whether bringing women into the forefront of development initiatives will lead to a decline in birth rates. In some countries, government policies have focused on reducing birth rates by improving women's rights, sexual and reproductive health. Typically, high birth rates are associated with health problems, low life expectancy, low living standards, low social status for women and low educational levels. Demographic transition theory postulates that as a country undergoes economic development and social change its population growth declines, with birth rates serving as an indicator.

At the 1974 World Population Conference in Bucharest, Romania, women's issues gained considerable attention. Family programs were discussed, and 137 countries drafted a World Population Plan of Action. As part of the discussion, many countries accepted modern birth control methods such as the birth control pill and the condom while opposing abortion. Population and the need to incorporate women into the discourse were discussed; it was agreed that improvements in women's status and initiatives in defense of reproductive health and freedom, the environment, and sustainable socioeconomic development were needed.

Birth rates ranging from 10–20 births per 1,000 are considered low, while rates from 40–50 births per 1,000 are considered high. There are problems associated with both extremes. High birth rates may stress government welfare and family programs. Additional problems faced by a country with a high birth rate include educating a growing number of children, creating jobs for these children when they enter the workforce, and dealing with the environmental impact of a large population. Low birth rates may stress the government to provide adequate senior welfare systems and stress families who must support the elders themselves. There will be fewer children (and a working-age population) to support an aging population.

In the 20th century, several authoritarian governments have sought either to increase or to decrease the birth rates, sometimes through forceful intervention. One of the most notorious natalist policies is that which occurred in communist Romania in the period of 1967-1990 during communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu, who adopted a very aggressive natalist policy which included outlawing abortion and contraception, routine pregnancy tests for women, taxes on childlessness, and legal discrimination against childless people. This period has later been depicted in movies and documentaries (such as "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days", "Children of the Decree"). These policies temporarily increased birth rates for a few years, but this was followed by a later decline due to an increased use of illegal abortion. Ceaușescu's policy resulted in over 9,000 women who died due to illegal abortions, large numbers of children put into Romanian orphanages by parents who couldn't cope with raising them, street children in the 1990s (when many orphanages were closed and the children ended on the streets), and overcrowding in homes and schools. The irony of Ceaușescu's aggressive natalist policy was a generation that may not have been born would eventually lead the Romanian Revolution which would overthrow and have him executed.

In stark opposition with Ceaușescu's natalist policy was China's one child policy, in effect from 1978 to 2015, which included abuses such as forced abortions. This policy has also been deemed responsible for the common practice of sex selective abortion which led to an imbalanced sex ratio in the country. Given strict family-size limitations and a preference for sons, girls have become unwanted in China because they are considered as depriving the parents of the possibility of having a son. With the progress of prenatal sex-determination technologies and induced abortion, the one-child policy gradually turned into a one-son policy.

In many countries, the steady decline in birth rates over the past decades can be greatly attributed to the significant gains in women's freedoms, such as tackling the phenomenon of forced marriage and child marriage, education for women and increased socioeconomic opportunities. Women of all economic, social, religious and educational persuasions are choosing to have fewer children as they are gaining more control over their own reproductive rights. Apart from more children living into their adult years, women are often more ambitious to take up work, education and living their own lives rather than just a life of reproduction. Birth rates in third world countries have fallen due to the introduction of family planning clinics.

In Bangladesh, one of the poorest countries in the world, women are on average having two children less often than they did before 1999, according to Australian demographer Jack Caldwell. Bangladeshi women eagerly took up contraceptives, like condoms and the pill, on offer from a foreign population agency in a study by the World Bank carried out in 1994. The study proved that family planning could be carried out and accepted practically anywhere. Caldwell also believes that agricultural improvements led to the need for less labour. Children not needed to plough the fields would be of surplus and require some education, so in turn, smaller families, and with smaller families, women are able to work and have greater ambitions. Other examples of non-coercive family planning policies are IEthiopia, Thailand and Indonesia.

Myanmar, a country which until 2011 was controlled by an austere military junta, intent on controlling every aspect of its population's lives. The military generals wanted the country's population doubled. In their view, the women's job was to produce babies to power the country's labour force, so family planning was vehemently opposed. The women of Burma opposed this policy, and Peter McDonald of the Australian National University argues that this gave rise to a black market trade in contraception, all smuggled from neighbouring Thailand.

In 1990, five years after the war ended, Iran saw the fastest recorded drop in fertility in world history. Revolution gave way to consumerism and westernization. With TVs and cars came condoms and the pill. A generation of women expected to produce soldiers in the fight against Iraq was met by the next generation of women who had a choice to enjoy some new found luxuries. In the years during the Iran/Iraq war, the women of Iran averaged about 8 children each, a ratio the hard line Islamic President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wanted to revive. As of 2010, the birth rate of Iran is 1.7 babies per woman. Some may say this is a triumph of western values, which give women more freedoms, over an Islamic ruled state.

Islamic clerics are having less influence over women in other Muslim countries also. In the past 30 years Turkey's fertility rate of children per woman has dropped from 4.07 to 2.08. Tunisia has dropped from 4.82 to 2.14 and Morocco from 5.4 to 2.52 children per woman.

Latin America, of predominately Catholic faith, has seen the same trends in falling fertility rates. Brazilian women are having half the children they were 25 years ago with a rate of 2.2 children per woman. The Vatican is having less influence over women in other hard-line Catholic countries also. Mexico, El Salvador, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Venezuela and Peru have all seen significant drops in fertility in the same period, all going from over six to less than three children per woman. Forty percent of married Brazilian women are choosing to get sterilised after having children, but this may be a compromise as it is only one confession of sin to the church. Some may say this is a triumph of Western values, which give women more freedoms, over a Catholic state.

According to the CIA's "The World Factbook", the country with the highest birth rate is Niger at 6.49 children born per woman and the country with the lowest birth rate is Taiwan, at 1.13 children born per woman.

Compared with the 1950s (when the birth rate was 36 per thousand), as of 2011, the world birth rate has declined by 16 per thousand.

As of 2017, Niger has the highest birth rate in the world with 49.443 per thousand people.
Japan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world with 8 per thousand people.
While in Japan there are 126 million people and in Niger 21 million, both countries had around 1 million babies born in 2016.

