Fertility & birth rates in New Zealand and South Africa

Fertility rate in New Zealand vs South Africa 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 2.22 in South Africa in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check New Zealand vs South Africa 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	South Africa
1960	4.24	6.11
1961	4.31	6.08
1962	4.19	6.05
1963	4.05	6.01
1964	3.8	5.96
1965	3.54	5.89
1966	3.41	5.91
1967	3.35	5.85
1968	3.34	5.78
1969	3.28	5.72
1970	3.17	5.63
1971	3.18	5.57
1972	3	5.49
1973	2.76	5.41
1974	2.58	5.3
1975	2.37	5.19
1976	2.27	5.07
1977	2.21	4.94
1978	2.07	4.85
1979	2.12	4.82
1980	2.03	4.78
1981	2.01	4.71
1982	1.95	4.7
1983	1.92	4.63
1984	1.93	4.57
1985	1.93	4.5
1986	1.96	4.41
1987	2.03	4.35
1988	2.1	4.18
1989	2.12	3.98
1990	2.18	3.72
1991	2.09	3.62
1992	2.06	3.48
1993	2.04	3.37
1994	1.98	3.26
1995	1.98	3.17
1996	1.96	2.99
1997	1.96	2.73
1998	1.89	2.63
1999	1.97	2.56
2000	1.98	2.41
2001	1.97	2.37
2002	1.89	2.32
2003	1.93	2.36
2004	1.98	2.44
2005	1.97	2.51
2006	2.01	2.55
2007	2.18	2.55
2008	2.19	2.68
2009	2.13	2.5
2010	2.17	2.44
2011	2.09	2.44
2012	2.1	2.45
2013	2.01	2.43
2014	1.92	2.42
2015	1.99	2.36
2016	1.87	2.26
2017	1.81	2.28
2018	1.71	2.27
2019	1.72	2.26
2020	1.61	2.26
2021	1.64	2.25
2022	1.66	2.23
2023	1.56	2.22
2024	1.55	2.21
2025	1.54	2.19
2026	1.53	2.17
2027	1.53	2.15
2028	1.52	2.13
2029	1.52	2.12
2030	1.52	2.1
2031	1.52	2.09
2032	1.52	2.07
2033	1.51	2.06
2034	1.51	2.05
2035	1.51	2.04
2036	1.51	2.03
2037	1.51	2.02
2038	1.51	2
2039	1.51	1.99
2040	1.51	1.98
2041	1.51	1.98
2042	1.51	1.97
2043	1.51	1.96
2044	1.51	1.95
2045	1.51	1.94
2046	1.51	1.93
2047	1.51	1.92
2048	1.51	1.91
2049	1.51	1.9
2050	1.51	1.89

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	New Zealand	South Africa
1960	32.8%	42.1%
1961	33%	42.1%
1962	33%	42.1%
1963	32.9%	42.1%
1964	32.9%	42.1%
1965	32.7%	42.1%
1966	32.6%	42.1%
1967	32.5%	42.2%
1968	32.3%	42.2%
1969	32.2%	42.2%
1970	31.9%	42.3%
1971	31.7%	42.2%
1972	31.4%	42.2%
1973	31%	42.1%
1974	30.5%	42%
1975	30.1%	41.9%
1976	29.6%	41.8%
1977	29%	41.7%
1978	28.4%	41.5%
1979	27.8%	41.3%
1980	27.2%	40.9%
1981	26.7%	40.5%
1982	26.2%	40.1%
1983	25.6%	39.8%
1984	25.1%	39.5%
1985	24.6%	39.2%
1986	24.2%	38.9%
1987	23.8%	38.7%
1988	23.5%	38.4%
1989	23.3%	38.1%
1990	23.3%	37.7%
1991	23.2%	37.5%
1992	23.1%	37.6%
1993	23.1%	37.3%
1994	23.1%	37.2%
1995	23.1%	37.5%
1996	23%	37.5%
1997	23%	37.2%
1998	23%	36.5%
1999	22.9%	35.7%
2000	22.8%	34.9%
2001	22.6%	34%
2002	22.4%	33.2%
2003	22.1%	32.3%
2004	21.8%	31.6%
2005	21.5%	31.1%
2006	21.3%	30.6%
2007	21.1%	30.2%
2008	21%	29.9%
2009	20.9%	29.7%
2010	20.9%	29.4%
2011	20.8%	29.1%
2012	20.6%	28.9%
2013	20.4%	28.7%
2014	20.2%	28.5%
2015	19.9%	28.3%
2016	19.6%	28.3%
2017	19.5%	28.3%
2018	19.3%	27.9%
2019	19.2%	27.4%
2020	19%	27%
2021	18.9%	26.6%
2022	18.6%	26.3%
2023	18.4%	26.1%
2024	18.1%	25.9%
2025	17.9%	25.7%
2026	17.6%	25.6%
2027	17.4%	25.4%
2028	17.2%	25.3%
2029	17%	25.2%
2030	16.8%	25.2%
2031	16.6%	25.1%
2032	16.4%	25%
2033	16.3%	24.8%
2034	16.1%	24.5%
2035	16%	24.3%
2036	15.9%	23.9%
2037	15.8%	23.6%
2038	15.7%	23.4%
2039	15.6%	23.1%
2040	15.5%	22.9%
2041	15.4%	22.7%
2042	15.4%	22.5%
2043	15.4%	22.4%
2044	15.3%	22.2%
2045	15.3%	22.1%
2046	15.3%	21.9%
2047	15.3%	21.8%
2048	15.3%	21.7%
2049	15.2%	21.6%
2050	15.2%	21.5%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.1% of the population in New Zealand and 25.9% in South Africa in 2024, compared to 23.3% and 37.7% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of New Zealand and South Africa compared.

