In financial year 2023, there were just under 296 thousand babies born in Australia. This is one of the lowest birth rate years over the past decade, with most years the country seeing over 300 thousand new births.

Fertility rate in Australia Around 1.68 children were born per woman of childbearing age in Australia in 2022, which is one of the lowest fertility rate years ever recorded. Australia's fertility rate has been relatively stable over the past four decades, fluctuating between 1.7 and 2.0 births per woman. Moreover, Australia, like the majority of other developed nations, has been experiencing population ageing due to a declining fertility rate and increased longevity.

Life expectancy at birth In 2021, the life expectancy at birth in Australia remained virtually unchanged at approximately 83.3 years. Nonetheless, 2021 represents the peak of Australia's life expectancy. In Australia, females born in 2019 have a life expectancy of 85 years, while males born in 2019 have a life expectancy of 80.9 years. Male life expectancy at birth has increased by over four years in Australia since the year 2000, while female life expectancy has increased by three years.

Yearly registered births – breakdown by Month

In Australia, the crude birth rate in 1800 was 45 births per thousand people, meaning that 4.5 percent of the population had been born in that year. In the first half of the nineteenth century, Australia's crude birth rate decreased gradually, reaching just under 36 in 1850, however it then increased again over the next fifteen years, as the gold rushes brought many immigrants to the continent. After this, the crude birth rate dropped gradually until the Second World War, after the war Australia experienced another baby boom, reaching it's peak of 23 children per thousand in 1955. In the late 1970s the rate dropped rather sharply, falling from around twenty in 1970 to 15.8 in 1980, and since then the birth rate has decreased at a slower rate, and has fallen below thirteen births per thousand people in 2020.

Births that occurred by hospital name. Birth events of 5 or more per hospital location are displayed

In the 2016 Australian census, women who identified with the Islamic faith had an average birth rate of 3.03 children by the age of 45 to 49 years. By comparison, Buddhist women had the lowest birth rate at 1.68.

Chart and table of the Australia birth rate from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.

The fertility rate of a country is the average number of children that women from that country will have throughout their reproductive years. In 1800, Australian women of childbearing age would go on to have approximately 6.5 children on average over the course of their lifetime, and this number decreased gradually to just below five in the early 1850s. Over the next ten years the fertility rate increased to 5.7 children per woman, as an influx of migrants arrived on the continent during the Australian gold rushes, however the fertility rate dropped from 1860 until 1935, when it was then just 2.2 children per woman, although there was a small baby boom after the First World War. Australia's fertility rate did rise during the global 'Baby Boom' after the Second World War, reaching 3.4 in the 1960s, but it then dropped to two children per woman in 1980, and it has plateaued just under this number until today.

This dataset presents the footprint of the number and per cent of low birthweight live births, by the mother's usual place of residence. The data spans the year of 2016 and is aggregated to Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3) from the 2011 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

The data is sourced from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) National Perinatal Data Collection (NPDC). The NPDC began in 1991 and is a collaborative effort by the AIHW and state and territory health departments. Perinatal data are collected for each birth in each state and territory, usually by midwives and other birth attendants. The data are collated by the relevant state or territory health department and a standard de-identified extract is provided to the AIHW on an annual basis to form the NPDC. The NPDC covers both live births and stillbirths, where gestational age is at least 20 weeks or birth weight is at least 400 grams, except in Victoria and Western Australia, where births are included if gestational age is at least 20 weeks or, if gestation is unknown, birthweight is at least 400 grams.

The Mothers and Babies data accompanies the Australia's Mothers and Babies 2016 - In Brief Report.

For further information about this dataset, visit the data source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - Australia's Mothers and Babies 2016 Data Tables.

Please note:

• AURIN has spatially enabled the original data.

• SA3 is derived from Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) of the ABS Australian Statistical Geography Standard Edition 2011. Numbers may not sum to totals due to rounding error.

• Excludes mothers not usually resident in Australia or whose SA2 of usual residence was 'Not stated'.

List of male and female baby names in South Australia from 1944 to 2024. The annual data for baby names is published January/February each year.

