Fertility & birth rates in New Zealand and United Kingdom

Fertility rate in New Zealand vs United Kingdom 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 1.56 in the United Kingdom in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check New Zealand vs the United Kingdom 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	United Kingdom
1960	4.24	2.69
1961	4.31	2.78
1962	4.19	2.86
1963	4.05	2.88
1964	3.8	2.93
1965	3.54	2.86
1966	3.41	2.78
1967	3.35	2.68
1968	3.34	2.6
1969	3.28	2.51
1970	3.17	2.44
1971	3.18	2.41
1972	3	2.2
1973	2.76	2.04
1974	2.58	1.92
1975	2.37	1.81
1976	2.27	1.74
1977	2.21	1.69
1978	2.07	1.75
1979	2.12	1.86
1980	2.03	1.9
1981	2.01	1.82
1982	1.95	1.78
1983	1.92	1.77
1984	1.93	1.77
1985	1.93	1.79
1986	1.96	1.78
1987	2.03	1.81
1988	2.1	1.82
1989	2.12	1.79
1990	2.18	1.83
1991	2.09	1.82
1992	2.06	1.79
1993	2.04	1.76
1994	1.98	1.74
1995	1.98	1.71
1996	1.96	1.73
1997	1.96	1.72
1998	1.89	1.71
1999	1.97	1.68
2000	1.98	1.64
2001	1.97	1.63
2002	1.89	1.63
2003	1.93	1.7
2004	1.98	1.75
2005	1.97	1.76
2006	2.01	1.82
2007	2.18	1.86
2008	2.19	1.91
2009	2.13	1.89
2010	2.17	1.92
2011	2.09	1.91
2012	2.1	1.92
2013	2.01	1.83
2014	1.92	1.81
2015	1.99	1.8
2016	1.87	1.79
2017	1.81	1.74
2018	1.71	1.68
2019	1.72	1.63
2020	1.61	1.57
2021	1.64	1.58
2022	1.66	1.56
2023	1.56	1.56
2024	1.55	1.55
2025	1.54	1.54
2026	1.53	1.53
2027	1.53	1.53
2028	1.52	1.53
2029	1.52	1.52
2030	1.52	1.52
2031	1.52	1.52
2032	1.52	1.53
2033	1.51	1.53
2034	1.51	1.53
2035	1.51	1.53
2036	1.51	1.53
2037	1.51	1.53
2038	1.51	1.53
2039	1.51	1.53
2040	1.51	1.53
2041	1.51	1.54
2042	1.51	1.54
2043	1.51	1.54
2044	1.51	1.54
2045	1.51	1.54
2046	1.51	1.54
2047	1.51	1.54
2048	1.51	1.54
2049	1.51	1.55
2050	1.51	1.55

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	New Zealand	United Kingdom
1960	32.8%	23.3%
1961	33%	23.3%
1962	33%	23.2%
1963	32.9%	23.2%
1964	32.9%	23.3%
1965	32.7%	23.4%
1966	32.6%	23.5%
1967	32.5%	23.7%
1968	32.3%	23.9%
1969	32.2%	24%
1970	31.9%	24.1%
1971	31.7%	24.1%
1972	31.4%	24%
1973	31%	23.9%
1974	30.5%	23.6%
1975	30.1%	23.3%
1976	29.6%	22.9%
1977	29%	22.4%
1978	28.4%	21.9%
1979	27.8%	21.4%
1980	27.2%	21%
1981	26.7%	20.6%
1982	26.2%	20.2%
1983	25.6%	19.8%
1984	25.1%	19.5%
1985	24.6%	19.3%
1986	24.2%	19.1%
1987	23.8%	18.9%
1988	23.5%	18.9%
1989	23.3%	19.1%
1990	23.3%	19.1%
1991	23.2%	19.3%
1992	23.1%	19.4%
1993	23.1%	19.5%
1994	23.1%	19.6%
1995	23.1%	19.5%
1996	23%	19.4%
1997	23%	19.3%
1998	23%	19.3%
1999	22.9%	19.2%
2000	22.8%	18.9%
2001	22.6%	18.7%
2002	22.4%	18.5%
2003	22.1%	18.4%
2004	21.8%	18.3%
2005	21.5%	18.2%
2006	21.3%	18%
2007	21.1%	17.9%
2008	21%	17.8%
2009	20.9%	17.8%
2010	20.9%	17.8%
2011	20.8%	17.7%
2012	20.6%	17.8%
2013	20.4%	17.8%
2014	20.2%	17.8%
2015	19.9%	17.9%
2016	19.6%	18%
2017	19.5%	18%
2018	19.3%	18.1%
2019	19.2%	18%
2020	19%	18%
2021	18.9%	17.8%
2022	18.6%	17.6%
2023	18.4%	17.4%
2024	18.1%	17.2%
2025	17.9%	17%
2026	17.6%	16.7%
2027	17.4%	16.5%
2028	17.2%	16.2%
2029	17%	16%
2030	16.8%	15.7%
2031	16.6%	15.5%
2032	16.4%	15.3%
2033	16.3%	15.2%
2034	16.1%	15.1%
2035	16%	15%
2036	15.9%	14.9%
2037	15.8%	14.9%
2038	15.7%	14.8%
2039	15.6%	14.8%
2040	15.5%	14.8%
2041	15.4%	14.8%
2042	15.4%	14.8%
2043	15.4%	14.9%
2044	15.3%	14.9%
2045	15.3%	14.9%
2046	15.3%	15%
2047	15.3%	15%
2048	15.3%	15%
2049	15.2%	15%
2050	15.2%	15.1%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.1% of the population in New Zealand and 17.2% in the United Kingdom in 2024, compared to 23.3% and 19.1% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of New Zealand and the United Kingdom compared.

