The number of children and young people who die in New Zealand each year has more than halved since 1980.

A new report is out today from the Child and Youth Mortality Review Committee.

It shows 515 New Zealanders aged between 28 days and 24 years died in 2013.

That's down from one thousand 334 deaths in 1980.

The largest single cause of death between 2009 and 2013 was suicide, followed by transport-related deaths and sudden unexpected death in infancy.

Dr Felicity Dumble chairs the committee which released the report.

She says while premature deaths have more than halved since 1980, suicide remains the largest single cause of death among young Kiwis.

"It certainly is a disturbing seeing significant impact of suicide on young people," she says.

"Suicide is the cause of around a third of deaths aged fifteen to twenty four."

The Health Quality and Safety Commission is trialling a Suicide Mortality Review Committee, seeking to identify contributing factors and key intervention points.

Dr Dumble also says a lot of that drop is due to falls in the number of sudden unexpected deaths in infancy and road crash deaths.

She says safe sleep messages and changes to licensing have helped.

"We now start driving at an older age, we have the graduated license system and we have better safety features in our car."