Australia Sex Ratio at Birth: Male Births per Female Births data was reported at 1.056 Ratio in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.057 Ratio for 2021. Australia Sex Ratio at Birth: Male Births per Female Births data is updated yearly, averaging 1.056 Ratio from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2022, with 63 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.060 Ratio in 2017 and a record low of 1.048 Ratio in 1971. Australia Sex Ratio at Birth: Male Births per Female Births data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Sex ratio at birth refers to male births per female births.;United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2022 Revision.;Weighted average;

This dataset contains statistics about births and fertility rates for Australia, states and territories, and sub-state regions. It includes all births that occurred and were registered in Australia, including births to mothers whose place of usual residence was overseas.

Estimated resident populations (ERPs) are used as denominators to calculate fertility rates and are based on the results of the 2016 Census. This dataset uses the ABS Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) boundaries of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2016.

For more information such as the scope, coverage and exclusions used in this dataset please visit the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) methodology documentation.

AURIN has spatially enabled the original data from the ABS with the 2016 SA2 boundaries.

This dataset presents the footprint of the percentage of live-born babies at or after term with an Apgar score of less than 7 at 5 minutes for births at or after term. This has been calculated with the number of live-born babies at or after term (from 37 completed weeks gestational age) with an Apgar score of less than 7 at 5 minutes, divided by the number of live-born babies born at or after term (from 37 completed weeks gestational age), and multiplied by 100. The data spans the years of 2012-2016 and is aggregated to 2015 Department of Health Primary Health Network (PHN) areas, based on the 2011 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

The data is sourced from the National Perinatal Data Collection (NPDC), which is a national population-based cross-sectional collection of data on pregnancy and childbirth. The data are based on births reported to the perinatal data collection in each state and territory in Australia. Midwives and other birth attendants, using information obtained from mothers and from hospital or other records, complete notification forms for each birth. A standard de-identified extract is provided to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on an annual basis to form the NPDC.

For further information about this dataset, please visit:

• Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - National Core Maternity Indicators Data Tables.

• Metadata Online Registry Entry.

Please note:

• AURIN has spatially enabled the original data using the Department of Health - PHN Areas.

• A birth is defined as an event in which a baby comes out of the uterus after a pregnancy of at least 20 weeks gestation or weighing 400 grams or more. If the baby is alive the birth is a live birth. If the baby is not alive the birth is a stillbirth.

• Gestational age is a clinical measure of the duration of the pregnancy. For the NPDC gestational age is reported as completed weeks. The term is defined as gestational age between 37 and 41 weeks.

• Births included are live-born babies born at or after term.

• Births excluded are stillbirths and babies born before term (before 37 weeks).

• The sum of the reported 'Grouped by' values may not equal the Australia total.

This dataset presents the percentage of low birthweight babies (less than 2,500 grams) born to women who gave birth aged younger than 20 years, by the mother's usual place of residence. The data …Show full descriptionThis dataset presents the percentage of low birthweight babies (less than 2,500 grams) born to women who gave birth aged younger than 20 years, by the mother's usual place of residence. The data spans the year of 2015 and is aggregated to 2015 Department of Health Primary Health Network (PHN) areas, based on the 2011 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). The data is sourced from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) National Perinatal Data Collection (NPDC) and historical data for time trends. Where the term 'teenage mother' is used the analysis is based on women who gave birth aged under 20. Teenage mothers and their babies are more likely to experience broader disadvantage, have antenatal risk factors and have poorer maternal and baby outcomes during and after birth, than older mothers and their babies. The Teenage Mothers in Australia data accompanies the Teenage Mothers in Australia 2015 Report. For further information about this dataset, visit the data source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - Teenage Mothers in Australia 2015 Data Tables. Please note: AURIN has spatially enabled the original data using the Department of Health - PHN Areas. Excludes women not usually resident in Australia or whose usual residence was 'Not stated'. Values assigned <5 or n.p. in the original data have been set to null. Copyright attribution: Government of the Commonwealth of Australia - Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, (2018): ; accessed from AURIN on 12/16/2021. Licence type: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY 3.0 AU)

In the Australian state of Victoria, about 1.52 children were born per average woman in the period of 2022-2023. This figure represents a slight decrease compared to the previous year.

