New Zealand birth & fertility rate charts by year

Fertility rate in New Zealand chart

According to the latest birth rate data available, the fertility rate in New Zealand was 1.56 in 2023 and has been below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman since 2013. In 1993, the fertility rate was 2.04 — a -23.5% decline in 30 years.

Check population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases the historical changes in birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	New Zealand	World
1960	4.24	4.69
1961	4.31	4.56
1962	4.19	5.02
1963	4.05	5.31
1964	3.8	5.13
1965	3.54	5.08
1966	3.41	4.97
1967	3.35	4.87
1968	3.34	4.98
1969	3.28	4.88
1970	3.17	4.84
1971	3.18	4.69
1972	3	4.55
1973	2.76	4.42
1974	2.58	4.26
1975	2.37	4.07
1976	2.27	3.97
1977	2.21	3.84
1978	2.07	3.77
1979	2.12	3.76
1980	2.03	3.73
1981	2.01	3.71
1982	1.95	3.72
1983	1.92	3.59
1984	1.93	3.57
1985	1.93	3.53
1986	1.96	3.51
1987	2.03	3.48
1988	2.1	3.39
1989	2.12	3.35
1990	2.18	3.31
1991	2.09	3.13
1992	2.06	3.04
1993	2.04	2.97
1994	1.98	2.92
1995	1.98	2.87
1996	1.96	2.82
1997	1.96	2.78
1998	1.89	2.75
1999	1.97	2.72
2000	1.98	2.73
2001	1.97	2.69
2002	1.89	2.66
2003	1.93	2.64
2004	1.98	2.63
2005	1.97	2.61
2006	2.01	2.61
2007	2.18	2.6
2008	2.19	2.6
2009	2.13	2.59
2010	2.17	2.57
2011	2.09	2.55
2012	2.1	2.56
2013	2.01	2.53
2014	1.92	2.52
2015	1.99	2.49
2016	1.87	2.49
2017	1.81	2.46
2018	1.71	2.39
2019	1.72	2.35
2020	1.61	2.28
2021	1.64	2.25
2022	1.66	2.22
2023	1.56	2.2
2024	1.55	2.19
2025	1.54	2.18
2026	1.53	2.18
2027	1.53	2.17
2028	1.52	2.16
2029	1.52	2.15
2030	1.52	2.14
2031	1.52	2.13
2032	1.52	2.12
2033	1.51	2.12
2034	1.51	2.11
2035	1.51	2.1
2036	1.51	2.09
2037	1.51	2.09
2038	1.51	2.08
2039	1.51	2.08
2040	1.51	2.08
2041	1.51	2.07
2042	1.51	2.07
2043	1.51	2.07
2044	1.51	2.07
2045	1.51	2.06
2046	1.51	2.06
2047	1.51	2.06
2048	1.51	2.05
2049	1.51	2.05
2050	1.51	2.05

Birth rates by women ages chart

In 2025, of all live births 2.73% were to women under 20 years old, 37.5% to women ages 20-29, and 59.8% to women ages 30 and above. In comparison, the percentages in 1990 were 8.55%, 58.2%, and 33.2% for the same age groups respectively. A chart displaying the historical birth rates in New Zealand by maternal age is provided below.

Annual births per 1,000 women ages

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Children 0-14 as share of population
	New Zealand	World
1960	32.8%	37.4%
1961	33%	37.5%
1962	33%	37.6%
1963	32.9%	37.8%
1964	32.9%	38%
1965	32.7%	38%
1966	32.6%	38%
1967	32.5%	38%
1968	32.3%	37.9%
1969	32.2%	37.8%
1970	31.9%	37.7%
1971	31.7%	37.6%
1972	31.4%	37.5%
1973	31%	37.3%
1974	30.5%	37.2%
1975	30.1%	37.1%
1976	29.6%	36.9%
1977	29%	36.7%
1978	28.4%	36.3%
1979	27.8%	35.9%
1980	27.2%	35.5%
1981	26.7%	35.2%
1982	26.2%	34.9%
1983	25.6%	34.6%
1984	25.1%	34.3%
1985	24.6%	34%
1986	24.2%	33.8%
1987	23.8%	33.6%
1988	23.5%	33.4%
1989	23.3%	33.2%
1990	23.3%	33%
1991	23.2%	32.9%
1992	23.1%	32.7%
1993	23.1%	32.5%
1994	23.1%	32.3%
1995	23.1%	32.1%
1996	23%	31.8%
1997	23%	31.5%
1998	23%	31.1%
1999	22.9%	30.8%
2000	22.8%	30.4%
2001	22.6%	30%
2002	22.4%	29.6%
2003	22.1%	29.2%
2004	21.8%	28.8%
2005	21.5%	28.5%
2006	21.3%	28.1%
2007	21.1%	27.9%
2008	21%	27.6%
2009	20.9%	27.5%
2010	20.9%	27.3%
2011	20.8%	27.1%
2012	20.6%	27%
2013	20.4%	26.9%
2014	20.2%	26.8%
2015	19.9%	26.6%
2016	19.6%	26.5%
2017	19.5%	26.4%
2018	19.3%	26.2%
2019	19.2%	26%
2020	19%	25.8%
2021	18.9%	25.6%
2022	18.6%	25.3%
2023	18.4%	25%
2024	18.1%	24.7%
2025	17.9%	24.4%
2026	17.6%	24.1%
2027	17.4%	23.8%
2028	17.2%	23.4%
2029	17%	23.1%
2030	16.8%	22.8%
2031	16.6%	22.6%
2032	16.4%	22.3%
2033	16.3%	22.1%
2034	16.1%	21.9%
2035	16%	21.7%
2036	15.9%	21.6%
2037	15.8%	21.5%
2038	15.7%	21.4%
2039	15.6%	21.3%
2040	15.5%	21.2%
2041	15.4%	21.1%
2042	15.4%	21%
2043	15.4%	21%
2044	15.3%	20.9%
2045	15.3%	20.8%
2046	15.3%	20.7%
2047	15.3%	20.7%
2048	15.3%	20.6%
2049	15.2%	20.5%
2050	15.2%	20.4%

