Births and deaths: Year ended March 2023

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 March 2023 compared with the year ended March 2022:

• 58,707 live births were registered, down from 60,141
• 38,835 deaths were registered, up from 35,394
• the total fertility rate was 1.65 births per woman, down from 1.69
• the infant mortality rate was 3.58 deaths per 1,000 live births, down from 4.19.

The increase in deaths in the March 2023 year (9.7 percent) reflects more deaths in 2022 as a result of COVID-19, combined with an ageing population – there are increasing numbers and proportions of the population in older ages, where most deaths occur.