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
The year ended June 2026 had the lowest number of registered births since 2003.
Over the last year (ended June 2026) compared with the previous year (ended June 2025):
- 56,268 live births were registered, down from 58,365
- 38,037 deaths were registered, up from 37,323
- the total fertility rate was 1.51 births per woman, down from 1.57
- the infant mortality rate was 5.33 deaths per 1,000 live births, up from 5.19 per 1,000.
Infant mortality rate
Over the last year (ended June 2026), an additional 60 infant deaths that occurred between 2014 and 2021 were registered, increasing the infant mortality rate. The Māori infant mortality rate was particularly affected, as 33 of the 60 additional infant deaths were Māori infants. Just over three-quarters of all late registrations were deaths that occurred within the first few days following birth.
Cohort fertility update
Latest updates to the cohort fertility series are in Infoshare.
Cohort fertility is another measure of fertility, looking at the average number of children women have over their lifetime, based on the year they were born. Despite being one of the more robust measures of fertility, the cohort fertility rates cannot be finalised until after women have completed having children.
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
Use Infoshare to view and download updated cohort fertility series ‘Cohort fertility, completed fertility rate for women born from 1894 onwards (Annual-Dec)’:
Subject category: Population
Group: Birth rates – DFM
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.
Guide to fertility measures has more information on ways of measuring the numbers and rates of births, and the strengths and limitations of them.
Guide to mortality measures has more information on ways of measuring the numbers and rates of deaths, and the strengths and limitations of them.
Infoshare is being replaced by Aotearoa Data Explorer
Infoshare is being replaced by Aotearoa Data Explorer. Stay informed and get support with this change by joining our customer group at [email protected].
Technical enquiries
Population estimates, projections, and coverage team
[email protected]
04 931 4600
ISSN 1178-0436
Next release
Births and deaths: Year ended September 2026 will be released on 17 November 2026.