The share of children aged 0-14 in New Zealand was 32.8% in 1960, 23.1% in 1993, and 18.1% as of the latest data in 2025.

More about the demographics of New Zealand.

Natural population change by year

For the past 10 years, the natural population change in New Zealand, excluding migration, has been +0.51% annually. On average, 24,832 more people were born each year than died.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	New Zealand
1960	41,791
1961	43,482
1962	42,865
1963	42,027
1964	39,375
1965	36,982
1966	36,151
1967	37,974
1968	37,594
1969	38,098
1970	37,101
1971	40,000
1972	38,244
1973	35,239
1974	33,896
1975	31,355
1976	29,456
1977	28,020
1978	26,156
1979	26,675
1980	23,658
1981	25,374
1982	24,207
1983	24,315
1984	26,043
1985	24,126
1986	25,549
1987	27,603
1988	29,846
1989	30,749
1990	33,298
1991	33,518
1992	32,067
1993	31,685
1994	30,372
1995	29,828
1996	28,997
1997	30,137
1998	29,146
1999	28,916
2000	29,897
2001	27,939
2002	25,941
2003	28,150
2004	29,634
2005	30,674
2006	30,924
2007	35,480
2008	35,143
2009	33,560
2010	35,458
2011	31,302
2012	31,077
2013	29,096
2014	26,196
2015	29,408
2016	28,237
2017	26,282
2018	24,797
2019	25,344
2020	24,993
2021	23,767
2022	20,264
2023	19,039

Maternal mortality chart

The maternal mortality rate in New Zealand was 7 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023 — a 0.007% chance of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination. This is a -36.4% decrease compared to the year 2000.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	New Zealand	World
1985	19	460
1986	18	438
1987	19	429
1988	19	414
1989	18	401
1990	18	391
1991	16	395
1992	15	395
1993	14	389
1994	13	382
1995	14	371
1996	14	366
1997	13	358
1998	12	360
1999	12	340
2000	11	328
2001	10	321
2002	11	311
2003	11	301
2004	11	291
2005	11	283
2006	10	276
2007	10	269
2008	10	264
2009	10	258
2010	10	253
2011	10	247
2012	9	239
2013	8	235
2014	7	231
2015	8	228
2016	8	220
2017	8	215
2018	7	211
2019	8	207
2020	8	211
2021	8	242
2022	23	203
2023	7	197

Under-five mortality rate chart

The under-5 mortality rate in New Zealand was 4.7 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2023 — a 0.47% chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five. This is down from 7.4 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2000.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	New Zealand	World
1960	2.78%	18.5%
1961	2.68%	18.1%
1962	2.58%	17.8%
1963	2.48%	17.5%
1964	2.39%	17.7%
1965	2.31%	17.5%
1966	2.25%	17.3%
1967	2.2%	17%
1968	2.16%	16.5%
1969	2.12%	15.5%
1970	2.08%	15.2%
1971	2.03%	15.1%
1972	1.98%	14.4%
1973	1.94%	14.1%
1974	1.88%	13.7%
1975	1.83%	13.4%
1976	1.77%	13%
1977	1.71%	12.5%
1978	1.66%	12.1%
1979	1.61%	11.7%
1980	1.56%	11.4%
1981	1.52%	11%
1982	1.48%	10.8%
1983	1.45%	10.6%
1984	1.41%	10.4%
1985	1.38%	10.1%
1986	1.34%	9.81%
1987	1.29%	9.47%
1988	1.24%	9.31%
1989	1.18%	9.02%
1990	1.12%	8.81%
1991	1.06%	8.66%
1992	1%	8.46%
1993	0.95%	8.19%
1994	0.91%	7.98%
1995	0.87%	7.76%
1996	0.84%	7.52%
1997	0.81%	7.28%
1998	0.78%	7.05%
1999	0.76%	6.76%
2000	0.74%	6.48%
2001	0.72%	6.21%
2002	0.7%	5.94%
2003	0.69%	5.65%
2004	0.67%	5.43%
2005	0.66%	5.16%
2006	0.65%	4.92%
2007	0.65%	4.7%
2008	0.64%	4.5%
2009	0.63%	4.31%
2010	0.62%	4.11%
2011	0.61%	3.97%
2012	0.6%	3.77%
2013	0.59%	3.61%
2014	0.57%	3.48%
2015	0.56%	3.35%
2016	0.55%	3.23%
2017	0.53%	3.11%
2018	0.52%	2.97%
2019	0.51%	2.86%
2020	0.5%	2.75%
2021	0.49%	2.66%
2022	0.48%	2.59%
2023	0.47%	2.49%