Women giving birth are older than ever recorded

The median age of women giving birth in Aotearoa New Zealand has reached 31.5 years in 2024, according to data released by Stats NZ today.

The median age of 31.5 years is the highest since records began in 1962. The lowest median age recorded was 24.8 years in 1972. By 1994, the median age had risen to 28.5 years. Median age is the age at which half of women giving birth are younger and half are older than this age and is for all births rather than first births.

“Women who are having children now are often older than those of previous generations,” population estimates, projections and coverage spokesperson Victoria Treliving said.

“This births data, when considered alongside the 2023 Census data, supports a trend of women having fewer children.”

The 2023 Census collected data on the number of children born to people whose sex at birth was female (see note). The data showed an increase in the proportion who had never had children, rising from 15 percent in 2013 to 17 percent in 2023. Meanwhile, the proportion of those aged 50– 54 with three or more children decreased from 37 percent to 31 percent over the same period.   

For people aged 30–34 whose sex at birth was female, and who are therefore still in their childbearing years, the proportion who have never had children increased from 36 percent in 2013 to 44 percent in 2023.

In 2024, there were 58,341 registered live births, up from 56,955 (2.4 percent) in 2023. However, the total fertility rate remained steady at 1.56 for both 2023 and 2024.

“While there was an increase in the number of births between 2023 and 2024, the fertility rate actually remained the same over this time. This is due to having more women in the population overall rather than more women having children,” Treliving said.

Deaths similar to 2023, but lower than 2022

In other data released by Stats NZ today, the number of registered deaths in 2024 (37,722) was similar to 2023 (37,884 – or a drop of 0.4 percent). While the number of deaths in New Zealand is expected to steadily increase as our population ages, 2024 had fewer deaths than in 2022 (when there were 38,574, impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic).

Deaths increase by ten percent in 2022 has more information about the increased number of deaths in 2022.

Based on deaths in 2022–2024, life expectancy at birth remained at 80.3 years for a newborn boy and 83.7 years for a newborn girl.

Births and deaths: Year ended December 2024 (including abridged period life table) has more information on deaths and life expectancy.

Late registrations increase infant mortality rate

In 2024, 342 infant deaths were registered, resulting in an infant mortality rate of 5.8 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. Infant deaths refer to deaths under one year of age. This is up from 201 infant deaths in 2023 (3.5 deaths per 1,000 live births).

Some of this increase is a result of 57 infant deaths being registered that occurred between 2016 and 2022. While deaths are typically registered promptly, there may be occasional delays in reporting infant deaths, leading to a ‘catch-up period’ where additional deaths are registered despite having occurred earlier.

If infant mortality was calculated based on the date the death occurred rather than was registered, the infant mortality rate would have provisionally been 4.3 infant deaths per 1,000 estimated live births in 2024, compared with an average of 4.1 between 2019 and 2023.

5 March 2025:  We have updated the subject population in the paragraphs discussing the number of children born to align with the new standard for gender, sex, and variations of sex characteristics. References to 'women' have been changed to 'people whose sex at birth was female'.

Media enquiries

Sandi Reily
021 285 9191
media@stats.govt.nz