Fertility

The number of live births registered in New Zealand fell from 64,300 in the December 2008 year to 62,500 in the December 2009 year. This fall ended a rising trend since 2002, when birth numbers were relatively low at 54,000.

Fertility rates increased for all age groups between 2002 and 2008 and fell for all age groups but one (the 40–44 year age group) between 2008 and 2009. At all ages below 30 years, women are less likely to give birth than their counterparts two decades ago, while women in their thirties and early forties are more likely to do so. Since 2002, women aged 30–34 years have had the highest fertility rate of all age groups.

Figure P3 Age-specific fertility rates, 1979–2009

Source: Statistics New Zealand

The median age of New Zealand women giving birth has risen from 27 years in the 1980s to around 30 years since 2002. The median age of first-time mothers was 28 years in 2009 and has been stable over the last decade. This figure is based on children of the current relationship only.

Age at childbearing varies widely by ethnicity. Māori and Pacific women giving birth tend to be younger, with a median age of 26 years and 27 years, respectively, in 2009. The median age at maternity was 30 years for Asian women and 31 years for European women.

The total fertility rate summarises the potential impact of current fertility patterns on completed family size. The total fertility rate for the December 2009 year indicates that New Zealand women averaged 2.12 births per woman. This was a decline from 2.18 births per woman in the December 2008 year but higher than the relatively low fertility year of 2002, when the total fertility rate was 1.89 births per woman. New Zealand’s total fertility rate has been relatively stable over the last three decades, averaging 2.01 births per woman. During this period, the total fertility rate varied from 2.18 births per woman in 1990 and 2008 to 1.89 in 1998 and 2002.

New Zealand is one of several OECD countries that has experienced increases in fertility rates in recent years. The other countries include the United States, Ireland, Australia, England and Wales, Scotland, the Nordic countries, France and Canada. Of these, only New Zealand, the United States and Ireland reached replacement-level total fertility rates of at least 2.1 births per woman. Like New Zealand, the United States experienced a slight decline in fertility in the most recent year (from 2.12 births per woman in 2007 to 2.09 in 2008).

Table P2 Total fertility rate and teenage fertility rate, New Zealand and selected countries, latest year

Source: Statistics New Zealand and national statistical organisation websites
Notes: (1) Births to females under 20 years per 1,000 females aged 15–19 years, except for the United States which includes births to 15–19 year olds only. (2) The teenage birth rate for Japan is for 2007; the rate for France is for 2005. (3) The 2008 rates for the United States and the 2008 total fertility rate for France are provisional.

New Zealand’s comparatively high fertility rate reflects, in part, the higher fertility rates of Māori and Pacific women as well as the higher share of Māori and Pacific women in the female population of childbearing age. The total fertility rate for Māori women in 2009 was 2.80 births per woman, down from 2.95 in 2008. For ethnic groups other than Māori, the most recent fertility rates are for the three-year period centred on the 2006 Census. The rate for Pacific women in 2005–2007 was 2.95 births per woman. Of all live births registered in 2009, those registered to Māori women accounted for 23 percent, while those registered to Pacific women made up 12 percent.

In comparison, total fertility rates for European and Asian women in 2005–2007 were 1.92 births per woman and 1.52 births per woman, respectively. In 2009, 66 percent of all live births were registered to European women and 11 percent to Asian women. Mothers who identify with more than one ethnic group are counted once in each group reported.

Teenage fertility rates have fluctuated over the past decade. In 2009, the teenage (under 20 years) fertility rate was 29.6 births per 1,000 females aged 15–19 years, a decline from 33.1 per 1,000 in 2008. The teenage fertility rate for Māori women was 71.6 per 1,000 in 2009, down from 80.7 per 1,000 in 2008. For non-Māori women under 20 years, the rate fell from 20.3 per 1,000 in 2008 to 18.4 per 1,000 in 2009. Between 1996 and 2002, the teenage fertility rate fell from 33.3 to 25.8 births per 1,000 females aged 15–19 years, but had recovered to the 1996 level by 2008.

The birth rate for Pacific females aged 15–19 years declined from 47.4 per 1,000 in 2000–2002 to 42.5 per 1,000 in 2005–2007. Over the same period, the birth rate for Asian teens fell from 7.4 to 6.9 per 1,000 females aged 15–19 years.

New Zealand has a relatively high rate of childbearing at young ages compared with most other developed countries. At 29.6 births per 1,000 females aged 15–19 years in 2009, the New Zealand teenage birth rate is higher than the rate in England and Wales (26.0 per 1,000 in 2008), Scotland (26.7 in 2008), Ireland (17.4 in 2008), Australia (17.3 in 2008) and Canada (14.0 in 2007), but considerably lower than that of the United States (41.5 per 1,000 in 2008). Historical patterns and cultural differences in the timing of childbearing, and New Zealand’s relatively high overall fertility, partly explain the differences between countries.

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