Natural population change in New Zealand vs South Africa by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.51% in New Zealand and +1.05% in South Africa. 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	South Africa
1960	41,791	421,263
1961	43,482	437,851
1962	42,865	455,634
1963	42,027	473,821
1964	39,375	490,606
1965	36,982	506,632
1966	36,151	534,862
1967	37,974	553,741
1968	37,594	571,841
1969	38,098	590,794
1970	37,101	605,102
1971	40,000	624,761
1972	38,244	638,754
1973	35,239	651,596
1974	33,896	658,438
1975	31,355	667,862
1976	29,456	675,011
1977	28,020	680,929
1978	26,156	694,341
1979	26,675	716,541
1980	23,658	738,415
1981	25,374	767,833
1982	24,207	807,550
1983	24,315	837,013
1984	26,043	869,011
1985	24,126	893,889
1986	25,549	903,644
1987	27,603	922,330
1988	29,846	909,221
1989	30,749	884,629
1990	33,298	835,421
1991	33,518	827,296
1992	32,067	794,415
1993	31,685	789,220
1994	30,372	698,609
1995	29,828	743,488
1996	28,997	710,868
1997	30,137	667,969
1998	29,146	627,027
1999	28,916	594,643
2000	29,897	526,963
2001	27,939	484,801
2002	25,941	430,926
2003	28,150	415,018
2004	29,634	442,540
2005	30,674	464,464
2006	30,924	487,584
2007	35,480	503,567
2008	35,143	595,332
2009	33,560	554,115
2010	35,458	566,834
2011	31,302	601,708
2012	31,077	643,723
2013	29,096	652,427
2014	26,196	674,754
2015	29,408	668,771
2016	28,237	641,365
2017	26,282	645,975
2018	24,797	648,319
2019	25,344	652,130
2020	24,993	595,873
2021	23,767	456,411
2022	20,264	603,636
2023	19,039	602,793

Maternal mortality chart: New Zealand vs South Africa

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 118 deaths in South Africa.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	New Zealand	South Africa
1985	19	208
1986	18	200
1987	19	192
1988	19	184
1989	18	177
1990	18	170
1991	16	162
1992	15	152
1993	14	145
1994	13	133
1995	14	125
1996	14	150
1997	13	152
1998	12	152
1999	12	151
2000	11	175
2001	10	192
2002	11	225
2003	11	245
2004	11	259
2005	11	279
2006	10	283
2007	10	272
2008	10	272
2009	10	241
2010	10	226
2011	10	202
2012	9	194
2013	8	180
2014	7	162
2015	8	150
2016	8	141
2017	8	134
2018	7	128
2019	8	119
2020	8	118
2021	8	191
2022	23	129
2023	7	118

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.47% in New Zealand and 3.47% in South Africa. 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	South Africa
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	2.12%	-
1970	2.08%	-
1971	2.03%	-
1972	1.98%	-
1973	1.94%	-
1974	1.88%	13.2%
1975	1.83%	12.5%
1976	1.77%	11.8%
1977	1.71%	11.1%
1978	1.66%	10.5%
1979	1.61%	9.88%
1980	1.56%	9.35%
1981	1.52%	8.84%
1982	1.48%	8.39%
1983	1.45%	7.98%
1984	1.41%	7.6%
1985	1.38%	7.24%
1986	1.34%	6.89%
1987	1.29%	6.56%
1988	1.24%	6.26%
1989	1.18%	6.01%
1990	1.12%	5.82%
1991	1.06%	5.7%
1992	1%	5.66%
1993	0.95%	5.7%
1994	0.91%	5.82%
1995	0.87%	5.95%
1996	0.84%	6.11%
1997	0.81%	6.29%
1998	0.78%	6.56%
1999	0.76%	6.85%
2000	0.74%	7.11%
2001	0.72%	7.43%
2002	0.7%	7.69%
2003	0.69%	7.93%
2004	0.67%	8.1%
2005	0.66%	8.03%
2006	0.65%	7.75%
2007	0.65%	7.19%
2008	0.64%	6.42%
2009	0.63%	5.7%
2010	0.62%	5%
2011	0.61%	4.5%
2012	0.6%	4.25%
2013	0.59%	4.1%
2014	0.57%	3.96%
2015	0.56%	3.82%
2016	0.55%	3.68%
2017	0.53%	3.58%
2018	0.52%	3.49%
2019	0.51%	3.45%
2020	0.5%	3.41%
2021	0.49%	3.41%
2022	0.48%	3.44%
2023	0.47%	3.47%