The region of Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest birth rate in the world. As of 2016, Niger, Mali, Uganda, Zambia, and Burundi have the highest birth rates in the world. This is part of the fertility-income paradox, as these countries are very poor, and it may seem counter-intuitive for families there to have so many children. The inverse relationship between income and fertility has been termed a "demographic-economic "paradox"" by the notion that greater means would enable the production of more offspring as suggested by the influential Thomas Malthus.

Afghanistan has the 11th highest birth rate in the world, and also the highest birth rate of any non-African country (as of 2016). The rapid population growth of Afghanistan is considered a problem by preventing population stabilization, and affecting maternal and infant health. Reasons for large families include tradition, religion, the low status of women and the cultural desire to have several sons.

Historically, Australia has had a relatively low fertility rate, reaching a high of 3.14 births per woman in 1960. This was followed by a decline which continued until the mid-2000, when a one off cash incentive was introduced to reverse the decline. In 2004, the then Howard government introduced a non-means tested 'Maternity Payment' to parents of every newborn as a substitute to maternity leave. The payment known as the 'Baby Bonus' was A$3000 per child. This rose to A$5000 which was paid in 13 instalments.

At a time when Australia's unemployment was at a 28-year low of 5.2%, the then Treasurer Peter Costello stated there was opportunity to go lower. With a good economic outlook for Australia, Costello held the view that now was a good time to expand the population, with his famous quote that every family should have three children "one for mum, one for dad and one for the country". Australia's fertility rate reached a peak of 1.95 children per woman in 2010, a 30-year high, although still below replacement rate.

Phil Ruthven of the business information firm IBISWorld believes the spike in fertility was more about timing and less about monetary incentives. Generation X was now aged 25 to 45 years old. With numerous women putting pregnancies off for a few years for the sake of a career, many felt the years closing in and their biological clocks ticking.

On 1 March 2014, the baby bonus was replaced with Family Tax Benefit A. By then the baby bonus had left its legacy on Australia.

In 2016, Australia's fertility rate has only decreased slightly to 1.91 children per woman.

Canada

France has been successful in increasing fertility rates from the low levels seen in the late 1980s, after a continuous fall in the birth rate. In 1994, the total fertility rate was as low as 1.66, but perhaps due to the active family policy of the government in the mid 1990s, it has increased, and maintained an average of 2.0 average from 2008 until 2015.

France has embarked on a strong incentive policy based on two key measures to restore the birth rate: family benefits ("les allocations familiales") and a family-coefficient of income tax ("le quotient familial"). Since the end of World War II, early family policy in France has been based on a family tradition that requires children to support multi-child family, so that a third child enables a multi-child family to benefit from family allowances and income tax exemptions. This is intended to allow families with three children to enjoy the same living standards as households without children.

In particular, the French income taxation system is structured so that families with children receive tax breaks greater than single adults without children. This income tax imposition system is known as the family coefficient of income tax. A characteristic of the family factor is that households with a large number of children, even if they are at the same standard of living, can receive more tax exemption benefits.

Since the 1970s, the focus has been on supporting families who are vulnerable such as single parent families and the children of a poor family in order to ensure equality of opportunity. In addition, as many women began to participate in the labor market, the government introduced policies of financial support for childcare leave as well as childcare facilities. In 1994, the government expanded the parent education allowance ("l'allocation parentale d'éducation") for women with two children to ensure freedom of choice and reduce formal unemployment in order to promote family well-being and women's labor participation.

There are also:

The birth rate in Germany is only 8.3 per thousand—so low that the UK and France (which have smaller populations) had more births in the past year.

In Europe as of July 2011, Ireland's birth rate was 16.5 per 1000 (3.5 percent higher than the next-ranked country, the UK).

As of 2016, Japan has the third lowest crude birth rate (i.e. not allowing for the population's age distribution) in the world, with only Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Monaco having lower crude birth rates. Japan has an unbalanced population with many elderly but few young people, and this is projected to be more extreme in the future, unless there are major changes. An increasing number of Japanese people are staying unmarried: between 1980 and 2010, the percentage of the population who had never married increased from 22% to almost 30%, even as the population continued to age, and by 2035 one in four people will not marry during their childbearing years. The Japanese sociologist Masahiro Yamada coined the term "parasite singles" for unmarried adults in their late 20s and 30s who continue to live with their parents.

In August 2011 Taiwan's government announced that its birth rate declined in the previous year, despite the fact that the government implemented approaches to encourage fertility.

In July 2011, the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced a 2.4 percent increase in live births in the UK in 2010. This is the highest birth rate in the UK in 40 years. However, the UK record year for births and birth rate remains 1920 (when the ONS reported over 957,000 births to a population of "around 40 million").

According to U.S. federal-government data released in March 2011, births fell four percent from 2007 to 2009 (the largest drop in the U.S. for any two-year period since the 1970s).
Births have declined for three consecutive years, and are now seven percent below the 2007 peak. This drop has continued through 2010, according to data released by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics in June 2011. Experts have suggested that this decline is a reflection of unfavorable economic conditions. The connection between birth rate and economic conditions stems from the fact that US birth rates have fallen to levels comparable to those during the Great Depression during the 1930s. A state-level look at fertility, based on a report published by the Pew Research Center in October 2011, points out the strong correlation between lower birth rates and economic distress. In 2008, North Dakota had the nation's lowest unemployment rate (3.1 percent) and was the only state to show an increase (0.7 percent) in its birth rate. All other states either remained the same or declined.

The research center's study also found evidence of a correlation between economic difficulties and fertility decline by race and ethnicity. Hispanics (particularly affected by the recession) have experienced the largest fertility decline, particularly compared to Caucasians (who have less economic hardship and a smaller decline in fertility). In 2008–2009 the birth rate declined 5.9 percent for Hispanic women, 2.4 percent for African American women and 1.6 percent for white women. The relatively large birth rate declines among Hispanics mirror their relatively large economic declines, in terms of jobs and wealth. According to the statistics using the data from National Centre for Health Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau, from 2007 to 2008, the employment rate among Hispanics declined by 1.6 percentage points, compared with declines of 0.7 points for whites. The unemployment rate shows a similar pattern—unemployment among Hispanics increased 2.0 percentage points from 2007 to 2008, while for whites the increase was 0.9 percentage points. A recent report from the Pew Hispanic Center revealed that Hispanics have also been the biggest losers in terms of wealth since the beginning of the recession, with Hispanic households losing 66% of their median wealth from 2005 to 2009. In comparison, black households lost 53% of their median wealth and white households lost only 16%. In facts, Hispanics, who have been hit the hardest in terms of employment and wealth, have also experienced the largest fertility declines since the onset of the recession because the birth rate declines of Hispanic women is the highest while comparing to the White women. Since, the unemployment rate has been increasing, the birth rate decline has been decreasing.

