8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Oceania / Australia/New Zealand

Born in New Zealand

About 1 in 2,232 people born in 2023 started life in New Zealand. A boy can expect to live 80 years and a girl 84, up from 67 and 71 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 2,232
odds of being born here
59,200 births · Ranked 127th of 230
80 / 84
years of life, boys / girls
Was 67 / 71 in 1950
$49,593
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 13th of 203
84%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 13 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 35 in every 1,000 births to 5.4.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
010203040195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth80.4 years for boys, 83.8 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 55.4 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year38,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people3.6World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles89%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year7 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 3.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.7, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0246195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.67UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth30.6 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

Economic output per personabout $49,593 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank WDI
Unemployment3.7% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises5.7% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-0.5% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming6% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed18% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment113% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Auckland, with 1.5 million people.

84%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Auckland1.5 million
Christchurch419,200
Wellington381,900
Manukau City362,000
Hamilton192,100
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English98%
Māori3%
English, Māori is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Auckland2.2 million
Wellington Region699,630
Canterbury523,500
Bay of Plenty245,503
Waikato Region234,292
Manawatu-Wanganui159,489
Hawke's Bay Region154,700
Otago132,800
Taranaki Region90,100
Nelson Region74,660

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 15 regions
  • Auckland2.2 million
  • Wellington Region699,630
  • Canterbury523,500
  • Bay of Plenty245,503
  • Waikato Region234,292
  • Manawatu-Wanganui159,489
  • Hawke's Bay Region154,700
  • Otago132,800
  • Taranaki Region90,100
  • Nelson Region74,660
  • Southland58,000
  • Northland50,900
  • Gisborne38,100
  • Marlborough29,800
  • Tasman District19,950

People on the move

About 13% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Australia, United Kingdom, Canada.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Australia588,088
United Kingdom50,762
Canada10,875
Residents born abroad28.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 13.0% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostAustralia (588,088), United Kingdom (50,762), Canada (10,875)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $407.2 million a year (2022)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 100%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2023)
100%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2023)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 20244,284Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19507; the deadliest, in 2011, killed about 185 people (magnitude 6.1)NOAA NCEI

Now live it.

Born in New Zealand, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in New Zealand

Elsewhere in Oceania

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences