Fertility & birth rates in China and New Zealand

Fertility rate in China vs New Zealand chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in China was 1 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1.56 in New Zealand in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check China vs New Zealand population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	China	New Zealand
1960	4.45	4.24
1961	3.86	4.31
1962	6.09	4.19
1963	7.51	4.05
1964	6.67	3.8
1965	6.61	3.54
1966	6.31	3.41
1967	5.81	3.35
1968	6.51	3.34
1969	6.18	3.28
1970	6.09	3.17
1971	5.52	3.18
1972	5.11	3
1973	4.73	2.76
1974	4.17	2.58
1975	3.57	2.37
1976	3.24	2.27
1977	2.84	2.21
1978	2.72	2.07
1979	2.75	2.12
1980	2.74	2.03
1981	2.79	2.01
1982	2.97	1.95
1983	2.56	1.92
1984	2.61	1.93
1985	2.63	1.93
1986	2.72	1.96
1987	2.76	2.03
1988	2.54	2.1
1989	2.52	2.12
1990	2.51	2.18
1991	1.93	2.09
1992	1.78	2.06
1993	1.69	2.04
1994	1.63	1.98
1995	1.59	1.98
1996	1.55	1.96
1997	1.53	1.96
1998	1.52	1.89
1999	1.53	1.97
2000	1.63	1.98
2001	1.56	1.97
2002	1.57	1.89
2003	1.57	1.93
2004	1.61	1.98
2005	1.62	1.97
2006	1.64	2.01
2007	1.67	2.18
2008	1.7	2.19
2009	1.71	2.13
2010	1.69	2.17
2011	1.67	2.09
2012	1.8	2.1
2013	1.71	2.01
2014	1.77	1.92
2015	1.67	1.99
2016	1.77	1.87
2017	1.8	1.81
2018	1.54	1.71
2019	1.5	1.72
2020	1.24	1.61
2021	1.12	1.64
2022	1.03	1.66
2023	1	1.56
2024	1.01	1.55
2025	1.02	1.54
2026	1.03	1.53
2027	1.04	1.53
2028	1.05	1.52
2029	1.05	1.52
2030	1.06	1.52
2031	1.07	1.52
2032	1.08	1.52
2033	1.08	1.51
2034	1.09	1.51
2035	1.1	1.51
2036	1.1	1.51
2037	1.11	1.51
2038	1.12	1.51
2039	1.12	1.51
2040	1.13	1.51
2041	1.13	1.51
2042	1.14	1.51
2043	1.15	1.51
2044	1.15	1.51
2045	1.16	1.51
2046	1.16	1.51
2047	1.17	1.51
2048	1.17	1.51
2049	1.18	1.51
2050	1.18	1.51

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	China	New Zealand
1960	40.3%	32.8%
1961	40%	33%
1962	40%	33%
1963	40.6%	32.9%
1964	41.2%	32.9%
1965	41.5%	32.7%
1966	41.5%	32.6%
1967	41.3%	32.5%
1968	41%	32.3%
1969	41%	32.2%
1970	40.8%	31.9%
1971	40.7%	31.7%
1972	40.4%	31.4%
1973	40.1%	31%
1974	40.2%	30.5%
1975	40.2%	30.1%
1976	40.3%	29.6%
1977	39.8%	29%
1978	38.6%	28.4%
1979	37.2%	27.8%
1980	36.1%	27.2%
1981	35.1%	26.7%
1982	34.3%	26.2%
1983	33.3%	25.6%
1984	32.2%	25.1%
1985	31.2%	24.6%
1986	30.4%	24.2%
1987	29.8%	23.8%
1988	29.3%	23.5%
1989	28.9%	23.3%
1990	28.8%	23.3%
1991	28.6%	23.2%
1992	28.4%	23.1%
1993	28.2%	23.1%
1994	27.8%	23.1%
1995	27.4%	23.1%
1996	27%	23%
1997	26.3%	23%
1998	25.7%	23%
1999	25.2%	22.9%
2000	24.5%	22.8%
2001	23.8%	22.6%
2002	22.9%	22.4%
2003	22%	22.1%
2004	21.2%	21.8%
2005	20.3%	21.5%
2006	19.6%	21.3%
2007	19.2%	21.1%
2008	18.9%	21%
2009	18.6%	20.9%
2010	18.5%	20.9%
2011	18.3%	20.8%
2012	18.3%	20.6%
2013	18.3%	20.4%
2014	18.3%	20.2%
2015	18.3%	19.9%
2016	18.3%	19.6%
2017	18.4%	19.5%
2018	18.3%	19.3%
2019	18.2%	19.2%
2020	18%	19%
2021	17.6%	18.9%
2022	17.1%	18.6%
2023	16.6%	18.4%
2024	16%	18.1%
2025	15.4%	17.9%
2026	14.8%	17.6%
2027	14.1%	17.4%
2028	13.5%	17.2%
2029	12.8%	17%
2030	12.1%	16.8%
2031	11.5%	16.6%
2032	10.8%	16.4%
2033	10.3%	16.3%
2034	9.83%	16.1%
2035	9.53%	16%
2036	9.37%	15.9%
2037	9.31%	15.8%
2038	9.31%	15.7%
2039	9.34%	15.6%
2040	9.38%	15.5%
2041	9.43%	15.4%
2042	9.49%	15.4%
2043	9.56%	15.4%
2044	9.63%	15.3%
2045	9.71%	15.3%
2046	9.78%	15.3%
2047	9.85%	15.3%
2048	9.9%	15.3%
2049	9.93%	15.2%
2050	9.94%	15.2%

Children aged 0-14 make up 16% of the population in China and 18.1% in New Zealand in 2024, compared to 28.8% and 23.3% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of China and New Zealand compared.