Other factors (such as women's labor-force participation, contraceptive technology and public policy) make it difficult to determine how much economic change affect fertility. Research suggests that much of the fertility decline during an economic downturn is a postponement of childbearing, not a decision to have fewer (or no) children; people plan to "catch up" to their plans of bearing children when economic conditions improve. Younger women are more likely than older women to postpone pregnancy due to economic factors, since they have more years of fertility remaining.

In July 2011, the U.S. National Institutes of Health announced that the adolescent birth rate continues to decline. In 2013, teenage birth rates in the U.S. were at the lowest level in U.S. history. Teen birth rates in the U.S. have decreased from 1991 through 2012 (except for an increase from 2005–2007). The other aberration from this otherwise-steady decline in teen birth rates is the six percent decrease in birth rates for 15- to 19-year-olds between 2008 and 2009. Despite the decrease, U.S. teen birth rates remain higher than those in other developed nations. Racial differences affect teen birth and pregnancy rates: American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic black teen pregnancy rates are more than double the non-Hispanic white teenage birth rate.

States strict in enforcing child support have up to 20 percent fewer unmarried births than states that are lax about getting unmarried dads to pay, the researchers found. Moreover, according to the results, if all 50 states in the United States had done at least as well in their enforcement efforts as the state ranked fifth from the top, that would have led to a 20 percent reduction in out-of-wedlock births.

The United States population growth is at an historical low level as the United States current birth rates are the lowest ever recorded. The low birth rates in the contemporary United States can possibly be ascribed to the recession, which led women to postpone having children and fewer immigrants coming to the US. The current US birth rates are not high enough to maintain the size of the U.S. population, according to The Economist.

There are many factors that interact in complex ways, influencing the births rate of a population.
Developed countries have a lower birth rate than underdeveloped countries (see Income and fertility). A parent's number of children strongly correlates with the number of children that each person in the next generation will eventually have. Factors generally associated with increased fertility include religiosity, intention to have children, and maternal support. Factors generally associated with decreased fertility include wealth, education, female labor participation, urban residence, intelligence, increased female age, women's rights, access to family planning services and (to a lesser degree) increased male age. Many of these factors however are not universal, and differ by region and social class. For instance, at a global level, religion is correlated with increased fertility, but in the West less so: Scandinavian countries and France are among the least religious in the EU, but have the highest TFR, while the opposite is true about Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Poland and Spain.
(see Religion in the European Union).

Reproductive health can also affect the birth rate, as untreated infections can lead to fertility problems, as can be seen in the "infertility belt" - a region that stretches across central Africa from the United Republic of Tanzania in the east to Gabon in the west, and which has a lower fertility than other African regions.

Child custody laws, affecting fathers' parental rights over their children from birth until child custody ends at age 18, may have an effect on the birth rate. U.S. states strict in enforcing child support have up to 20 percent fewer unmarried births than states that are lax about getting unmarried fathers to pay, the researchers found. Moreover, according to the results, if all 50 states in the United States had done at least as well in their enforcement efforts as the state ranked fifth from the top, that would have led to a 20 percent reduction in out-of-wedlock births.

As of 2017, Niger has the highest birth rate in the world with 49.443 per thousand people.
Japan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world with 8 per thousand people.
While in Japan there are 126 million people and in Niger 21 million, both countries had around 1 million babies born in 2016.

Birth rate

The birth rate (technically, births/population rate) is the total number of live births per 1,000 in a population in a year or period. The rate of births in a population is calculated in several ways: live births from a universal registration system for births, deaths, and marriages; population counts from a census, and estimation through specialized demographic techniques. The birth rate (along with mortality and migration rate) are used to calculate population growth.

The "crude birth rate" is the number of live births per year per 1,000 mid-year population. Another term used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude death rate is subtracted from the crude birth rate, the result is the rate of natural increase (RNI). This is equal to the rate of population change (excluding migration).

The total (crude) birth rate (which includes all births)—typically indicated as births per 1,000 population—is distinguished from an age-specific rate (the number of births per 1,000 persons in an age group). The first known use of the term "birth rate" in English occurred in 1859.

The average global birth rate is 18.5 births per 1,000 total population in 2016.
The death rate is 7.8 per 1,000 per year. The RNI is thus 1.06 percent.
In 2012 the average global birth rate was 19.611 according to the World Bank and 19.15 births per 1,000 total population according to the CIA, compared to 20.09 per 1,000 total population in 2007.

The 2016 average of 18.6 births per 1,000 total population is estimated to be about 4.3 births/second or about 256 births/minute for the world.

Myanmar, a country which until 2011 was controlled by an austere military junta, intent on controlling every aspect of its population's lives. The military generals wanted the country's population doubled. In their view, the women's job was to produce babies to power the country's labour force, so family planning was vehemently opposed. The women of Burma opposed this policy, and Peter McDonald of the Australian National University argues that this gave rise to a black market trade in contraception, all smuggled from neighbouring Thailand.

Islamic clerics are having less influence over women in other Muslim countries also. In the past 30 years Turkey's fertility rate of children per woman has dropped from 4.07 to 2.08. Tunisia has dropped from 4.82 to 2.14 and Morocco from 5.4 to 2.52 children per woman.

According to the CIA's "The World Factbook", the country with the highest birth rate is Niger at 6.49 children born per woman and the country with the lowest birth rate is Taiwan, at 1.13 children born per woman.

Compared with the 1950s (when the birth rate was 36 per thousand), as of 2011, the world birth rate has declined by 16 per thousand.

