New Zealand has been named a world leader in fertility treatment.

A global report on reproductive technologies, such as IVF, has positioned New Zealand and Australia as having the second highest rate of access to assisted reproductive technologies in the world.

The study found that in 2010, New Zealand and Australia accessed more than five times the global average of assisted reproductive technologies.

The research also showed New Zealand and Australia lead the move towards implanting single embryos.

Professor Silke Dyer, the report’s author and a senior specialist in reproductive medicine at Groote Schuur Hospital and the University of Cape Town, said single embryo transfer carries “greater safety”.