Fertility & birth rates in New Zealand and United States

Fertility rate in New Zealand vs United States 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 1.62 in the United States in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check New Zealand vs the United States 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 States
1960	4.24	3.65
1961	4.31	3.62
1962	4.19	3.46
1963	4.05	3.32
1964	3.8	3.19
1965	3.54	2.91
1966	3.41	2.72
1967	3.35	2.56
1968	3.34	2.46
1969	3.28	2.46
1970	3.17	2.48
1971	3.18	2.27
1972	3	2.01
1973	2.76	1.88
1974	2.58	1.84
1975	2.37	1.77
1976	2.27	1.74
1977	2.21	1.79
1978	2.07	1.76
1979	2.12	1.81
1980	2.03	1.84
1981	2.01	1.81
1982	1.95	1.83
1983	1.92	1.8
1984	1.93	1.81
1985	1.93	1.84
1986	1.96	1.84
1987	2.03	1.87
1988	2.1	1.93
1989	2.12	2.01
1990	2.18	2.08
1991	2.09	2.06
1992	2.06	2.05
1993	2.04	2.02
1994	1.98	2
1995	1.98	1.98
1996	1.96	1.98
1997	1.96	1.97
1998	1.89	2
1999	1.97	2.01
2000	1.98	2.06
2001	1.97	2.03
2002	1.89	2.02
2003	1.93	2.05
2004	1.98	2.05
2005	1.97	2.06
2006	2.01	2.11
2007	2.18	2.12
2008	2.19	2.07
2009	2.13	2
2010	2.17	1.93
2011	2.09	1.89
2012	2.1	1.88
2013	2.01	1.86
2014	1.92	1.86
2015	1.99	1.84
2016	1.87	1.82
2017	1.81	1.77
2018	1.71	1.73
2019	1.72	1.71
2020	1.61	1.64
2021	1.64	1.66
2022	1.66	1.66
2023	1.56	1.62
2024	1.55	1.62
2025	1.54	1.62
2026	1.53	1.62
2027	1.53	1.62
2028	1.52	1.62
2029	1.52	1.62
2030	1.52	1.62
2031	1.52	1.62
2032	1.52	1.62
2033	1.51	1.63
2034	1.51	1.62
2035	1.51	1.63
2036	1.51	1.63
2037	1.51	1.63
2038	1.51	1.63
2039	1.51	1.63
2040	1.51	1.63
2041	1.51	1.63
2042	1.51	1.63
2043	1.51	1.63
2044	1.51	1.63
2045	1.51	1.64
2046	1.51	1.64
2047	1.51	1.63
2048	1.51	1.64
2049	1.51	1.63
2050	1.51	1.64

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	New Zealand	United States
1960	32.8%	31.3%
1961	33%	31.4%
1962	33%	31.3%
1963	32.9%	31.1%
1964	32.9%	30.9%
1965	32.7%	30.7%
1966	32.6%	30.4%
1967	32.5%	30%
1968	32.3%	29.5%
1969	32.2%	29%
1970	31.9%	28.6%
1971	31.7%	28%
1972	31.4%	27.4%
1973	31%	26.6%
1974	30.5%	25.9%
1975	30.1%	25.2%
1976	29.6%	24.4%
1977	29%	23.8%
1978	28.4%	23.2%
1979	27.8%	22.8%
1980	27.2%	22.4%
1981	26.7%	22.1%
1982	26.2%	22%
1983	25.6%	21.8%
1984	25.1%	21.7%
1985	24.6%	21.5%
1986	24.2%	21.3%
1987	23.8%	21.3%
1988	23.5%	21.3%
1989	23.3%	21.5%
1990	23.3%	21.6%
1991	23.2%	21.7%
1992	23.1%	21.8%
1993	23.1%	21.9%
1994	23.1%	21.9%
1995	23.1%	21.8%
1996	23%	21.7%
1997	23%	21.5%
1998	23%	21.4%
1999	22.9%	21.3%
2000	22.8%	21.2%
2001	22.6%	21%
2002	22.4%	20.9%
2003	22.1%	20.7%
2004	21.8%	20.5%
2005	21.5%	20.3%
2006	21.3%	20.2%
2007	21.1%	20%
2008	21%	19.9%
2009	20.9%	19.8%
2010	20.9%	19.7%
2011	20.8%	19.6%
2012	20.6%	19.5%
2013	20.4%	19.4%
2014	20.2%	19.3%
2015	19.9%	19.2%
2016	19.6%	19.1%
2017	19.5%	18.9%
2018	19.3%	18.8%
2019	19.2%	18.6%
2020	19%	18.4%
2021	18.9%	18.1%
2022	18.6%	17.9%
2023	18.4%	17.6%
2024	18.1%	17.3%
2025	17.9%	17.1%
2026	17.6%	16.9%
2027	17.4%	16.7%
2028	17.2%	16.6%
2029	17%	16.4%
2030	16.8%	16.3%
2031	16.6%	16.1%
2032	16.4%	16%
2033	16.3%	16%
2034	16.1%	15.9%
2035	16%	15.9%
2036	15.9%	15.9%
2037	15.8%	15.9%
2038	15.7%	15.9%
2039	15.6%	15.9%
2040	15.5%	15.9%
2041	15.4%	16%
2042	15.4%	16%
2043	15.4%	16%
2044	15.3%	16%
2045	15.3%	16%
2046	15.3%	16%
2047	15.3%	16%
2048	15.3%	16%
2049	15.2%	15.9%
2050	15.2%	15.9%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.1% of the population in New Zealand and 17.3% in the United States in 2024, compared to 23.3% and 21.6% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of New Zealand and the United States compared.