As of 2017, Niger has the highest birth rate in the world with 49.443 per thousand people.
Japan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world with 8 per thousand people.
While in Japan there are 126 million people and in Niger 21 million, both countries had around 1 million babies born in 2016.

The region of Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest birth rate in the world. As of 2016, Niger, Mali, Uganda, Zambia, and Burundi have the highest birth rates in the world. This is part of the fertility-income paradox, as these countries are very poor, and it may seem counter-intuitive for families there to have so many children. The inverse relationship between income and fertility has been termed a "demographic-economic "paradox"" by the notion that greater means would enable the production of more offspring as suggested by the influential Thomas Malthus.

Afghanistan has the 11th highest birth rate in the world, and also the highest birth rate of any non-African country (as of 2016). The rapid population growth of Afghanistan is considered a problem by preventing population stabilization, and affecting maternal and infant health. Reasons for large families include tradition, religion, the low status of women and the cultural desire to have several sons.

Historically, Australia has had a relatively low fertility rate, reaching a high of 3.14 births per woman in 1960. This was followed by a decline which continued until the mid-2000, when a one off cash incentive was introduced to reverse the decline. In 2004, the then Howard government introduced a non-means tested 'Maternity Payment' to parents of every newborn as a substitute to maternity leave. The payment known as the 'Baby Bonus' was A$3000 per child. This rose to A$5000 which was paid in 13 instalments.

At a time when Australia's unemployment was at a 28-year low of 5.2%, the then Treasurer Peter Costello stated there was opportunity to go lower. With a good economic outlook for Australia, Costello held the view that now was a good time to expand the population, with his famous quote that every family should have three children "one for mum, one for dad and one for the country". Australia's fertility rate reached a peak of 1.95 children per woman in 2010, a 30-year high, although still below replacement rate.

Phil Ruthven of the business information firm IBISWorld believes the spike in fertility was more about timing and less about monetary incentives. Generation X was now aged 25 to 45 years old. With numerous women putting pregnancies off for a few years for the sake of a career, many felt the years closing in and their biological clocks ticking.

On 1 March 2014, the baby bonus was replaced with Family Tax Benefit A. By then the baby bonus had left its legacy on Australia.

In 2016, Australia's fertility rate has only decreased slightly to 1.91 children per woman.

Canada

France has been successful in increasing fertility rates from the low levels seen in the late 1980s, after a continuous fall in the birth rate. In 1994, the total fertility rate was as low as 1.66, but perhaps due to the active family policy of the government in the mid 1990s, it has increased, and maintained an average of 2.0 average from 2008 until 2015.

In particular, the French income taxation system is structured so that families with children receive tax breaks greater than single adults without children. This income tax imposition system is known as the family coefficient of income tax. A characteristic of the family factor is that households with a large number of children, even if they are at the same standard of living, can receive more tax exemption benefits.

There are also:

The birth rate in Germany is only 8.3 per thousand—so low that the UK and France (which have smaller populations) had more births in the past year.

In Europe as of July 2011, Ireland's birth rate was 16.5 per 1000 (3.5 percent higher than the next-ranked country, the UK).

In August 2011 Taiwan's government announced that its birth rate declined in the previous year, despite the fact that the government implemented approaches to encourage fertility.

In July 2011, the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced a 2.4 percent increase in live births in the UK in 2010. This is the highest birth rate in the UK in 40 years. However, the UK record year for births and birth rate remains 1920 (when the ONS reported over 957,000 births to a population of "around 40 million").

Other factors (such as women's labor-force participation, contraceptive technology and public policy) make it difficult to determine how much economic change affect fertility. Research suggests that much of the fertility decline during an economic downturn is a postponement of childbearing, not a decision to have fewer (or no) children; people plan to "catch up" to their plans of bearing children when economic conditions improve. Younger women are more likely than older women to postpone pregnancy due to economic factors, since they have more years of fertility remaining.

States strict in enforcing child support have up to 20 percent fewer unmarried births than states that are lax about getting unmarried dads to pay, the researchers found. Moreover, according to the results, if all 50 states in the United States had done at least as well in their enforcement efforts as the state ranked fifth from the top, that would have led to a 20 percent reduction in out-of-wedlock births.

The United States population growth is at an historical low level as the United States current birth rates are the lowest ever recorded. The low birth rates in the contemporary United States can possibly be ascribed to the recession, which led women to postpone having children and fewer immigrants coming to the US. The current US birth rates are not high enough to maintain the size of the U.S. population, according to The Economist.

Reproductive health can also affect the birth rate, as untreated infections can lead to fertility problems, as can be seen in the "infertility belt" - a region that stretches across central Africa from the United Republic of Tanzania in the east to Gabon in the west, and which has a lower fertility than other African regions.

The region of Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest birth rate in the world. As of 2016, Niger, Mali, Uganda, Zambia, and Burundi have the highest birth rates in the world. This is part of the fertility-income paradox, as these countries are very poor, and it may seem counter-intuitive for families there to have so many children. The inverse relationship between income and fertility has been termed a "demographic-economic "paradox"" by the notion that greater means would enable the production of more offspring as suggested by the influential Thomas Malthus.

Birth rate

The birth rate (technically, births/population rate) is the total number of live births per 1,000 in a population in a year or period. The rate of births in a population is calculated in several ways: live births from a universal registration system for births, deaths, and marriages; population counts from a census, and estimation through specialized demographic techniques. The birth rate (along with mortality and migration rate) are used to calculate population growth.

The "crude birth rate" is the number of live births per year per 1,000 mid-year population. Another term used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude death rate is subtracted from the crude birth rate, the result is the rate of natural increase (RNI). This is equal to the rate of population change (excluding migration).

The total (crude) birth rate (which includes all births)—typically indicated as births per 1,000 population—is distinguished from an age-specific rate (the number of births per 1,000 persons in an age group). The first known use of the term "birth rate" in English occurred in 1859.

The average global birth rate is 18.5 births per 1,000 total population in 2016.
The death rate is 7.8 per 1,000 per year. The RNI is thus 1.06 percent.
In 2012 the average global birth rate was 19.611 according to the World Bank and 19.15 births per 1,000 total population according to the CIA, compared to 20.09 per 1,000 total population in 2007.

