24th March 2026
A recent story reported by RNZ highlights a remarkable situation at Ōtūmoetai Primary School in Tauranga: the school currently has 13 sets of twins enrolled, representing roughly 5% of its student population. This concentration is unusual compared to global averages and provides an interesting insight into twin birth trends in New Zealand.
How uncommon is this?
For context:
- The global twin birth rate is about 1.2% of all births, or roughly one set of twins per 80-90 births.
- Ōtūmoetai Primary’s rate of 5% is roughly four times higher than the worldwide average.
- In some individual year levels at the school, the proportion of twins can reach 14%, highlighting an especially high concentration in small cohorts.
Twin birth trends in New Zealand
Twin births have increased both globally and in New Zealand over the past decades:
- In 1974, New Zealand recorded 561 sets of twins, rising to 771 sets by 2024, a growth of approximately 37%.
- Factors contributing to higher twin rates include older maternal age, family history of twins, and the historical use of assisted reproductive technologies, though current IVF practices generally limit multiple births.
Understanding the numbers
While twin births remain relatively rare overall, smaller communities or school populations can occasionally display clusters above average. Ōtūmoetai Primary is a prime example of this statistical anomaly, where natural variation has resulted in a higher-than-expected concentration of twin students.
