Fertility & birth rates in New Zealand and Zambia

Fertility rate in New Zealand vs Zambia 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 4.1 in Zambia in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check New Zealand vs Zambia 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	Zambia
1960	4.24	6.95
1961	4.31	6.98
1962	4.19	7.01
1963	4.05	7.06
1964	3.8	7.09
1965	3.54	7.12
1966	3.41	7.14
1967	3.35	7.15
1968	3.34	7.18
1969	3.28	7.18
1970	3.17	7.22
1971	3.18	7.26
1972	3	7.3
1973	2.76	7.34
1974	2.58	7.36
1975	2.37	7.42
1976	2.27	7.39
1977	2.21	7.35
1978	2.07	7.29
1979	2.12	7.22
1980	2.03	7.14
1981	2.01	7.07
1982	1.95	7.04
1983	1.92	7.01
1984	1.93	6.97
1985	1.93	6.93
1986	1.96	6.87
1987	2.03	6.8
1988	2.1	6.7
1989	2.12	6.64
1990	2.18	6.57
1991	2.09	6.46
1992	2.06	6.35
1993	2.04	6.3
1994	1.98	6.26
1995	1.98	6.23
1996	1.96	6.18
1997	1.96	6.12
1998	1.89	6.07
1999	1.97	6
2000	1.98	5.92
2001	1.97	5.85
2002	1.89	5.77
2003	1.93	5.71
2004	1.98	5.7
2005	1.97	5.7
2006	2.01	5.68
2007	2.18	5.61
2008	2.19	5.53
2009	2.13	5.45
2010	2.17	5.36
2011	2.09	5.26
2012	2.1	5.14
2013	2.01	5.01
2014	1.92	4.89
2015	1.99	4.78
2016	1.87	4.67
2017	1.81	4.57
2018	1.71	4.49
2019	1.72	4.42
2020	1.61	4.32
2021	1.64	4.25
2022	1.66	4.18
2023	1.56	4.1
2024	1.55	4.04
2025	1.54	3.97
2026	1.53	3.91
2027	1.53	3.85
2028	1.52	3.77
2029	1.52	3.72
2030	1.52	3.67
2031	1.52	3.61
2032	1.52	3.56
2033	1.51	3.5
2034	1.51	3.45
2035	1.51	3.4
2036	1.51	3.35
2037	1.51	3.3
2038	1.51	3.25
2039	1.51	3.19
2040	1.51	3.15
2041	1.51	3.11
2042	1.51	3.07
2043	1.51	3.03
2044	1.51	3
2045	1.51	2.96
2046	1.51	2.93
2047	1.51	2.9
2048	1.51	2.87
2049	1.51	2.84
2050	1.51	2.81

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	New Zealand	Zambia
1960	32.8%	46%
1961	33%	46.2%
1962	33%	46.3%
1963	32.9%	46.5%
1964	32.9%	46.7%
1965	32.7%	46.9%
1966	32.6%	46.9%
1967	32.5%	47%
1968	32.3%	47.1%
1969	32.2%	47.2%
1970	31.9%	47.4%
1971	31.7%	47.7%
1972	31.4%	48%
1973	31%	48.3%
1974	30.5%	48.6%
1975	30.1%	48.8%
1976	29.6%	49.1%
1977	29%	49.2%
1978	28.4%	49.4%
1979	27.8%	49.5%
1980	27.2%	49.5%
1981	26.7%	49.4%
1982	26.2%	49.3%
1983	25.6%	49.1%
1984	25.1%	49%
1985	24.6%	48.9%
1986	24.2%	48.8%
1987	23.8%	48.7%
1988	23.5%	48.6%
1989	23.3%	48.5%
1990	23.3%	48.4%
1991	23.2%	48.3%
1992	23.1%	48.2%
1993	23.1%	48.2%
1994	23.1%	48.2%
1995	23.1%	48.2%
1996	23%	48.2%
1997	23%	48.2%
1998	23%	48.2%
1999	22.9%	48.1%
2000	22.8%	48%
2001	22.6%	47.8%
2002	22.4%	47.6%
2003	22.1%	47.4%
2004	21.8%	47.3%
2005	21.5%	47.1%
2006	21.3%	47%
2007	21.1%	46.8%
2008	21%	46.6%
2009	20.9%	46.4%
2010	20.9%	46.3%
2011	20.8%	46.1%
2012	20.6%	45.9%
2013	20.4%	45.7%
2014	20.2%	45.5%
2015	19.9%	45.2%
2016	19.6%	44.9%
2017	19.5%	44.5%
2018	19.3%	44.1%
2019	19.2%	43.8%
2020	19%	43.3%
2021	18.9%	42.9%
2022	18.6%	42.4%
2023	18.4%	42%
2024	18.1%	41.5%
2025	17.9%	41%
2026	17.6%	40.5%
2027	17.4%	40%
2028	17.2%	39.6%
2029	17%	39.2%
2030	16.8%	38.8%
2031	16.6%	38.5%
2032	16.4%	38.1%
2033	16.3%	37.8%
2034	16.1%	37.5%
2035	16%	37.1%
2036	15.9%	36.8%
2037	15.8%	36.5%
2038	15.7%	36.1%
2039	15.6%	35.8%
2040	15.5%	35.4%
2041	15.4%	35.1%
2042	15.4%	34.7%
2043	15.4%	34.4%
2044	15.3%	34%
2045	15.3%	33.7%
2046	15.3%	33.3%
2047	15.3%	33%
2048	15.3%	32.6%
2049	15.2%	32.3%
2050	15.2%	32%

Children aged 0-14 make up 18.1% of the population in New Zealand and 41.5% in Zambia in 2024, compared to 23.3% and 48.4% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of New Zealand and Zambia compared.