The 2016 average of 18.6 births per 1,000 total population is estimated to be about 4.3 births/second or about 256 births/minute for the world.

Myanmar, a country which until 2011 was controlled by an austere military junta, intent on controlling every aspect of its population's lives. The military generals wanted the country's population doubled. In their view, the women's job was to produce babies to power the country's labour force, so family planning was vehemently opposed. The women of Burma opposed this policy, and Peter McDonald of the Australian National University argues that this gave rise to a black market trade in contraception, all smuggled from neighbouring Thailand.

Islamic clerics are having less influence over women in other Muslim countries also. In the past 30 years Turkey's fertility rate of children per woman has dropped from 4.07 to 2.08. Tunisia has dropped from 4.82 to 2.14 and Morocco from 5.4 to 2.52 children per woman.

According to the CIA's "The World Factbook", the country with the highest birth rate is Niger at 6.49 children born per woman and the country with the lowest birth rate is Taiwan, at 1.13 children born per woman.

Compared with the 1950s (when the birth rate was 36 per thousand), as of 2011, the world birth rate has declined by 16 per thousand.

As of 2017, Niger has the highest birth rate in the world with 49.443 per thousand people.
Japan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world with 8 per thousand people.
While in Japan there are 126 million people and in Niger 21 million, both countries had around 1 million babies born in 2016.

The region of Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest birth rate in the world. As of 2016, Niger, Mali, Uganda, Zambia, and Burundi have the highest birth rates in the world. This is part of the fertility-income paradox, as these countries are very poor, and it may seem counter-intuitive for families there to have so many children. The inverse relationship between income and fertility has been termed a "demographic-economic "paradox"" by the notion that greater means would enable the production of more offspring as suggested by the influential Thomas Malthus.

Afghanistan has the 11th highest birth rate in the world, and also the highest birth rate of any non-African country (as of 2016). The rapid population growth of Afghanistan is considered a problem by preventing population stabilization, and affecting maternal and infant health. Reasons for large families include tradition, religion, the low status of women and the cultural desire to have several sons.

Historically, Australia has had a relatively low fertility rate, reaching a high of 3.14 births per woman in 1960. This was followed by a decline which continued until the mid-2000, when a one off cash incentive was introduced to reverse the decline. In 2004, the then Howard government introduced a non-means tested 'Maternity Payment' to parents of every newborn as a substitute to maternity leave. The payment known as the 'Baby Bonus' was A$3000 per child. This rose to A$5000 which was paid in 13 instalments.

At a time when Australia's unemployment was at a 28-year low of 5.2%, the then Treasurer Peter Costello stated there was opportunity to go lower. With a good economic outlook for Australia, Costello held the view that now was a good time to expand the population, with his famous quote that every family should have three children "one for mum, one for dad and one for the country". Australia's fertility rate reached a peak of 1.95 children per woman in 2010, a 30-year high, although still below replacement rate.

Phil Ruthven of the business information firm IBISWorld believes the spike in fertility was more about timing and less about monetary incentives. Generation X was now aged 25 to 45 years old. With numerous women putting pregnancies off for a few years for the sake of a career, many felt the years closing in and their biological clocks ticking.

On 1 March 2014, the baby bonus was replaced with Family Tax Benefit A. By then the baby bonus had left its legacy on Australia.

In 2016, Australia's fertility rate has only decreased slightly to 1.91 children per woman.

Canada

France has been successful in increasing fertility rates from the low levels seen in the late 1980s, after a continuous fall in the birth rate. In 1994, the total fertility rate was as low as 1.66, but perhaps due to the active family policy of the government in the mid 1990s, it has increased, and maintained an average of 2.0 average from 2008 until 2015.

In particular, the French income taxation system is structured so that families with children receive tax breaks greater than single adults without children. This income tax imposition system is known as the family coefficient of income tax. A characteristic of the family factor is that households with a large number of children, even if they are at the same standard of living, can receive more tax exemption benefits.

There are also:

The birth rate in Germany is only 8.3 per thousand—so low that the UK and France (which have smaller populations) had more births in the past year.

In Europe as of July 2011, Ireland's birth rate was 16.5 per 1000 (3.5 percent higher than the next-ranked country, the UK).

In August 2011 Taiwan's government announced that its birth rate declined in the previous year, despite the fact that the government implemented approaches to encourage fertility.

In July 2011, the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced a 2.4 percent increase in live births in the UK in 2010. This is the highest birth rate in the UK in 40 years. However, the UK record year for births and birth rate remains 1920 (when the ONS reported over 957,000 births to a population of "around 40 million").

Other factors (such as women's labor-force participation, contraceptive technology and public policy) make it difficult to determine how much economic change affect fertility. Research suggests that much of the fertility decline during an economic downturn is a postponement of childbearing, not a decision to have fewer (or no) children; people plan to "catch up" to their plans of bearing children when economic conditions improve. Younger women are more likely than older women to postpone pregnancy due to economic factors, since they have more years of fertility remaining.

States strict in enforcing child support have up to 20 percent fewer unmarried births than states that are lax about getting unmarried dads to pay, the researchers found. Moreover, according to the results, if all 50 states in the United States had done at least as well in their enforcement efforts as the state ranked fifth from the top, that would have led to a 20 percent reduction in out-of-wedlock births.

The United States population growth is at an historical low level as the United States current birth rates are the lowest ever recorded. The low birth rates in the contemporary United States can possibly be ascribed to the recession, which led women to postpone having children and fewer immigrants coming to the US. The current US birth rates are not high enough to maintain the size of the U.S. population, according to The Economist.

Reproductive health can also affect the birth rate, as untreated infections can lead to fertility problems, as can be seen in the "infertility belt" - a region that stretches across central Africa from the United Republic of Tanzania in the east to Gabon in the west, and which has a lower fertility than other African regions.

Child custody laws, affecting fathers' parental rights over their children from birth until child custody ends at age 18, may have an effect on the birth rate. U.S. states strict in enforcing child support have up to 20 percent fewer unmarried births than states that are lax about getting unmarried fathers to pay, the researchers found. Moreover, according to the results, if all 50 states in the United States had done at least as well in their enforcement efforts as the state ranked fifth from the top, that would have led to a 20 percent reduction in out-of-wedlock births.


