Fertility & birth rates in Lesotho and New Zealand

Fertility rate in Lesotho vs New Zealand chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Lesotho was 2.69 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 Lesotho 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
	Lesotho	New Zealand
1960	5.78	4.24
1961	5.79	4.31
1962	5.79	4.19
1963	5.78	4.05
1964	5.77	3.8
1965	5.77	3.54
1966	5.76	3.41
1967	5.75	3.35
1968	5.73	3.34
1969	5.7	3.28
1970	5.7	3.17
1971	5.7	3.18
1972	5.69	3
1973	5.69	2.76
1974	5.75	2.58
1975	5.83	2.37
1976	5.87	2.27
1977	5.85	2.21
1978	5.82	2.07
1979	5.79	2.12
1980	5.75	2.03
1981	5.69	2.01
1982	5.63	1.95
1983	5.56	1.92
1984	5.48	1.93
1985	5.4	1.93
1986	5.32	1.96
1987	5.22	2.03
1988	5.1	2.1
1989	4.96	2.12
1990	4.81	2.18
1991	4.68	2.09
1992	4.54	2.06
1993	4.37	2.04
1994	4.21	1.98
1995	4.13	1.98
1996	4.06	1.96
1997	3.98	1.96
1998	3.82	1.89
1999	3.67	1.97
2000	3.61	1.98
2001	3.63	1.97
2002	3.68	1.89
2003	3.62	1.93
2004	3.51	1.98
2005	3.43	1.97
2006	3.41	2.01
2007	3.44	2.18
2008	3.39	2.19
2009	3.31	2.13
2010	3.25	2.17
2011	3.34	2.09
2012	3.3	2.1
2013	3.28	2.01
2014	3.24	1.92
2015	3.22	1.99
2016	3.18	1.87
2017	3.11	1.81
2018	3.02	1.71
2019	2.92	1.72
2020	2.85	1.61
2021	2.77	1.64
2022	2.72	1.66
2023	2.69	1.56
2024	2.66	1.55
2025	2.64	1.54
2026	2.61	1.53
2027	2.58	1.53
2028	2.55	1.52
2029	2.53	1.52
2030	2.5	1.52
2031	2.47	1.52
2032	2.45	1.52
2033	2.43	1.51
2034	2.41	1.51
2035	2.38	1.51
2036	2.37	1.51
2037	2.34	1.51
2038	2.32	1.51
2039	2.3	1.51
2040	2.29	1.51
2041	2.27	1.51
2042	2.25	1.51
2043	2.24	1.51
2044	2.22	1.51
2045	2.21	1.51
2046	2.19	1.51
2047	2.18	1.51
2048	2.17	1.51
2049	2.16	1.51
2050	2.14	1.51

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Lesotho	New Zealand
1960	45.1%	32.8%
1961	45.2%	33%
1962	45.3%	33%
1963	45.2%	32.9%
1964	44.9%	32.9%
1965	44.8%	32.7%
1966	44.9%	32.6%
1967	44.8%	32.5%
1968	44.4%	32.3%
1969	44%	32.2%
1970	43.6%	31.9%
1971	43.1%	31.7%
1972	42.7%	31.4%
1973	42.3%	31%
1974	41.9%	30.5%
1975	41.6%	30.1%
1976	41.4%	29.6%
1977	41.5%	29%
1978	41.7%	28.4%
1979	41.9%	27.8%
1980	42.1%	27.2%
1981	42.3%	26.7%
1982	42.5%	26.2%
1983	42.7%	25.6%
1984	42.8%	25.1%
1985	43%	24.6%
1986	42.7%	24.2%
1987	42.5%	23.8%
1988	42.7%	23.5%
1989	42.8%	23.3%
1990	42.9%	23.3%
1991	42.9%	23.2%
1992	42.8%	23.1%
1993	42.6%	23.1%
1994	42.3%	23.1%
1995	42%	23.1%
1996	41.7%	23%
1997	41.2%	23%
1998	40.7%	23%
1999	40.2%	22.9%
2000	39.6%	22.8%
2001	39.1%	22.6%
2002	38.6%	22.4%
2003	38.1%	22.1%
2004	37.7%	21.8%
2005	37.4%	21.5%
2006	37.1%	21.3%
2007	36.8%	21.1%
2008	36.7%	21%
2009	36.6%	20.9%
2010	36.5%	20.9%
2011	36.5%	20.8%
2012	36.5%	20.6%
2013	36.5%	20.4%
2014	36.6%	20.2%
2015	36.6%	19.9%
2016	36.6%	19.6%
2017	36.5%	19.5%
2018	36.3%	19.3%
2019	36.1%	19.2%
2020	35.8%	19%
2021	35.6%	18.9%
2022	35.3%	18.6%
2023	34.9%	18.4%
2024	34.5%	18.1%
2025	34.1%	17.9%
2026	33.6%	17.6%
2027	33.1%	17.4%
2028	32.6%	17.2%
2029	32%	17%
2030	31.5%	16.8%
2031	31%	16.6%
2032	30.5%	16.4%
2033	30.1%	16.3%
2034	29.7%	16.1%
2035	29.3%	16%
2036	29%	15.9%
2037	28.8%	15.8%
2038	28.5%	15.7%
2039	28.3%	15.6%
2040	28.1%	15.5%
2041	27.8%	15.4%
2042	27.6%	15.4%
2043	27.4%	15.4%
2044	27.1%	15.3%
2045	26.9%	15.3%
2046	26.7%	15.3%
2047	26.4%	15.3%
2048	26.2%	15.3%
2049	25.9%	15.2%
2050	25.7%	15.2%

Children aged 0-14 make up 34.5% of the population in Lesotho and 18.1% in New Zealand in 2024, compared to 42.9% and 23.3% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Lesotho and New Zealand compared.