Natural population change in New Zealand vs Zambia by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.51% in New Zealand and +2.87% in Zambia. 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	Zambia
1960	41,791	102,335
1961	43,482	106,318
1962	42,865	110,173
1963	42,027	114,555
1964	39,375	117,197
1965	36,982	122,814
1966	36,151	127,164
1967	37,974	131,938
1968	37,594	137,315
1969	38,098	142,660
1970	37,101	149,380
1971	40,000	155,249
1972	38,244	161,648
1973	35,239	168,258
1974	33,896	174,484
1975	31,355	182,258
1976	29,456	186,762
1977	28,020	191,557
1978	26,156	194,933
1979	26,675	197,578
1980	23,658	198,817
1981	25,374	202,822
1982	24,207	207,621
1983	24,315	212,712
1984	26,043	216,695
1985	24,126	221,351
1986	25,549	224,768
1987	27,603	227,813
1988	29,846	230,118
1989	30,749	233,429
1990	33,298	235,835
1991	33,518	237,957
1992	32,067	239,953
1993	31,685	245,917
1994	30,372	252,023
1995	29,828	257,897
1996	28,997	262,468
1997	30,137	268,198
1998	29,146	275,568
1999	28,916	283,297
2000	29,897	293,186
2001	27,939	302,682
2002	25,941	316,041
2003	28,150	331,189
2004	29,634	349,352
2005	30,674	368,756
2006	30,924	387,891
2007	35,480	403,729
2008	35,143	419,560
2009	33,560	434,458
2010	35,458	448,337
2011	31,302	459,743
2012	31,077	469,406
2013	29,096	476,846
2014	26,196	483,663
2015	29,408	491,021
2016	28,237	497,521
2017	26,282	504,630
2018	24,797	515,644
2019	25,344	528,089
2020	24,993	536,484
2021	23,767	535,629
2022	20,264	563,456
2023	19,039	577,660

Maternal mortality chart: New Zealand vs Zambia

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 85 deaths in Zambia.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	New Zealand	Zambia
1985	19	596
1986	18	619
1987	19	630
1988	19	635
1989	18	635
1990	18	625
1991	16	611
1992	15	581
1993	14	532
1994	13	507
1995	14	466
1996	14	433
1997	13	403
1998	12	392
1999	12	378
2000	11	340
2001	10	306
2002	11	274
2003	11	250
2004	11	260
2005	11	264
2006	10	262
2007	10	324
2008	10	394
2009	10	406
2010	10	332
2011	10	291
2012	9	256
2013	8	213
2014	7	174
2015	8	154
2016	8	158
2017	8	141
2018	7	117
2019	8	103
2020	8	99
2021	8	140
2022	23	89
2023	7	85

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.47% in New Zealand and 4.47% in Zambia. 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	Zambia
1960	2.78%	20.5%
1961	2.68%	20.1%
1962	2.58%	19.8%
1963	2.48%	19.5%
1964	2.39%	19.2%
1965	2.31%	19%
1966	2.25%	18.9%
1967	2.2%	18.7%
1968	2.16%	18.5%
1969	2.12%	18.3%
1970	2.08%	17.9%
1971	2.03%	17.4%
1972	1.98%	16.9%
1973	1.94%	16.3%
1974	1.88%	15.9%
1975	1.83%	15.5%
1976	1.77%	15.4%
1977	1.71%	15.3%
1978	1.66%	15.3%
1979	1.61%	15.4%
1980	1.56%	15.5%
1981	1.52%	15.6%
1982	1.48%	15.7%
1983	1.45%	15.9%
1984	1.41%	16.2%
1985	1.38%	16.6%
1986	1.34%	17%
1987	1.29%	17.3%
1988	1.24%	17.7%
1989	1.18%	17.9%
1990	1.12%	18.1%
1991	1.06%	18.1%
1992	1%	18.1%
1993	0.95%	17.9%
1994	0.91%	17.7%
1995	0.87%	17.3%
1996	0.84%	17%
1997	0.81%	16.7%
1998	0.78%	16.3%
1999	0.76%	15.9%
2000	0.74%	15.3%
2001	0.72%	14.4%
2002	0.7%	13.4%
2003	0.69%	12.4%
2004	0.67%	11.4%
2005	0.66%	10.5%
2006	0.65%	9.71%
2007	0.65%	9.14%
2008	0.64%	8.62%
2009	0.63%	8%
2010	0.62%	7.57%
2011	0.61%	7.31%
2012	0.6%	7.04%
2013	0.59%	6.72%
2014	0.57%	6.38%
2015	0.56%	6.15%
2016	0.55%	5.9%
2017	0.53%	5.61%
2018	0.52%	5.52%
2019	0.51%	5.41%
2020	0.5%	5.24%
2021	0.49%	4.92%
2022	0.48%	4.67%
2023	0.47%	4.47%