Natural population change in China vs New Zealand by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.31% in China and +0.51% in New Zealand. The chart below illustrates the comparison of the absolute yearly changes resulting from births and deaths.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	China	New Zealand
1960	-3,048,510	41,791
1961	2,496,047	43,482
1962	17,969,132	42,865
1963	22,742,225	42,027
1964	19,302,532	39,375
1965	20,296,950	36,982
1966	19,282,187	36,151
1967	19,263,662	37,974
1968	21,206,083	37,594
1969	20,760,332	38,098
1970	21,137,076	37,101
1971	19,622,980	40,000
1972	19,102,585	38,244
1973	18,423,727	35,239
1974	15,738,118	33,896
1975	14,378,237	31,355
1976	11,782,472	29,456
1977	11,378,068	28,020
1978	11,473,980	26,156
1979	11,250,148	26,675
1980	11,647,260	23,658
1981	14,461,027	25,374
1982	15,815,318	24,207
1983	13,599,789	24,315
1984	13,561,671	26,043
1985	14,987,830	24,126
1986	16,609,920	25,549
1987	18,005,821	27,603
1988	17,328,640	29,846
1989	16,824,495	30,749
1990	16,335,313	33,298
1991	14,937,124	33,518
1992	13,548,601	32,067
1993	13,493,138	31,685
1994	13,360,470	30,372
1995	12,711,220	29,828
1996	12,686,872	28,997
1997	12,374,554	30,137
1998	11,351,286	29,146
1999	10,247,372	28,916
2000	9,570,849	29,897
2001	8,839,358	27,939
2002	8,258,580	25,941
2003	7,743,284	28,150
2004	7,607,960	29,634
2005	7,678,911	30,674
2006	6,922,185	30,924
2007	6,813,465	35,480
2008	6,729,247	35,143
2009	6,483,236	33,560
2010	6,407,607	35,458
2011	8,245,065	31,302
2012	10,075,174	31,077
2013	8,043,116	29,096
2014	9,205,180	26,196
2015	6,788,911	29,408
2016	9,062,269	28,237
2017	7,790,880	26,282
2018	5,302,433	24,797
2019	4,673,713	25,344
2020	2,046,095	24,993
2021	480,203	23,767
2022	-847,305	20,264
2023	-2,087,851	19,039

Maternal mortality chart: China vs New Zealand

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 16 deaths per 100,000 live births in China, compared to 7 deaths in New Zealand.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	China	New Zealand
1985	125	19
1986	120	18
1987	114	19
1988	108	19
1989	104	18
1990	102	18
1991	92	16
1992	86	15
1993	80	14
1994	76	13
1995	71	14
1996	67	14
1997	63	13
1998	60	12
1999	58	12
2000	56	11
2001	52	10
2002	50	11
2003	47	11
2004	45	11
2005	42	11
2006	40	10
2007	38	10
2008	38	10
2009	35	10
2010	34	10
2011	33	10
2012	32	9
2013	30	8
2014	28	7
2015	26	8
2016	25	8
2017	24	8
2018	22	7
2019	21	8
2020	20	8
2021	21	8
2022	18	23
2023	16	7

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.62% in China and 0.47% in New Zealand. Below is the historical data on under-five mortality rates.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	China	New Zealand
1960	-	2.78%
1961	-	2.68%
1962	-	2.58%
1963	-	2.48%
1964	-	2.39%
1965	-	2.31%
1966	-	2.25%
1967	-	2.2%
1968	-	2.16%
1969	11.9%	2.12%
1970	11.3%	2.08%
1971	10.7%	2.03%
1972	10.2%	1.98%
1973	9.61%	1.94%
1974	9.05%	1.88%
1975	8.5%	1.83%
1976	7.97%	1.77%
1977	7.47%	1.71%
1978	7.01%	1.66%
1979	6.62%	1.61%
1980	6.28%	1.56%
1981	6%	1.52%
1982	5.78%	1.48%
1983	5.61%	1.45%
1984	5.5%	1.41%
1985	5.43%	1.38%
1986	5.4%	1.34%
1987	5.4%	1.29%
1988	5.4%	1.24%
1989	5.39%	1.18%
1990	5.37%	1.12%
1991	5.31%	1.06%
1992	5.22%	1%
1993	5.08%	0.95%
1994	4.93%	0.91%
1995	4.75%	0.87%
1996	4.56%	0.84%
1997	4.36%	0.81%
1998	4.14%	0.78%
1999	3.91%	0.76%
2000	3.67%	0.74%
2001	3.42%	0.72%
2002	3.15%	0.7%
2003	2.89%	0.69%
2004	2.64%	0.67%
2005	2.4%	0.66%
2006	2.19%	0.65%
2007	2.01%	0.65%
2008	1.85%	0.64%
2009	1.71%	0.63%
2010	1.58%	0.62%
2011	1.46%	0.61%
2012	1.35%	0.6%
2013	1.25%	0.59%
2014	1.15%	0.57%
2015	1.07%	0.56%
2016	0.99%	0.55%
2017	0.92%	0.53%
2018	0.86%	0.52%
2019	0.8%	0.51%
2020	0.75%	0.5%
2021	0.7%	0.49%
2022	0.66%	0.48%
2023	0.62%	0.47%