Fertility & birth rates in New Zealand and Vanuatu

Fertility rate in New Zealand vs Vanuatu 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 3.6 in Vanuatu in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check New Zealand vs Vanuatu 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	Vanuatu
1960	4.24	6.78
1961	4.31	6.73
1962	4.19	6.67
1963	4.05	6.62
1964	3.8	6.57
1965	3.54	6.52
1966	3.41	6.51
1967	3.35	6.51
1968	3.34	6.46
1969	3.28	6.41
1970	3.17	6.35
1971	3.18	6.29
1972	3	6.23
1973	2.76	6.15
1974	2.58	6.06
1975	2.37	5.98
1976	2.27	5.89
1977	2.21	5.81
1978	2.07	5.77
1979	2.12	5.73
1980	2.03	5.69
1981	2.01	5.65
1982	1.95	5.6
1983	1.92	5.55
1984	1.93	5.49
1985	1.93	5.43
1986	1.96	5.38
1987	2.03	5.33
1988	2.1	5.27
1989	2.12	5.21
1990	2.18	5.17
1991	2.09	5.13
1992	2.06	5.09
1993	2.04	5.02
1994	1.98	4.94
1995	1.98	4.85
1996	1.96	4.75
1997	1.96	4.66
1998	1.89	4.6
1999	1.97	4.56
2000	1.98	4.54
2001	1.97	4.5
2002	1.89	4.38
2003	1.93	4.29
2004	1.98	4.21
2005	1.97	4.13
2006	2.01	4.1
2007	2.18	4.12
2008	2.19	4.16
2009	2.13	4.16
2010	2.17	4.13
2011	2.09	4.09
2012	2.1	4.06
2013	2.01	4.04
2014	1.92	4
2015	1.99	3.95
2016	1.87	3.92
2017	1.81	3.88
2018	1.71	3.83
2019	1.72	3.79
2020	1.61	3.74
2021	1.64	3.7
2022	1.66	3.65
2023	1.56	3.6
2024	1.55	3.57
2025	1.54	3.53
2026	1.53	3.5
2027	1.53	3.46
2028	1.52	3.42
2029	1.52	3.39
2030	1.52	3.35
2031	1.52	3.32
2032	1.52	3.28
2033	1.51	3.25
2034	1.51	3.21
2035	1.51	3.18
2036	1.51	3.15
2037	1.51	3.13
2038	1.51	3.1
2039	1.51	3.08
2040	1.51	3.05
2041	1.51	3.03
2042	1.51	3
2043	1.51	2.97
2044	1.51	2.94
2045	1.51	2.92
2046	1.51	2.9
2047	1.51	2.88
2048	1.51	2.85
2049	1.51	2.83
2050	1.51	2.8

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	New Zealand	Vanuatu
1960	32.8%	44.6%
1961	33%	44.8%
1962	33%	45.1%
1963	32.9%	45.2%
1964	32.9%	45.4%
1965	32.7%	45.5%
1966	32.6%	45.7%
1967	32.5%	45.8%
1968	32.3%	45.8%
1969	32.2%	45.8%
1970	31.9%	45.7%
1971	31.7%	45.7%
1972	31.4%	45.6%
1973	31%	45.5%
1974	30.5%	45.5%
1975	30.1%	45.4%
1976	29.6%	45.2%
1977	29%	45.1%
1978	28.4%	45%
1979	27.8%	44.5%
1980	27.2%	44%
1981	26.7%	43.9%
1982	26.2%	44%
1983	25.6%	44%
1984	25.1%	44.1%
1985	24.6%	44.2%
1986	24.2%	44.2%
1987	23.8%	44.1%
1988	23.5%	44.1%
1989	23.3%	44%
1990	23.3%	43.9%
1991	23.2%	43.9%
1992	23.1%	44.1%
1993	23.1%	44.8%
1994	23.1%	45.2%
1995	23.1%	45%
1996	23%	44.8%
1997	23%	44.4%
1998	23%	44%
1999	22.9%	43.5%
2000	22.8%	42.9%
2001	22.6%	42.4%
2002	22.4%	41.8%
2003	22.1%	41.3%
2004	21.8%	40.7%
2005	21.5%	40.2%
2006	21.3%	39.6%
2007	21.1%	39.2%
2008	21%	38.8%
2009	20.9%	38.5%
2010	20.9%	38.2%
2011	20.8%	38.1%
2012	20.6%	38.2%
2013	20.4%	38.2%
2014	20.2%	38.4%
2015	19.9%	38.5%
2016	19.6%	38.7%
2017	19.5%	38.8%
2018	19.3%	38.9%
2019	19.2%	39%
2020	19%	39%
2021	18.9%	39%
2022	18.6%	38.8%
2023	18.4%	38.6%
2024	18.1%	38.3%
2025	17.9%	38%
2026	17.6%	37.6%
2027	17.4%	37.1%
2028	17.2%	36.7%
2029	17%	36.2%
2030	16.8%	35.8%
2031	16.6%	35.3%
2032	16.4%	34.9%
2033	16.3%	34.5%
2034	16.1%	34.1%
2035	16%	33.7%
2036	15.9%	33.4%
2037	15.8%	33.2%
2038	15.7%	32.9%
2039	15.6%	32.7%
2040	15.5%	32.5%
2041	15.4%	32.3%
2042	15.4%	32.2%
2043	15.4%	32%
2044	15.3%	31.8%
2045	15.3%	31.6%
2046	15.3%	31.5%
2047	15.3%	31.3%
2048	15.3%	31.1%
2049	15.2%	30.9%
2050	15.2%	30.6%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.1% of the population in New Zealand and 38.3% in Vanuatu in 2024, compared to 23.3% and 43.9% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of New Zealand and Vanuatu compared.

