The following line graph illustrates the number of births and deaths in New Zealand, from 1901 to the present and shows projections up to the year 2021.
Overall, we can see that birth rates experienced a dramatic increase in the mid-20th century. After 1990s birth rate started to fall, while death rates kept increasing. It is predicted that around the year 2041, the number of deaths will surpass the number of births, and that trend will continue.
In the beginning the number of births were 10,000 more than the number of deaths. This trend continued despite small fluctuations in both. After 1941, the gap between birth and death rate widened, with the birth rates reaching their peak around the year 1970 at 65,000 per year.
After this the birth rates started to decline, falling to 50,000 in the year 1981. Meanwhile, death rates steadily increased, and after the year 2001 they experienced a meteoric rise. Which leads to the prediction, that by the year 2041 they will overtake birth rates and reach their peak in 2061 at almost 60,000 deaths per year. The projection also suggests that they will fluctuate around this number till 2021, while number of births will end up at 45,000.