On Wednesday, May 27, the National Statistics Institute (INE) presented its Demographic Overview of Chile, which was based on vital statistics data on births and deaths. The information comes from the database of the 2025 Provisional Annual Demographic Bulletin of Vital Statistics and the 2023 Yearbook, which were produced through a joint effort of INE, the Civil Registration and Identification Service, and the Ministry of Health. The data shows that in 1993, the number of births in Chile was 275,916. Thirty years later in 2023, there were 174,057 live births, which represents a difference of 101,859 births, a fall of 36.9%. Compared to the 146,446 births in 2025, the difference is 129,470, a fall of 46.9% in thirty-two years.

Similarly, the total fertility rate (TFR) fell 59.4% from 1993 to 2025. For the first time, the TFR was below one child per woman (0.99 live births per woman). In the same period, the mean age at childbearing rose from 27 years in 1993 to 30 years in 2025.

Another important point about births is that, between 2017 and 2025, the proportion of foreign mothers increased 2.9 times, from 6.9% of live births in 2017 to 19.7% (according to provisional figures) in 2025.

Deaths

In 1993, the total number of deaths in Chile stood at 76,261. Thirty years later in 2023, the number of deaths was 122,218, which represents an increase of 50,622 deaths, or 60.3%. Compared to the 126,428 deaths in 2025, the difference is 50,167 deaths, an increase of 65.8%.

Meanwhile, infant mortality (deaths of children under 1 year of age) stood at 3,792 deaths in 1993. In 2023, the number of infant deaths was 1,149, which is 2,643 fewer deaths (-69.7%). In 2025, the difference was 2,924 deaths (-77.1%). The infant mortality rate decreased from 13.1 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1993 to 5.8 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2025.

Rate of natural increase

In 1993, the rate of natural increase (i.e., the difference between the number of births and deaths divided by the population as of June 30 of the same year, whose resulting quotient is multiplied by 1,000) was 15.3 persons per 1,000 inhabitants. In 2025, the rate fell to 0.9 per 1,000, which is equivalent to a decrease of 14.4 per 1,000 (-94.1%).

In 2023, all regions showed positive rates of natural increase. The regions of Valparaíso and Ñuble showed negative rates of natural increase in 2024, while the region of Los Ríos became the third region with a negative rate of natural increase in 2025. According to provisional figures of 2025, 45.1% of the total number of communes in Chile showed a negative rate of natural increase. The regions with the greatest number of communes with negative rates of natural increase were La Araucanía, Biobío, Los Lagos, and Valparaíso, which together had eighty communes with negative rates of natural increase, or 51.3% of all communes in Chile with negative rates of natural increase.

Life expectancy at birth

Between 2010 and 2019, life expectancy at birth showed an absolute increase of 2.40 years (both sexes). As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, life expectancy in 2021 was 79.14 for both sexes, an absolute decrease of 1.71 years between 2019 and 2021, which is equivalent to 71.3% of the increase in life expectancy that had occurred between 2010 and 2019. From 2021 to 2025 however, there was an absolute increase in life expectancy of 2.32 years, which is equivalent to 2.9% over the period and 96.7% of the growth observed between 2010 and 2019.

Presentation – Demographic Overview of Chile according to Vital Statistics of Births and Deaths 2023 – 2025(p) (Spanish only)