Births down, deaths up, in the June 2012 year

Embargoed until 10:45am – 16 August 2012

There were 61,031 live births registered in the June 2012 year, Statistics New Zealand said today. This was a decrease of 1,628 (nearly 3 percent) from the June 2011 year. Meanwhile, the number of deaths rose slightly during this period.

"There were 29,846 deaths registered in New Zealand in the June 2012 year, up 521 (2 percent) from 2011," Population Statistics manager Andrea Blackburn said. "Live births, combined with the deaths, resulted in a natural increase (live births minus deaths) of 31,185, down from 33,334 in the June 2011 year."

Canterbury region had the biggest decrease in births in the June 2012 year, down 586 (8 percent) from 2011. Births in Canterbury (6,506) accounted for about 11 percent of all live births in New Zealand in the June 2012 year.

Auckland region had the largest increase in the number of deaths in the June 2012 year, up 365 to 7,715.

Auckland deaths accounted for 26 percent of the total number of deaths in New Zealand, but the Auckland population accounts for 34 percent of the national population. This is a result of Auckland's relatively young population. The median age in Auckland is 34 years, compared with 37 years for New Zealand as a whole.

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