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Oceania · Australia/New Zealand

How many babies are born in New Zealand?

58 thousand babies born in New Zealand in 2026. That is 0.04% of all births worldwide, and the 127th largest of any country. UN projection

2024–2100 uses the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium scenario, based on assumptions about fertility, mortality and migration. These are projections, not observed births or guaranteed outcomes. Uncertainty increases further into the future; this site does not display prediction intervals.

Births in New Zealand: history and projections

1K10K 12001500180019002100
Annual births, logarithmic scale. Shading marks modelled years before 1800; the dashed line marks UN projections from 2024.
Every figure refers to the area inside New Zealand’s present-day borders. Before 1800 the state did not exist in its current form. See how borders are handled.
Year Estimated births Population Per 1,000 Evidence
1500 ~4.2K ~80K 52.0 Modelled estimate
1800 ~7.41K ~200K 37.0 Historical reconstruction
1900 ~20.7K ~809K 25.6 Historical reconstruction
1950 49.1K 1.91M 25.7 UN estimate
2000 56.6K 3.86M 14.7 UN estimate
2023 59.2K 5.17M 11.5 UN estimate
2026 58K 5.29M 11.0 UN projection
2050 56.1K 5.76M 9.8 UN projection
2075 52.9K 5.87M 9.0 UN projection
2100 50.3K 5.81M 8.7 UN projection

What the numbers show

The highest annual births in New Zealand among estimates through 2023 were in 1961, at about 65K. That is roughly 96 times the estimated ~677 births a year in 1200.

At 1.64 children per woman, fertility in New Zealand is below the level of about 2.1 that would hold a population steady over the long run without migration.

See New Zealand on the map

How many babies are born in New Zealand each year?

An estimated 58 thousand babies are born in New Zealand in 2026, according to the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium projection. That is about 159 a day and 0.04% of all births worldwide.

What is the birth rate in New Zealand?

New Zealand has an estimated 11.0 births per 1,000 people in 2026, and a total fertility rate of 1.64 children per woman.

Where these numbers come from

2026 figures are the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium scenario. UN estimates cover 1950–2023; projections cover 2024–2100. Earlier years come from Gapminder’s reconstructions (1800–1949) and a model applied to HYDE population estimates (before 1800). The full chain is set out in the methodology, and every source is listed on the sources page.