Who played the voice of Mrs. Brisby in The Secret of NIMH?

The Secret of NIMH is a 1982 American animated dark fantasy adventure film directed by Don Bluth in his directorial debut. It is an adaptation of Robert C. O'Brien's 1971 children's novel "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH". The film was produced by Aurora Productions and released by MGM/UA Entertainment Company for United Artists and features the voices of Elizabeth Hartman, Dom DeLuise, Arthur Malet, Derek Jacobi, Hermione Baddeley, John Carradine, Peter Strauss, and Paul Shenar. The "Mrs. Frisby" name in the novel had to be changed to "Mrs. Brisby" during production due to trademark concerns with Frisbee discs. It was followed in 1998 by a direct-to-video sequel called "", which was made without Bluth's involvement or input. In 2015, a CGI/live action remake was reported to be in the works.

The Secret of NIMH

Mrs. Brisby, a timid widowed field mouse, lives in a cinder block with her children in a field on the Fitzgibbons' farm. She prepares to move her family out of the field as plowing time approaches, but her son Timothy has fallen ill. She visits Mr. Ages, another mouse and friend of her late husband, Jonathan, who diagnoses Timothy with pneumonia and provides her with medicine. Mr. Ages warns her that Timothy must stay inside for at least three weeks or he will die. On her way home, she encounters Jeremy, a clumsy but friendly crow. They both narrowly escape from the Fitzgibbons' cat, Dragon.

The next day, Mrs. Brisby discovers that Farmer Fitzgibbons has started plowing early. Although her neighbor Auntie Shrew helps her disable his tractor, Mrs. Brisby knows she must devise another plan. Jeremy takes her to meet the Great Owl, who tells her to visit a group of rats that live beneath a rose bush on the farm and ask for Nicodemus, their wise and mystical leader.

Mrs. Brisby enters the rose bush and encounters a aggressive guard rat named Brutus, who chases her away. She is led back in by Mr. Ages, and is amazed to see the rats' use of electricity and other technology. She meets Justin, the friendly Captain of the Guard, and Jenner, a ruthless, power-hungry rat opposed to Nicodemus, and finally Nicodemus himself. From Nicodemus, she learns that many years ago her husband, along with the rats and Mr. Ages, were part of a series of experiments at a place known as NIMH, the National Institute of Mental Health. The experiments boosted their intelligence, enabling them to escape, as well as extending their lifespans and slowing their aging process. However, they are unable to live only as rats, needing human technology to survive, which they have only accomplished by stealing. The rats have concocted "The Plan", which is to leave the farm and live independently. Nicodemus gives Mrs. Brisby an amulet called "The Stone", which gives magical power when its wearer is courageous.

Because of her husband's relationship with the rats, they agree to help Mrs. Brisby move her home. First, they need to drug Dragon to sleep so that they can complete the move safely. Only Mrs. Brisby can do this, as only mice are small enough to fit through the hole leading into the house; Jonathan was killed by Dragon in a previous attempt, while Mr. Ages broke his leg in another. That night, she puts the drug into the cat's food dish, but the Fitzgibbons' son Billy catches her. While trapped in a birdcage, she overhears a telephone conversation between Farmer Fitzgibbons and NIMH and learns that the Institute intends to exterminate the rats the next day. She escapes from the cage and runs off to warn the rats.

The rats are moving the Brisby home, with the children inside, using a rope and pulley system during a thunderstorm. Jenner, who wishes for the rats to remain in the rose bush, sabotages the ropes with his reluctant accomplice Sullivan, causing the assembly to fly apart and kill Nicodemus. Mrs. Brisby arrives and tries to convince the rats that NIMH is coming and they must leave, but Jenner attacks her and attempts to steal the amulet. Sullivan alerts Justin, who rushes to Mrs. Brisby's aid. Jenner mortally wounds Sullivan and engages Justin in a sword fight, which ends with Sullivan killing Jenner before dying himself.

The Brisby house begins to sink into the mud, but Justin and the rats are unable to raise it. Mrs. Brisby's will to save her children gives power to the amulet, which she uses to lift the house and move it to safety. The next morning, the rats have departed for Thorn Valley with Justin as their new leader, and Timothy begins to recover. Jeremy eventually meets "Miss Right", another crow who is just as clumsy as he is, and the two fly away together.The rights to the book "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" had reportedly been offered to Disney in 1972 but turned down.

"The Secret of NIMH" was the first feature film to be directed by Don Bluth. In September 1979 he, fellow animators Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy, and eight other animation staff left the animation department at Walt Disney Productions to set up their own independent studio, Don Bluth Productions. The studio worked, at first, out of Bluth's house and garage, but moved to a two-story, facility in Studio City, California, several months later. While they were still working at Disney, they produced the 27-minute short film "Banjo the Woodpile Cat" as a side project to gain other production skills that the company and their animation program were not addressing. Bluth asked Ron W. Miller, Walt Disney's son-in-law and the president and CEO of the company at the time, to view "Banjo", but Miller declined. As Goldman recalled, "that pulled the enthusiasm rug out from under us. We had hoped that the studio might like what we were doing and agree to buy the film and allow us to finish the short film in the studio, which would allow us to recoup what we had spent in terms of money and the many hours that we and the other members of the team had invested in the film."

Before they started making "Banjo", artist and story writer Ken Anderson had been getting into "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH", which he called "a wonderful story". He gave the book to Bluth for him to read and make a film out of after Bluth finished the animation direction of "Pete's Dragon". Bluth later showed "NIMH" to Disney animation director Wolfgang Reitherman, who turned down Bluth's offers to make a movie based on the book, stating, "We've already got a mouse [named Mickey Mouse,] and we've done a mouse movie [called "The Rescuers"]." However, Bluth also presented the novel to the other staff that would work for Don Bluth Productions later on, and they all loved it. Two months later, former Disney executive James L. Stewart, who now had started Aurora Productions, called Goldman and told him about Anderson's idea of making a film based on "NIMH". At Bluth, Goldman and Pomeroy's request, Aurora Productions acquired the film rights and offered Don Bluth Productions a budget of US$5.7 million and 30 months to complete the film, tighter in both budget and schedule than most Disney animated features at the time.

