New Zealand's birth rate has continued to rise, reaching 2.2 births per woman in the year ended June, the highest since 1991.
This time last year there were 2.1 births per woman, according to Statistics New Zealand.
There were 64,140 live births (32,860 boys and 31,280 girls) inthe year ended June, up 4.1 per cent on last year.
It is the highest number since the June 1972 year when there were 64,510 live births.
The most births registered in any June year was 66,110 in 1962. At that time New Zealand's population was just 2.5 million, compared with 4.3 million today.
I n the year ended June, women aged 30-34 years had the highest fertility rate (126 births per 1000 women aged 30-34).
On average, New Zealand women now have children about five years later than their counterparts in the mid-1960s.
The median age of New Zealand women giving birth is now 30 years, compared with 25 years in 1968.
The median age of women giving birth to their first child was 28 years in the year ended June 2008.
There were 28,690 deaths in the year to June, up from 28,460 in the June 2007 year.
Births exceeded deaths by 35,460 in the June year. Population projections show that deaths are likely to outnumber births from 2055.