Natural population change in New Zealand vs United Kingdom by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.51% in New Zealand and +0.16% in the United Kingdom. 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	United Kingdom
1960	41,791	314,400
1961	43,482	311,519
1962	42,865	340,800
1963	42,027	337,995
1964	39,375	405,000
1965	36,982	364,132
1966	36,151	333,356
1967	37,974	346,145
1968	37,594	292,622
1969	38,098	260,577
1970	37,101	244,918
1971	40,000	257,123
1972	38,244	162,650
1973	35,239	112,389
1974	33,896	67,476
1975	31,355	33,735
1976	29,456	-5,621
1977	28,020	0
1978	26,156	16,859
1979	26,675	61,872
1980	23,658	95,734
1981	25,374	73,234
1982	24,207	56,314
1983	24,315	61,966
1984	26,043	84,633
1985	24,126	79,170
1986	25,549	90,690
1987	27,603	136,325
1988	29,846	136,628
1989	30,749	119,861
1990	33,298	154,569
1991	33,518	143,562
1992	32,067	149,709
1993	31,685	103,893
1994	30,372	127,304
1995	29,828	87,028
1996	28,997	98,884
1997	30,137	99,138
1998	29,146	87,730
1999	28,916	64,551
2000	29,897	70,671
2001	27,939	65,032
2002	25,941	65,308
2003	28,150	89,471
2004	29,634	131,974
2005	30,674	144,963
2006	30,924	176,455
2007	35,480	196,232
2008	35,143	216,325
2009	33,560	230,422
2010	35,458	251,066
2011	31,302	259,361
2012	31,077	248,473
2013	29,096	198,830
2014	26,196	206,784
2015	29,408	175,738
2016	28,237	177,139
2017	26,282	145,125
2018	24,797	119,321
2019	25,344	108,342
2020	24,993	-4,272
2021	23,767	30,612
2022	20,264	39,751
2023	19,039	34,589

Maternal mortality chart: New Zealand vs United Kingdom

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 8 deaths in the United Kingdom.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	New Zealand	United Kingdom
1985	19	2
1986	18	2
1987	19	3
1988	19	4
1989	18	5
1990	18	6
1991	16	7
1992	15	7
1993	14	8
1994	13	9
1995	14	9
1996	14	8
1997	13	9
1998	12	10
1999	12	11
2000	11	12
2001	10	13
2002	11	13
2003	11	14
2004	11	13
2005	11	12
2006	10	12
2007	10	11
2008	10	11
2009	10	11
2010	10	10
2011	10	10
2012	9	9
2013	8	9
2014	7	9
2015	8	9
2016	8	9
2017	8	9
2018	7	9
2019	8	9
2020	8	14
2021	8	13
2022	23	15
2023	7	8

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.47% in New Zealand and 0.45% in the United Kingdom. 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	United Kingdom
1960	2.78%	2.66%
1961	2.68%	2.61%
1962	2.58%	2.56%
1963	2.48%	2.49%
1964	2.39%	2.42%
1965	2.31%	2.34%
1966	2.25%	2.28%
1967	2.2%	2.22%
1968	2.16%	2.18%
1969	2.12%	2.14%
1970	2.08%	2.1%
1971	2.03%	2.06%
1972	1.98%	2%
1973	1.94%	1.94%
1974	1.88%	1.87%
1975	1.83%	1.8%
1976	1.77%	1.72%
1977	1.71%	1.64%
1978	1.66%	1.57%
1979	1.61%	1.49%
1980	1.56%	1.41%
1981	1.52%	1.34%
1982	1.48%	1.27%
1983	1.45%	1.22%
1984	1.41%	1.17%
1985	1.38%	1.14%
1986	1.34%	1.11%
1987	1.29%	1.08%
1988	1.24%	1.04%
1989	1.18%	0.99%
1990	1.12%	0.93%
1991	1.06%	0.87%
1992	1%	0.82%
1993	0.95%	0.77%
1994	0.91%	0.74%
1995	0.87%	0.72%
1996	0.84%	0.7%
1997	0.81%	0.69%
1998	0.78%	0.68%
1999	0.76%	0.67%
2000	0.74%	0.65%
2001	0.72%	0.64%
2002	0.7%	0.63%
2003	0.69%	0.63%
2004	0.67%	0.61%
2005	0.66%	0.6%
2006	0.65%	0.59%
2007	0.65%	0.58%
2008	0.64%	0.56%
2009	0.63%	0.54%
2010	0.62%	0.52%
2011	0.61%	0.5%
2012	0.6%	0.48%
2013	0.59%	0.46%
2014	0.57%	0.45%
2015	0.56%	0.45%
2016	0.55%	0.44%
2017	0.53%	0.44%
2018	0.52%	0.44%
2019	0.51%	0.44%
2020	0.5%	0.44%
2021	0.49%	0.44%
2022	0.48%	0.45%
2023	0.47%	0.45%