Fertility & birth rates in New Zealand and North Korea

Fertility rate in New Zealand vs North Korea chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in New Zealand was 1.56 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1.78 in North Korea in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

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

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	New Zealand	North Korea
1960	4.24	3.57
1961	4.31	3.26
1962	4.19	3.41
1963	4.05	3.63
1964	3.8	3.55
1965	3.54	3.56
1966	3.41	3.71
1967	3.35	4.05
1968	3.34	3.87
1969	3.28	3.86
1970	3.17	3.85
1971	3.18	3.74
1972	3	3.89
1973	2.76	3.35
1974	2.58	3.14
1975	2.37	3.05
1976	2.27	2.84
1977	2.21	2.77
1978	2.07	2.79
1979	2.12	2.85
1980	2.03	2.84
1981	2.01	2.92
1982	1.95	2.85
1983	1.92	2.78
1984	1.93	2.71
1985	1.93	2.65
1986	1.96	2.59
1987	2.03	2.53
1988	2.1	2.47
1989	2.12	2.41
1990	2.18	2.39
1991	2.09	2.35
1992	2.06	2.29
1993	2.04	2.22
1994	1.98	2.18
1995	1.98	2.15
1996	1.96	2.09
1997	1.96	2.03
1998	1.89	1.99
1999	1.97	1.97
2000	1.98	1.94
2001	1.97	1.94
2002	1.89	1.92
2003	1.93	1.91
2004	1.98	1.9
2005	1.97	1.87
2006	2.01	1.94
2007	2.18	1.94
2008	2.19	1.97
2009	2.13	1.91
2010	2.17	1.89
2011	2.09	1.88
2012	2.1	1.88
2013	2.01	1.88
2014	1.92	1.87
2015	1.99	1.86
2016	1.87	1.86
2017	1.81	1.85
2018	1.71	1.83
2019	1.72	1.83
2020	1.61	1.82
2021	1.64	1.81
2022	1.66	1.8
2023	1.56	1.78
2024	1.55	1.78
2025	1.54	1.77
2026	1.53	1.75
2027	1.53	1.74
2028	1.52	1.73
2029	1.52	1.73
2030	1.52	1.72
2031	1.52	1.72
2032	1.52	1.71
2033	1.51	1.71
2034	1.51	1.71
2035	1.51	1.7
2036	1.51	1.7
2037	1.51	1.7
2038	1.51	1.69
2039	1.51	1.69
2040	1.51	1.69
2041	1.51	1.69
2042	1.51	1.69
2043	1.51	1.69
2044	1.51	1.68
2045	1.51	1.68
2046	1.51	1.68
2047	1.51	1.68
2048	1.51	1.67
2049	1.51	1.67
2050	1.51	1.67

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	New Zealand	North Korea
1960	32.8%	37.5%
1961	33%	37%
1962	33%	36.6%
1963	32.9%	36.5%
1964	32.9%	36.6%
1965	32.7%	36.7%
1966	32.6%	37.3%
1967	32.5%	38.3%
1968	32.3%	39.2%
1969	32.2%	39.8%
1970	31.9%	40.1%
1971	31.7%	40.3%
1972	31.4%	40.2%
1973	31%	39.8%
1974	30.5%	39.3%
1975	30.1%	38.8%
1976	29.6%	38.3%
1977	29%	37.7%
1978	28.4%	36.9%
1979	27.8%	36%
1980	27.2%	35.1%
1981	26.7%	34.2%
1982	26.2%	33.1%
1983	25.6%	32%
1984	25.1%	30.9%
1985	24.6%	29.9%
1986	24.2%	29%
1987	23.8%	28%
1988	23.5%	27.3%
1989	23.3%	26.8%
1990	23.3%	26.5%
1991	23.2%	26.4%
1992	23.1%	26.3%
1993	23.1%	26.4%
1994	23.1%	26.4%
1995	23.1%	26.4%
1996	23%	26.3%
1997	23%	26.2%
1998	23%	26%
1999	22.9%	25.8%
2000	22.8%	25.6%
2001	22.6%	25.3%
2002	22.4%	25%
2003	22.1%	24.6%
2004	21.8%	24.3%
2005	21.5%	23.9%
2006	21.3%	23.4%
2007	21.1%	23%
2008	21%	22.5%
2009	20.9%	22.1%
2010	20.9%	21.6%
2011	20.8%	21.2%
2012	20.6%	20.8%
2013	20.4%	20.4%
2014	20.2%	20.1%
2015	19.9%	19.8%
2016	19.6%	19.6%
2017	19.5%	19.4%
2018	19.3%	19.2%
2019	19.2%	19.1%
2020	19%	19.1%
2021	18.9%	19.1%
2022	18.6%	19%
2023	18.4%	19%
2024	18.1%	18.9%
2025	17.9%	18.9%
2026	17.6%	18.9%
2027	17.4%	18.8%
2028	17.2%	18.7%
2029	17%	18.6%
2030	16.8%	18.5%
2031	16.6%	18.3%
2032	16.4%	18.1%
2033	16.3%	17.9%
2034	16.1%	17.6%
2035	16%	17.4%
2036	15.9%	17.1%
2037	15.8%	16.8%
2038	15.7%	16.6%
2039	15.6%	16.3%
2040	15.5%	16.1%
2041	15.4%	15.9%
2042	15.4%	15.7%
2043	15.4%	15.5%
2044	15.3%	15.4%
2045	15.3%	15.3%
2046	15.3%	15.2%
2047	15.3%	15.2%
2048	15.3%	15.2%
2049	15.2%	15.2%
2050	15.2%	15.2%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.1% of the population in New Zealand and 18.9% in North Korea in 2024, compared to 23.3% and 26.5% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of New Zealand and North Korea compared.

