Births And Deaths: Year Ended December 2024

Births and deaths releases provide statistics on the number of births and deaths of people resident in New Zealand that are registered during a given period, along with selected fertility and mortality rates. They may differ from statistics presented elsewhere that relate to all births and deaths registered in New Zealand or to births and deaths occurring during a given period.

Key facts

In the year ended December 2024:

• 58,341 live births and 37,722 deaths were registered in Aotearoa New Zealand, resulting in a natural increase (live births minus deaths) of 20,619
• there were 1,386 more births and 162 fewer deaths compared with the year ended December 2023
• the infant mortality rate was 5.8 deaths per 1,000 live births
• the total fertility rate was 1.56, the same as in the year ended December 2023.

Abridged life table for 2022-2024 shows:

• life expectancy was 80.3 years for newborn boys and 83.7 years for newborn girls
• life expectancy was similar to the 2021-2023 abridged life table.

More births than in 2023

There were 58,341 live births registered in New Zealand in 2024, which was 1,386 (2.4 percent) more than in 2023, when births had dropped to the lowest in 20 years.

Annual births have been below 60,000 since 2016. Annual fluctuations in births reflect changes in the size and age structure of the population, the age at which women have children, and the number of children they have. In turn, the number of births influences the future size and age structure of the population.

Fertility rates highest for women aged 30-34 years

Age-specific fertility (or birth) rates measure the number of live births that 1,000 women in a particular age group have in a given period (usually a year).

Over the past decade, fertility rates have generally decreased, especially for women under 30. The fertility rates for women, by age group, for 2024 compared with 2014 are:

• 15-19 years, down to 10.3 births per 1,000 women in 2024 from 19.0 in 2014
• 20-24 years, down to 44.8 from 62.4
• 25-29 years, down to 81.4 from 102.3
• 30-34 years, down to 102.3 from 118.6 (this age group has consistently had the highest fertility rate since 2002)
• 35-39 years, down to 60.5 from 66.4
• 40-44 years, down to 13.5 from 14.2.

Total fertility rate remains at 1.56 births per woman in 2024

The total fertility rate (TFR) summarises the age-specific fertility rates into a single-number indicator of fertility. It shows the average number of babies that women would have in their life if the age-specific fertility rates in a given period stayed the same throughout their lives. Annual fluctuations in the TFR do not necessarily indicate changes in average family size but may indicate changes in the timing of births.

In 2024, the TFR was 1.56 births per woman, the same as in 2023, down from 1.66 in 2022 and 1.64 in 2021. The low fertility rate is due to a combination of fewer births and an increased number of women of reproductive age.

The TFR was relatively stable from 1980 to around 2012, averaging 2.02 births per woman and ranging from 1.89 births per woman (in 1998 and 2002) to 2.19 (in 2008). Since 2013, the TFR has steadily declined, falling below 1.8 since 2018.

New Zealand's fertility rate has not always been stable or decreasing. For example, fertility rates increased dramatically following the Great Depression and World War II, peaking at 4.31 births per woman in 1961. New Zealand experienced decreasing fertility over the next two decades.

Parenting and fertility trends in New Zealand: 2018 has more information on changes in fertility rates.

Fertility is defined demographically as the actual level of reproduction of the population based on the number of live births that occur. This is different to fecundity, which is the biological capacity of a population to bear children.

The TFR in New Zealand has been below replacement level since 2012. The replacement level refers to a TFR of 2.1 in New Zealand, which equates to the average number of children per woman that would be sufficient for the population to replace itself in the long term, without migration.

Births today are influenced by the number of women born 20 to 40 years earlier. As such, although fertility is below replacement level, natural increase added 20,619 people in 2024. However, natural increase is likely to decrease in the future -2073). Without migration, this could lead to population decrease. However, New Zealand usually has net migration gains in most years.

Life expectancy is over 80 years for newborn boys and girls

Life tables give a more detailed comparison of mortality and survival trends, including life expectancy between populations and time periods.

Based on death rates during 2022-2024, the abridged period life table indicates that a newborn boy can expect to live, on average, 80.3 years, and a newborn girl, 83.7 years.

Life expectancy at age 65 is 84.7 years for males (a further 19.7 years), and 86.7 years for females (a further 21.7 years).

Most years, life expectancy at birth in New Zealand increases slightly for both males and females. However, the increased number of deaths in 2022, and to a lesser extent 2023, resulted in the life expectancy calculated in the 2022-2024 abridged period life table being similar than those calculated in the 2021-2023 abridged period life table, but slightly higher than they were in 2017-2019 (80.0 years and 83.5 years) when the complete period life tables were published.

Period life expectancy is the average length of life remaining at a given age, assuming people experience the age-specific death rates of a specific period from that age onwards. For example, life expectancies for the period 2022-2024 are based on death rates for that period only.

More information about life tables

Life tables give a detailed comparison of mortality and survival trends, including life expectancy, between populations and time periods. Like many countries, Stats NZ produces period life tables for a rolling three-year window, to reduce the impact of statistical fluctuations giving a misleading measure of longevity trends. The life expectancy from period life tables assumes people experience the age-specific death rates of a specific period from that age onwards. If death rates decline, the actual life expectancy of babies born in the same period will be higher than these figures .

The annual complete cohort life tables will be published on 28 March 2025. These give the most authoritative measure of how long New Zealanders have lived, and are likely to live, by tracking survival and mortality at each age for those born from 1876 onwards. These life tables are produced independent of census-based population estimates, and are the basis of the How long will I live? tool.

National and subnational period life tables: 2017-2019 include life tables for major ethnic groups, give a more comprehensive picture of mortality and survival trends, and are published five-yearly. The complete period life tables (2022-2024) will be published in late 2025. These use 2023-base population estimates to measure the life expectancy of New Zealand's ethnic populations and subnational areas during the 3-year period 2022-2024.

Weekly deaths data

We are now publishing provisional weekly deaths data quarterly as part of the births and deaths releases published in February, May, August, and November each year. This is in response to the ongoing demand for weekly deaths data following the closure of the Stats NZ COVID-19 data portal in August 2024.

The weekly deaths data is provisional and sourced directly from Department of Internal Affairs. It is based on the date of death (occurrence), with weeks ending on a Sunday. Other deaths data published by Stats NZ may differ slightly from the weekly deaths data due to being based on date of registration rather than occurrence, and further processing of the data supplied.

Access data in Infoshare

Use Infoshare to view and download time-series data for births and deaths:

Subject category: Population
Group: Births - VSB
Group: Birth rates - DFM
Group: Deaths - VSD
Group: Death rates - DMM

Definitions and metadata

Births - DataInfo+ gives the general methodology used to produce birth statistics, and related metadata.

Deaths - DataInfo+ gives the general methodology used to produce death statistics, and related metadata.

New Zealand abridged period life tables - DataInfo+ gives the general methodology used to produce the abridged period life tables.

Technical enquiries

Rebekah Hennessey
03 964 8844
[email protected]

ISSN 1178-0436

Next release

Births and deaths: Year ended March 2025 will be released on 15 May 2025.