Adoption applications granted in New Zealand
By age group of the child, year ended June 2016–2025, number of children
| Year ended June | Category | Number of children |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Under 12 months | 76 |
| 2017 | Under 12 months | 82 |
| 2018 | Under 12 months | 68 |
| 2019 | Under 12 months | 78 |
| 2020 | Under 12 months | 68 |
| 2021 | Under 12 months | 77 |
| 2022 | Under 12 months | 60 |
| 2023 | Under 12 months | 54 |
| 2024 | Under 12 months | 66 |
| 2025 | Under 12 months | 66 |
| 2016 | 1 - 5 years | 31 |
| 2017 | 1 - 5 years | 43 |
| 2018 | 1 - 5 years | 25 |
| 2019 | 1 - 5 years | 30 |
| 2020 | 1 - 5 years | 29 |
| 2021 | 1 - 5 years | 21 |
| 2022 | 1 - 5 years | 22 |
| 2023 | 1 - 5 years | 23 |
| 2024 | 1 - 5 years | 23 |
| 2025 | 1 - 5 years | 21 |
| 2016 | 6 years or more | 45 |
| 2017 | 6 years or more | 78 |
| 2018 | 6 years or more | 40 |
| 2019 | 6 years or more | 58 |
| 2020 | 6 years or more | 40 |
| 2021 | 6 years or more | 27 |
| 2022 | 6 years or more | 23 |
| 2023 | 6 years or more | 21 |
| 2024 | 6 years or more | 27 |
| 2025 | 6 years or more | 49 |
| 2016 | Unknown | 0 |
| 2017 | Unknown | 0 |
| 2018 | Unknown | 0 |
| 2019 | Unknown | 1 |
| 2020 | Unknown | 0 |
| 2021 | Unknown | 0 |
| 2022 | Unknown | 0 |
| 2023 | Unknown | 0 |
| 2024 | Unknown | 0 |
| 2025 | Unknown | 0 |
Notes
Year is the financial year the adoption application was granted. This may not be the same year the application was filed.
Each adoption application represents one child.
Age is the age of the child when the application was filed.
Definitions
Justice service area: Justice service areas are geographical groupings of individual court locations for administrative purposes. Prior to June 2017 a different administrative grouping, called service delivery areas, was used.
The court location is the location of the court where the application was filed or granted (eg. Wellington District Court is recorded as Wellington).
For more information
Limitations of the data
A small number of records in the Ministry of Justice database are missing some details.
Inclusions
This data includes children who were adopted by their own biological parents. This is caused by the outdated New Zealand legislation, which discriminates against same-sex parents and other families who go through surrogacy.
Changes to data collection/processing
From 29 April 2016, the Ministry of Justice sources courts data from the new Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW), rather than the justice sector data warehouse (ISIS) used over recent years. Changes in data processing may cause small differences if compared current output with similar results produced before 29 April 2016.
Data provided by
Dataset name
Justice Statistics: Children adopted 2025
Webpage:
How to find the data
At URL provided, under the heading Children adopted, download 'View or download the children adopted data tables' file.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: Justice Statistics: Children adopted 2025
From the dataset Justice Statistics: Children adopted 2025, this data was extracted:
- Sheet: 3.Gender & age of children
- Range:
B9:U17 - Provided: 140 data points
This data forms the table Justice - Adoption applications granted, by gender and age of child 2016–2025.
Dataset originally released on:
September 16, 2025
About this dataset
Adoption information data includes the number of applications filed and granted, court locations, and the age and gender of children adopted.
Method of collection/Data provider
Adoption application data is extracted from a live data warehouse that is used for operational purposes. This means that data will be updated through late data entry and active applications progressing through the court process. Therefore, this data may differ to data reported elsewhere with a different extraction date.