Natural population change in New Zealand vs Vanuatu by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.51% in New Zealand and +2.53% in Vanuatu. 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	Vanuatu
1960	41,791	1,796
1961	43,482	1,872
1962	42,865	1,947
1963	42,027	2,025
1964	39,375	2,098
1965	36,982	2,180
1966	36,151	2,278
1967	37,974	2,384
1968	37,594	2,470
1969	38,098	2,529
1970	37,101	2,597
1971	40,000	2,685
1972	38,244	2,775
1973	35,239	2,876
1974	33,896	2,968
1975	31,355	3,074
1976	29,456	3,174
1977	28,020	3,285
1978	26,156	3,428
1979	26,675	3,590
1980	23,658	3,383
1981	25,374	3,592
1982	24,207	3,778
1983	24,315	3,944
1984	26,043	4,088
1985	24,126	4,219
1986	25,549	4,360
1987	27,603	4,427
1988	29,846	4,577
1989	30,749	4,656
1990	33,298	4,762
1991	33,518	4,859
1992	32,067	4,941
1993	31,685	4,973
1994	30,372	4,973
1995	29,828	4,945
1996	28,997	4,897
1997	30,137	4,854
1998	29,146	4,866
1999	28,916	4,871
2000	29,897	5,026
2001	27,939	5,144
2002	25,941	5,181
2003	28,150	5,258
2004	29,634	5,353
2005	30,674	5,454
2006	30,924	5,606
2007	35,480	5,842
2008	35,143	6,138
2009	33,560	6,362
2010	35,458	6,548
2011	31,302	6,715
2012	31,077	6,877
2013	29,096	7,036
2014	26,196	7,143
2015	29,408	7,220
2016	28,237	7,315
2017	26,282	7,371
2018	24,797	7,379
2019	25,344	7,364
2020	24,993	7,233
2021	23,767	7,199
2022	20,264	7,358
2023	19,039	7,359

Maternal mortality chart: New Zealand vs Vanuatu

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 100 deaths in Vanuatu.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	New Zealand	Vanuatu
1985	19	211
1986	18	194
1987	19	200
1988	19	172
1989	18	162
1990	18	151
1991	16	140
1992	15	140
1993	14	133
1994	13	131
1995	14	131
1996	14	129
1997	13	131
1998	12	134
1999	12	146
2000	11	133
2001	10	132
2002	11	128
2003	11	131
2004	11	131
2005	11	127
2006	10	123
2007	10	120
2008	10	117
2009	10	114
2010	10	114
2011	10	112
2012	9	109
2013	8	110
2014	7	110
2015	8	109
2016	8	107
2017	8	107
2018	7	108
2019	8	105
2020	8	107
2021	8	124
2022	23	105
2023	7	100

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.47% in New Zealand and 1.68% in Vanuatu. 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	Vanuatu
1960	2.78%	15.2%
1961	2.68%	14.7%
1962	2.58%	14.3%
1963	2.48%	13.8%
1964	2.39%	13.4%
1965	2.31%	12.9%
1966	2.25%	12.4%
1967	2.2%	12%
1968	2.16%	11.5%
1969	2.12%	11%
1970	2.08%	10.6%
1971	2.03%	10.2%
1972	1.98%	9.73%
1973	1.94%	9.34%
1974	1.88%	8.95%
1975	1.83%	8.58%
1976	1.77%	8.21%
1977	1.71%	7.84%
1978	1.66%	7.45%
1979	1.61%	7.07%
1980	1.56%	6.67%
1981	1.52%	6.27%
1982	1.48%	5.87%
1983	1.45%	5.48%
1984	1.41%	5.12%
1985	1.38%	4.78%
1986	1.34%	4.47%
1987	1.29%	4.2%
1988	1.24%	3.96%
1989	1.18%	3.76%
1990	1.12%	3.58%
1991	1.06%	3.43%
1992	1%	3.29%
1993	0.95%	3.18%
1994	0.91%	3.08%
1995	0.87%	3%
1996	0.84%	2.92%
1997	0.81%	2.86%
1998	0.78%	2.79%
1999	0.76%	2.74%
2000	0.74%	2.68%
2001	0.72%	2.63%
2002	0.7%	2.58%
2003	0.69%	2.54%
2004	0.67%	2.5%
2005	0.66%	2.45%
2006	0.65%	2.4%
2007	0.65%	2.34%
2008	0.64%	2.27%
2009	0.63%	2.2%
2010	0.62%	2.12%
2011	0.61%	2.05%
2012	0.6%	1.99%
2013	0.59%	1.94%
2014	0.57%	1.9%
2015	0.56%	1.87%
2016	0.55%	1.84%
2017	0.53%	1.82%
2018	0.52%	1.8%
2019	0.51%	1.78%
2020	0.5%	1.77%
2021	0.49%	1.74%
2022	0.48%	1.71%
2023	0.47%	1.68%