Natural population change in New Zealand vs North Korea by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.51% in New Zealand and +0.42% in North Korea. 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
	New Zealand	North Korea
1960	41,791	277,717
1961	43,482	257,788
1962	42,865	286,534
1963	42,027	321,805
1964	39,375	323,623
1965	36,982	335,587
1966	36,151	363,882
1967	37,974	414,632
1968	37,594	399,837
1969	38,098	404,189
1970	37,101	406,129
1971	40,000	393,220
1972	38,244	411,997
1973	35,239	338,600
1974	33,896	306,902
1975	31,355	288,966
1976	29,456	255,841
1977	28,020	242,870
1978	26,156	243,533
1979	26,675	251,409
1980	23,658	255,206
1981	25,374	273,800
1982	24,207	276,332
1983	24,315	279,046
1984	26,043	282,987
1985	24,126	287,714
1986	25,549	293,227
1987	27,603	296,030
1988	29,846	299,305
1989	30,749	303,078
1990	33,298	312,460
1991	33,518	320,551
1992	32,067	324,002
1993	31,685	320,880
1994	30,372	320,861
1995	29,828	233,381
1996	28,997	226,095
1997	30,137	211,325
1998	29,146	197,589
1999	28,916	181,613
2000	29,897	161,591
2001	27,939	143,321
2002	25,941	119,504
2003	28,150	178,775
2004	29,634	155,838
2005	30,674	132,765
2006	30,924	129,171
2007	35,480	120,521
2008	35,143	122,015
2009	33,560	111,530
2010	35,458	112,443
2011	31,302	114,798
2012	31,077	118,773
2013	29,096	122,519
2014	26,196	127,078
2015	29,408	127,365
2016	28,237	125,048
2017	26,282	120,181
2018	24,797	113,164
2019	25,344	106,208
2020	24,993	95,920
2021	23,767	99,710
2022	20,264	96,495
2023	19,039	86,203

Maternal mortality chart: New Zealand vs North Korea

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 7 deaths per 100,000 live births in New Zealand, compared to 67 deaths in North Korea.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	New Zealand	North Korea
1985	19	76
1986	18	68
1987	19	62
1988	19	55
1989	18	49
1990	18	43
1991	16	38
1992	15	37
1993	14	46
1994	13	57
1995	14	127
1996	14	128
1997	13	128
1998	12	129
1999	12	129
2000	11	129
2001	10	130
2002	11	131
2003	11	76
2004	11	77
2005	11	78
2006	10	80
2007	10	80
2008	10	79
2009	10	78
2010	10	77
2011	10	76
2012	9	76
2013	8	75
2014	7	73
2015	8	72
2016	8	71
2017	8	70
2018	7	69
2019	8	66
2020	8	66
2021	8	72
2022	23	67
2023	7	67

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.47% in New Zealand and 1.8% in North Korea. 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
	New Zealand	North Korea
1960	2.78%	11.6%
1961	2.68%	11.2%
1962	2.58%	10.8%
1963	2.48%	10.4%
1964	2.39%	9.92%
1965	2.31%	9.46%
1966	2.25%	8.96%
1967	2.2%	8.45%
1968	2.16%	7.94%
1969	2.12%	7.45%
1970	2.08%	6.99%
1971	2.03%	6.58%
1972	1.98%	6.2%
1973	1.94%	5.86%
1974	1.88%	5.56%
1975	1.83%	5.28%
1976	1.77%	5.03%
1977	1.71%	4.8%
1978	1.66%	4.59%
1979	1.61%	4.4%
1980	1.56%	4.22%
1981	1.52%	4.05%
1982	1.48%	3.91%
1983	1.45%	3.8%
1984	1.41%	3.71%
1985	1.38%	3.68%
1986	1.34%	3.68%
1987	1.29%	3.78%
1988	1.24%	3.83%
1989	1.18%	3.95%
1990	1.12%	4.07%
1991	1.06%	4.18%
1992	1%	4.25%
1993	0.95%	4.27%
1994	0.91%	4.25%
1995	0.87%	10.8%
1996	0.84%	10.6%
1997	0.81%	10.5%
1998	0.78%	10.3%
1999	0.76%	10.2%
2000	0.74%	10%
2001	0.72%	9.9%
2002	0.7%	9.78%
2003	0.69%	3.45%
2004	0.67%	3.38%
2005	0.66%	3.33%
2006	0.65%	3.28%
2007	0.65%	3.24%
2008	0.64%	3.1%
2009	0.63%	3%
2010	0.62%	2.87%
2011	0.61%	2.72%
2012	0.6%	2.57%
2013	0.59%	2.41%
2014	0.57%	2.26%
2015	0.56%	2.14%
2016	0.55%	2.06%
2017	0.53%	1.91%
2018	0.52%	1.84%
2019	0.51%	1.77%
2020	0.5%	1.74%
2021	0.49%	1.74%
2022	0.48%	1.77%
2023	0.47%	1.8%