French Polynesia Fertility Rate

French Polynesia’s fertility rate has fallen dramatically over the past six and a half decades, sliding from an all‑time peak of 6.00 in 1965 to a trough of 1.46 in 2025, the lowest figure among 155 countries in the World Bank database. The earliest recorded rate in 1960 was 5.93, indicating that the steepest decline occurred during the latter half of the twentieth century as urbanisation, higher female education and greater access to contraception reshaped family‑size preferences. By 2025 the territory shares its 1.46 rate with peers such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Grenada, positioning it among the world’s lowest‑fertility jurisdictions. The sustained downturn reflects a demographic transition typical of many small island economies that have moved from agrarian to service‑oriented structures. If current social policies continue to support child‑bearing incentives and improve work‑life balance, the fertility rate may stabilise above the replacement level; absent such measures, the downward trajectory is likely to persist.