Natural population change in Lesotho vs New Zealand by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +1.44% in Lesotho 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
	Lesotho	New Zealand
1960	19,981	41,791
1961	20,581	43,482
1962	21,132	42,865
1963	21,585	42,027
1964	22,116	39,375
1965	22,755	36,982
1966	23,326	36,151
1967	23,911	37,974
1968	24,490	37,594
1969	25,137	38,098
1970	25,935	37,101
1971	26,838	40,000
1972	27,841	38,244
1973	28,859	35,239
1974	30,444	33,896
1975	32,311	31,355
1976	34,117	29,456
1977	35,654	28,020
1978	37,084	26,156
1979	38,440	26,675
1980	39,617	23,658
1981	40,808	25,374
1982	41,941	24,207
1983	42,899	24,315
1984	43,785	26,043
1985	44,575	24,126
1986	45,232	25,549
1987	47,718	27,603
1988	47,158	29,846
1989	46,264	30,749
1990	45,060	33,298
1991	44,026	33,518
1992	42,579	32,067
1993	40,505	31,685
1994	38,629	30,372
1995	37,370	29,828
1996	36,228	28,997
1997	34,637	30,137
1998	30,889	29,146
1999	27,393	28,916
2000	24,786	29,897
2001	23,190	27,939
2002	22,274	25,941
2003	20,133	28,150
2004	17,271	29,634
2005	15,831	30,674
2006	15,234	30,924
2007	17,763	35,480
2008	19,349	35,143
2009	20,335	33,560
2010	21,877	35,458
2011	25,647	31,302
2012	27,592	31,077
2013	29,789	29,096
2014	30,922	26,196
2015	32,087	29,408
2016	33,390	28,237
2017	33,601	26,282
2018	33,112	24,797
2019	32,279	25,344
2020	30,721	24,993
2021	27,806	23,767
2022	30,803	20,264
2023	31,115	19,039

Maternal mortality chart: Lesotho vs New Zealand

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 478 deaths per 100,000 live births in Lesotho, compared to 7 deaths in New Zealand.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Lesotho	New Zealand
1985	711	19
1986	680	18
1987	686	19
1988	680	19
1989	680	18
1990	665	18
1991	641	16
1992	601	15
1993	542	14
1994	423	13
1995	357	14
1996	319	14
1997	312	13
1998	332	12
1999	371	12
2000	413	11
2001	465	10
2002	484	11
2003	508	11
2004	499	11
2005	549	11
2006	696	10
2007	891	10
2008	1,205	10
2009	1,387	10
2010	1,311	10
2011	1,210	10
2012	1,000	9
2013	855	8
2014	707	7
2015	594	8
2016	518	8
2017	468	8
2018	491	7
2019	467	8
2020	529	8
2021	577	8
2022	477	23
2023	478	7

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 5.89% in Lesotho 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
	Lesotho	New Zealand
1960	18.6%	2.78%
1961	18.5%	2.68%
1962	18.5%	2.58%
1963	18.6%	2.48%
1964	18.6%	2.39%
1965	18.7%	2.31%
1966	18.6%	2.25%
1967	18.5%	2.2%
1968	18.3%	2.16%
1969	18%	2.12%
1970	17.7%	2.08%
1971	17.3%	2.03%
1972	16.9%	1.98%
1973	16.5%	1.94%
1974	16%	1.88%
1975	15.5%	1.83%
1976	14.9%	1.77%
1977	14.2%	1.71%
1978	13.6%	1.66%
1979	12.9%	1.61%
1980	12.3%	1.56%
1981	11.7%	1.52%
1982	11.1%	1.48%
1983	10.6%	1.45%
1984	10.1%	1.41%
1985	9.72%	1.38%
1986	9.36%	1.34%
1987	9.06%	1.29%
1988	8.8%	1.24%
1989	8.6%	1.18%
1990	8.47%	1.12%
1991	8.43%	1.06%
1992	8.51%	1%
1993	8.73%	0.95%
1994	9.07%	0.91%
1995	9.45%	0.87%
1996	9.83%	0.84%
1997	10.2%	0.81%
1998	10.5%	0.78%
1999	10.7%	0.76%
2000	10.9%	0.74%
2001	11.1%	0.72%
2002	11.2%	0.7%
2003	11.4%	0.69%
2004	11.5%	0.67%
2005	11.6%	0.66%
2006	11.5%	0.65%
2007	11.2%	0.65%
2008	10.9%	0.64%
2009	9.64%	0.63%
2010	9.01%	0.62%
2011	8.59%	0.61%
2012	8.26%	0.6%
2013	8.02%	0.59%
2014	7.82%	0.57%
2015	7.51%	0.56%
2016	7.18%	0.55%
2017	7.12%	0.53%
2018	6.91%	0.52%
2019	6.87%	0.51%
2020	6.68%	0.5%
2021	6.44%	0.49%
2022	6.15%	0.48%
2023	5.89%	0.47%