The number of teenage women in New Zealand giving birth has more than halved over the last decade, Stats NZ said today.
There were 1,719 births registered to teenage women (those aged under 20 years) in 2022, accounting for around 1 in every 34 births that year. In 2012, there were 3,786 births registered to teenage mothers, accounting for around 1 in every 16 births that year.
For every 1,000 women in New Zealand aged 15-19, there were 11 births in 2022, down from 25 births in 2012. This is a drop of 55 percent. In 2022, 99 percent of teenage births were to mothers aged 15-19.
“The decreasing number of teenage births coincides with improved education and access to contraception,” estimates and projections manager Michael MacAskill said.
See Abortion statistics on DataInfo+ for more information on the history of contraception changes in New Zealand.
In 1972, when teenage births peaked, 9,150 teenage women gave birth, accounting for around 1 in every 7 births that year. At that time, there were 69 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 years.
While teenage births generally dropped after 1972, there was a small peak in 2008 when 5,223 births were registered to mothers aged under 20 (1 in every 12 births that year). Since then, births to teenage mothers have generally decreased.
The latest Abortion Services Aotearoa New Zealand: Annual report shows that the number of induced abortions accessed by teenagers has also decreased over the last decade.
“While the number of teenagers giving birth reduced, the number of women having children in their 30s or older has generally increased,” MacAskill said.
| December year | Under 20 years | 35 years and over |
| 1962 | 5316 | 7668 |
| 1963 | 6066 | 7464 |
| 1964 | 6432 | 7122 |
| 1965 | 6900 | 6444 |
| 1966 | 7755 | 5898 |
| 1967 | 8124 | 5400 |
| 1968 | 8115 | 5052 |
| 1969 | 8028 | 4803 |
| 1970 | 8166 | 4404 |
| 1971 | 8820 | 4071 |
| 1972 | 9150 | 3873 |
| 1973 | 8805 | 3360 |
| 1974 | 8598 | 3015 |
| 1975 | 7998 | 2670 |
| 1976 | 7491 | 2523 |
| 1977 | 7200 | 2499 |
| 1978 | 6759 | 2394 |
| 1979 | 6384 | 2457 |
| 1980 | 5919 | 2394 |
| 1981 | 5736 | 2349 |
| 1982 | 5103 | 2580 |
| 1983 | 4800 | 2661 |
| 1984 | 4509 | 2937 |
| 1985 | 4533 | 3054 |
| 1986 | 4500 | 3330 |
| 1987 | 4800 | 3735 |
| 1988 | 4803 | 4242 |
| 1989 | 4989 | 4470 |
| 1990 | 5037 | 5157 |
| 1991 | 4911 | 5646 |
| 1992 | 4626 | 5976 |
| 1993 | 4386 | 6282 |
| 1994 | 4203 | 6714 |
| 1995 | 4443 | 7272 |
| 1996 | 4407 | 7824 |
| 1997 | 4401 | 8625 |
| 1998 | 3924 | 8919 |
| 1999 | 3885 | 9648 |
| 2000 | 3816 | 9978 |
| 2001 | 3777 | 10167 |
| 2002 | 3621 | 10464 |
| 2003 | 3783 | 11367 |
| 2004 | 4044 | 11709 |
| 2005 | 4134 | 12123 |
| 2006 | 4374 | 12561 |
| 2007 | 4953 | 13980 |
| 2008 | 5223 | 14190 |
| 2009 | 4671 | 13767 |
| 2010 | 4551 | 13941 |
| 2011 | 4008 | 13398 |
| 2012 | 3786 | 13005 |
| 2013 | 3303 | 12711 |
| 2014 | 2922 | 11994 |
| 2015 | 2865 | 12771 |
| 2016 | 2481 | 12420 |
| 2017 | 2316 | 12375 |
| 2018 | 2076 | 12321 |
| 2019 | 1995 | 12969 |
| 2020 | 1893 | 12483 |
| 2021 | 1596 | 13008 |
| 2022 | 1719 | 13476 |
In 1972, around 1 in every 16 births was to a mother aged 35 years or over (3,873 births). Both the number and proportion of births to mothers aged 35+ dropped slightly in the late-1970s and early-1980s, then increased steadily until 2008. Since then, they have been relatively stable. In 2022, just under 1 in every 4 births were to mothers aged 35+ (13,476 births).
Births to mothers aged 40+ have also generally increased, although still only accounting for a small proportion of total births. In the 1970s, around 1 in every 100 births were to mothers aged 40+. In 2022, 1 in every 25 births were to mothers aged 40+, a similar proportion to over the last 15 years.
Parenting and fertility trends in New Zealand: 2018 has more information on New Zealand’s changing fertility.