Natural population change in New Zealand vs United States by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.51% in New Zealand and +0.25% in the United States. 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 States
1960	41,791	2,565,530
1961	43,482	2,571,681
1962	42,865	2,406,337
1963	42,027	2,289,826
1964	39,375	2,245,099
1965	36,982	1,943,030
1966	36,151	1,749,387
1967	37,974	1,669,181
1968	37,594	1,565,507
1969	38,098	1,702,487
1970	37,101	1,824,965
1971	40,000	1,640,519
1972	38,244	1,301,355
1973	35,239	1,165,499
1974	33,896	1,218,968
1975	31,355	1,252,644
1976	29,456	1,264,604
1977	28,020	1,431,556
1978	26,156	1,402,283
1979	26,675	1,597,894
1980	23,658	1,608,450
1981	25,374	1,652,153
1982	24,207	1,714,317
1983	24,315	1,636,544
1984	26,043	1,627,192
1985	24,126	1,689,258
1986	25,549	1,656,917
1987	27,603	1,720,252
1988	29,846	1,735,943
1989	30,749	1,875,826
1990	33,298	2,026,068
1991	33,518	1,926,543
1992	32,067	1,875,328
1993	31,685	1,717,685
1994	30,372	1,633,302
1995	29,828	1,546,031
1996	28,997	1,510,137
1997	30,137	1,501,014
1998	29,146	1,573,857
1999	28,916	1,564,050
2000	29,897	1,664,758
2001	27,939	1,595,826
2002	25,941	1,581,938
2003	28,150	1,653,615
2004	29,634	1,698,271
2005	30,674	1,684,445
2006	30,924	1,849,955
2007	35,480	1,897,757
2008	35,143	1,794,154
2009	33,560	1,717,920
2010	35,458	1,548,182
2011	31,302	1,441,697
2012	31,077	1,411,822
2013	29,096	1,322,711
2014	26,196	1,357,281
2015	29,408	1,270,126
2016	28,237	1,197,627
2017	26,282	1,028,037
2018	24,797	955,022
2019	25,344	887,476
2020	24,993	208,862
2021	23,767	199,137
2022	20,264	399,926
2023	19,039	502,372

Maternal mortality chart: New Zealand vs United States

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 17 deaths in the United States.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	New Zealand	United States
1985	19	11
1986	18	11
1987	19	11
1988	19	12
1989	18	12
1990	18	12
1991	16	12
1992	15	11
1993	14	12
1994	13	11
1995	14	12
1996	14	11
1997	13	11
1998	12	11
1999	12	12
2000	11	12
2001	10	13
2002	11	13
2003	11	13
2004	11	13
2005	11	13
2006	10	13
2007	10	13
2008	10	14
2009	10	15
2010	10	15
2011	10	15
2012	9	16
2013	8	16
2014	7	17
2015	8	17
2016	8	18
2017	8	18
2018	7	18
2019	8	18
2020	8	22
2021	8	31
2022	23	20
2023	7	17

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.47% in New Zealand and 0.65% in the United States. 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 States
1960	2.78%	3.01%
1961	2.68%	2.95%
1962	2.58%	2.89%
1963	2.48%	2.83%
1964	2.39%	2.77%
1965	2.31%	2.71%
1966	2.25%	2.64%
1967	2.2%	2.57%
1968	2.16%	2.49%
1969	2.12%	2.41%
1970	2.08%	2.32%
1971	2.03%	2.24%
1972	1.98%	2.15%
1973	1.94%	2.06%
1974	1.88%	1.97%
1975	1.83%	1.88%
1976	1.77%	1.79%
1977	1.71%	1.71%
1978	1.66%	1.63%
1979	1.61%	1.56%
1980	1.56%	1.5%
1981	1.52%	1.44%
1982	1.48%	1.39%
1983	1.45%	1.34%
1984	1.41%	1.3%
1985	1.38%	1.27%
1986	1.34%	1.24%
1987	1.29%	1.21%
1988	1.24%	1.19%
1989	1.18%	1.16%
1990	1.12%	1.12%
1991	1.06%	1.09%
1992	1%	1.05%
1993	0.95%	1.01%
1994	0.91%	0.98%
1995	0.87%	0.95%
1996	0.84%	0.92%
1997	0.81%	0.89%
1998	0.78%	0.87%
1999	0.76%	0.86%
2000	0.74%	0.84%
2001	0.72%	0.83%
2002	0.7%	0.82%
2003	0.69%	0.81%
2004	0.67%	0.81%
2005	0.66%	0.8%
2006	0.65%	0.79%
2007	0.65%	0.77%
2008	0.64%	0.76%
2009	0.63%	0.75%
2010	0.62%	0.73%
2011	0.61%	0.72%
2012	0.6%	0.7%
2013	0.59%	0.69%
2014	0.57%	0.68%
2015	0.56%	0.68%
2016	0.55%	0.67%
2017	0.53%	0.66%
2018	0.52%	0.65%
2019	0.51%	0.65%
2020	0.5%	0.65%
2021	0.49%	0.65%
2022	0.48%	0.65%
2023	0.47%	0.65%