New Zealand's birthrate drops to record low as economic insecurity increases

Without migration - now nearly non-existent due to closed borders - the country's population will begin to shrink

New Zealand's birth rate has plummeted to a record low for the 10th year in a row, with demographers suggesting the rising cost of housing, increasing job insecurity and a strained economic environment were contributing to a reluctance to have children.

Data collected by Statistics New Zealand found the birth rate for women of childbearing age has fallen to a record low of 1.63 per woman - far below the 2.1 needed to replace population numbers.