Goldman described the casting process as "exciting, fun, and sometimes strange". He stated that focusing on the characteristics of each character, the voices, and acting abilities were crucial, saying that using voices that added to a movie's texture was part of the team's philosophy in the development of a film. Goldman found the strangest casting decision to be Dom DeLuise for Jeremy the Crow, which Goldman, Bluth, and Pomeroy had considered after they watched the 1978 film "The End". Elizabeth Hartman was cast as Mrs. Brisby, with Goldman calling her performance in "A Patch of Blue" "so believable and sincere that we all felt that she was right for the part." Pomeroy suggested Derek Jacobi, who starred in the 1976 miniseries "I Claudius," to play the part of Nicodemus. Peter Strauss, whom the team previously saw in another miniseries from 1976, "Rich Man, Poor Man", was cast as Justin. Paul Shenar was assigned to play Jenner; the staff liked his "dark, powerful voice". Shakespearean actor John Carradine was "perfect for the dark, ominous Great Owl", while Aldo Ray was assigned to voice Sullivan, whom Goldman said "also had a great distinctive voice".

The production of "The Secret of NIMH" lasted from January 1980 to early June 1982. The studio set out with the explicit goal in mind of returning feature animation to its "golden era", concentrating on strong characters and story, and experimenting with unusual and often more labor-intensive animation techniques. Bluth believed older techniques were being abandoned in favor of lower production costs, and the only way animation could survive was to continue traditional production methods. Among the techniques experimented with on "The Secret of NIMH" were rotoscoping, multiple passes on the camera to achieve transparent shadows, and backlit animation (where animated mattes are shot with light shining through color gels to produce glowing areas for artificial light and fire effects), multiple color palettes for characters to fit in different lighting situations, from daylight, to night, to warm environments, to underwater. Mrs. Brisby had 46 different lighting situations, therefore there were 46 different color palettes, or lists of color, for her. Two modern, computerized versions of the multiplane camera were also manufactured for this production.

To achieve the film's detailed full animation while keeping to the tight budget, the studio strove to keep any waste of time and resources to a minimum. The crew often worked long hours with no immediate financial reward (though they were offered a cut of the film's profits, a practice common for producers, directors and stars of live action films but never before offered to artists on an animated feature); producer Gary Goldman recalled working 110-hour weeks during the final six months of production. Around 100 in-house staff worked on the film, with the labor-intensive cel painting farmed out to 45 people working from home. Many minor roles, including incidental and crowd voice work, were filled in by the in-house staff. The final cost of the film was $6.385 million. The producers, Bluth, Goldman, Pomeroy, and the executive producers at Aurora mortgaged their homes collectively for $700,000 to complete the film, with the understanding that their investment would be the first to be repaid. The film was the sixth animated feature to be presented in the Dolby Stereo sound system.

One of the earliest drafts of the film was written by Steven Barnes, who received a creative consultant credit in the final product, and was closer to the original novel. The story would have focused more on the rats and their time at NIMH as it did in the book, which was reduced to a short flashback in later revisions to bring Mrs. Brisby and her plight into the forefront. It also included a female rat named Isabella (described as "a young, cute, somewhat motor-mouthed rat with a crush on Justin"), who was ultimately left out and much of her dialogue given to Nicodemus. A revised synopsis dated July 2, 1980 by an unattributed author would take the movie closer to its completed form, which ended with the mysterious disappearance of the rats, leading the characters and audience to wonder if they ever really existed, or were just an elaborate illusion.

Bluth himself would later make several changes to the story, most notably with the addition of mystical elements not present in the original novel. He explained "Regarding magic, we really believe that animation calls for some magic, to give it a special 'fantastic' quality." This was most apparent in the magic amulet given to Mrs. Brisby, which was meant to be a visual representation of her character's internal power; something harder to show on film. The object was also meant to introduce a spiritual aspect to the plot, with the director remarking, "The stone or amulet is just a method of letting the audience know that Mrs. Brisby has found 'Courage of the Heart'. Magic? Maybe. Spiritual? Yes." In the same vein, Nicodemus was made into a wizard to "create more mystery" about himself and the rats' colony. The antagonist Jenner was given much more prominence in the movie, being only mentioned as a traitor who leaves in the book, to "add drama" to the narrative by giving it a more visible enemy. Justin also now succeeds Nicodemus as the leader of the rats to give his character more of an arc, and allow him an opportunity to "grow and change." Unlike the original work, Justin does not rescue Mrs. Brisby from the cage at the Fitzgibbons' house, and she now helps her children without the rats' assistance by using the amulet; once again giving focus to her personal story. As Bluth put it, ""The Secret of NIMH" is really a story about Mrs. Brisby and her need to save her children. If the rats save her children, then she hasn't grown in the film."

During the film's production, Aurora contacted Wham-O, the manufacturers of Frisbee flying discs, with concerns about possible trademark infringements if the "Mrs. Frisby" name in O'Brien's original book was used in the movie. Wham-O rejected Aurora's request for waiver to use the same-sounding name to their "Frisbee", in the movie. Aurora informed Bluth & company that Mrs. Frisby's name would have to be altered. By then, the voice work had already been recorded for the film, so the name change to "Mrs. Brisby" necessitated a combination of re-recording some lines and, because John Carradine was unavailable for further recordings, careful sound editing had to be performed, taking the "B" sound of another word from Carradine's recorded lines, and replace the "F" sound with the "B" sound, altering the name from "Frisby" to "Brisby".

"The Secret of NIMH Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" contains songs from the film written by Jerry Goldsmith and performed by the National Philharmonic Orchestra, with vocal selections by Paul Williams and Sally Stevens. It was Goldsmith's first composition for an animated feature, which he admitted was such a departure from his normal work that in the end he approached the project like a live action score, employing the same kind of extended themes and structural development. What made the scoring process hard for Goldsmith was that he had to score scenes that were unfinished: "I was on the phone constantly with them. My dupe [copy of the film] was in black and white, and they'd bring their color copy over so I could see it. They were constantly adding footage, and it was constantly, 'What's going on here?' and 'What's happening here?'" David Horten spent a year on the sound design for the film, which was supervised by Goldman. Goldman found the sound work by Horten his second favorite part of the production process, recalling that some of his "most beautiful efforts" had to make way for the recordings of Goldsmith's music: "I remember hearing David’s orchestration of ambient sounds and specific sound effects for the 8 minute tractor sequence without Jerry’s music cue. It was amazing. But then, so was Jerry’s 8 minute music cue, it remains extremely powerful. We were able to combine a lot of David’s sounds, treating them like part of the orchestra. It came out great, but I couldn’t help but feel empathy for David."

The album was released on July 2, 1982, on vinyl and re-released on March 3, 1995, on CD with a rearranged track listing. Intrada Records issued a remastered limited edition album on CD on August 17, 2015, with one previously unreleased cue ("At Your Service," running 3:39) and three demos of "Flying Dreams" (as performed by Sally Stevens, Paul Williams and as a piano duet) totaling 10:09.
"The Secret of NIMH" debuted on super 8 film and several home video formats in 1983, including VHS, Betamax, CED Videodisc, Video8, and LaserDisc, which were distributed by MGM/UA Home Video in North America, and Warner Home Video in Europe, Australia, and Japan. A Video 2000 version was also released exclusively in Europe. With a $79 purchase price in the US, the VHS version sold approximately 25,000 copies within the first few months.

On September 6, 1990, the film was re-released on both VHS and LaserDisc in a new advertising campaign with lower retail prices. It was this new wide availability on video, as well as broadcasts on cable, that helped "NIMH" garner a cult following long after its theatrical debut. This was followed by another VHS release under the MGM/UA Family Entertainment label in 1994, along with a Philips CD-i video disc version that same year, which was available exclusively through Warner Home Video in worldwide.

The film was released on DVD for the first time on November 17, 1998, which was reprinted numerous times in the ensuing years, both as a stand-alone release or bundled with other animated movies from MGM or 20th Century Fox. Don Bluth and Gary Goldman later oversaw a high-definition restoration of the film, which was released on June 19, 2007 in a 2-disc DVD set called the "Family Fun Edition". Improvements in the transfer over the 1998 DVD include color correction and dirt and dust removal, and included special features such as audio commentary from both individuals, and an interview featurette. A Blu-ray version was released on March 29, 2011, which retained the special features of the Family Fun Edition.

The film's distributor, MGM/UA Entertainment Company, barely did any promotion for the film, leading Aurora to finance the advertising campaign themselves. The financiers had expected the film to open in wide release in 1,000 venues, but MGM opted for a limited opening weekend in 100 theaters, with its widest release in only 700. Although in competition with the blockbuster "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" directed by future Bluth partner Steven Spielberg, it performed better in those theaters alone in its opening week than "Poltergeist", "Rocky III", "Firefox", and "". However, as a result of its release and competition with other summer fare, "NIMH" became only a moderate success, grossing $14,665,733 in North America, though it was more successful on home video, cable, and foreign release, ultimately turning a profit.

"The Secret of NIMH" received widespread critical acclaim upon its release and continues to be hailed as one of the greatest animated films of all time. It received a 96% "Fresh" approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 23 reviews with the consensus that ""The Secret of NIMH" is a dark, well-told tale that respects its young audience enough to not tone down its subject matter." Critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert gave the movie two positive "yes" votes on a July 15, 1982, episode of their television program "Sneak Previews" with Ebert stating "Walt Disney would've liked "The Secret of NIMH"." Ebert would give "Secret of NIMH" three out of four stars in his review for the "Chicago Sun-Times", calling it "an artistic success", praising the quality of its animation, and that it "contains that absolute rarity among feature-length animated cartoons, an interesting premise". However, Ebert found that "NIMH" may not resonate as well on an emotional level with younger viewers, since "it has so many characters and involves them in so many different problems that there's nobody for the kids in the audience to strongly identify with." Siskel, writing for the "Chicago Tribune", found the movie "charming", but stated that the narrative was "littered with too many unimportant characters" and that Dom DeLuise "insert[ed] too much of himself" into the character of Jeremy. Despite this, Siskel found the film, particularly the second half, to be a "genuine pleasure", and felt that even adults will be drawn into the story by the end, giving it three stars out of four. In his review for the 1990 VHS re-release, Jeff Unger of "Entertainment Weekly" gave "The Secret of NIMH" a grade of "A", calling it "a wonderful adaptation" of the original book, adding that "Bluth and his animators, bless them, chose to revive an endangered art form – classically detailed animation. They drew their characters exquisitely and gave them individual personalities. The entire ensemble – artists, actors, animals, and musicians – created something unique: the world's first enjoyable rat race." Similarly, Richard Corliss of "Time" magazine called the movie "something gorgeous to look at".
"The Secret of NIMH" won Best Animated Film of 1982 at the 10th annual Saturn Awards, where it also received a nomination for Best Fantasy Film, losing to "The Dark Crystal". In his acceptance speech, Bluth remarked, "Thanks. We didn't think anyone had noticed." The film was also nominated for Best Family Feature for Animation, Musical or Fantasy at the 4th annual Youth in Film Awards, being beaten by "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", while the home video release received an Award of Excellence from the Film Advisory Board. In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated this film for its Top 10 Animation Films list.

A direct-to-video sequel directed by Dick Sebast and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation titled "Timmy to the Rescue" was released on December 22, 1998. Set several years after the events of the first film, the plot focuses on Mrs. Brisby's son Timothy as he struggles to live up to his father's prestigious reputation. The movie was made without Don Bluth's input or involvement, and was panned by critics and fans upon release.

On March 4, 2015, "Deadline Hollywood" reported that MGM had re-acquired the rights to produce a new film based on the original novel "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH". The film will be produced by the team of Daniel Bobker and Ehren Kruger, with screenplay by "Ice Age" series writer Michael Berg. It is planned as a CGI/live action hybrid "à la "The Smurfs" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks"", and will be "an origin story in which an imperiled mouse protagonist befriends a comical crew of lab rats as they turn hyper-intelligent. They escape a secret laboratory and become the great minds of vermin civilization, forced to outwit the humans hot on their tails." The studio plans to turn the novel into a family franchise.

The Secret of NIMH