This dataset presents the footprint of the number and per cent of low birthweight live births, by the mother's usual place of residence. The data spans the year of 2016 and is aggregated to 2015 Department of Health Primary Health Network (PHN) areas, based on the 2011 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

The data is sourced from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) National Perinatal Data Collection (NPDC). The NPDC began in 1991 and is a collaborative effort by the AIHW and state and territory health departments. Perinatal data are collected for each birth in each state and territory, usually by midwives and other birth attendants. The data are collated by the relevant state or territory health department and a standard de-identified extract is provided to the AIHW on an annual basis to form the NPDC. The NPDC covers both live births and stillbirths, where gestational age is at least 20 weeks or birth weight is at least 400 grams, except in Victoria and Western Australia, where births are included if gestational age is at least 20 weeks or, if gestation is unknown, birthweight is at least 400 grams.

The Mothers and Babies data accompanies the Australia's Mothers and Babies 2016 - In Brief Report.

For further information about this dataset, visit the data source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - Australia's Mothers and Babies 2016 Data Tables.

Please note:

• AURIN has spatially enabled the original data using the Department of Health - PHN Areas.

• PHN is derived from Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) of the ABS Australian Statistical Geography Standard Edition 2011. Numbers may not sum to totals due to rounding error.

• Excludes mothers not usually resident in Australia or whose SA2 of usual residence was 'Not stated'.

In 2022, Australia's fertility rate reached its lowest ever figure, at fewer than 1.63 children born per women of childbearing age. In general, Australia’s fertility rate has been fairly consistent throughout the past four decades, fluctuating between 1.7 and two births per woman, however the recent drop in fertility may be a result of the Covid-19 pandemic - it remains to be seen what the full extent of the pandemic will be on demographic trends. Population aging in Australia Like most other developed nations, Australia has been experiencing population ageing, driven by declining fertility rate and increased longevity, with an average life expectancy at birth of 83 years in 2020. Amid the pandemic, Australia also witnessed a noticeable decrease in the number of births to approximately 294.4 thousand, the lowest value since 2011. “No kids attached” Childfree couples could become the norm in Australia, as couples living without children are expected to become Australia’s most common family type in a few years’ time. While many families may suffer from involuntary childlessness, other couples would opt for a childfree life for various reasons. Especially in times of COVID-19, couples might not want to risk having children with increasing job insecurity.

The crude birth rate in Australia decreased by 0.5 live births per 1,000 inhabitants (-4.13 percent) in 2022 in comparison to the previous year. The crude birth rate refers to the number of live births in a given year, expressed per 1,000 population. When studied in combination with the crude death rate, the rate of natural population increase can be determined.Find more key insights for the crude birth rate in countries like Fiji and Palau.

This dataset presents the footprint of the number and per cent of women who gave birth and smoked tobacco during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy, by the mother's usual place of residence. The data spans the year of 2016 and is aggregated to Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3) areas from the 2011 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

The data is sourced from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) National Perinatal Data Collection (NPDC). The NPDC began in 1991 and is a collaborative effort by the AIHW and state and territory health departments. Perinatal data are collected for each birth in each state and territory, usually by midwives and other birth attendants. The data are collated by the relevant state or territory health department and a standard de-identified extract is provided to the AIHW on an annual basis to form the NPDC. The NPDC covers both live births and stillbirths, where gestational age is at least 20 weeks or birth weight is at least 400 grams, except in Victoria and Western Australia, where births are included if gestational age is at least 20 weeks or, if gestation is unknown, birthweight is at least 400 grams.

The Mothers and Babies data accompanies the Australia's Mothers and Babies 2016 - In Brief Report.

For further information about this dataset, visit the data source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare - Australia's Mothers and Babies 2016 Data Tables.

Please note:

• AURIN has spatially enabled the original data.

• SA3 is derived from Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) of the ABS Australian Statistical Geography Standard Edition 2011. Numbers may not sum to totals due to rounding error.

• Excludes mothers for whom smoking status in the first 20 weeks of pregnancy was 'Not stated' and mothers not usually resident in Australia or whose SA2 of usual residence was 'Not stated'.

This statistic displays the total fertility rate in Western Australia from 2009-2010 to 2017-2018. According to the source, on average about 1.81 children were born per woman in Western Australia in 2017-2018.

Low birth weight babies, 2008 to 2010 (NSW, Qld, SA and ACT), 2009 to 2011 (Vic, WA and Tas), 2006 to 2008 (NT) and women who reported smoking during a pregnancy, 2008 to 2010 (NSW, Qld, SA and ACT), 2009 to 2011 (Vic, WA and Tas), 2006 to 2008 (NT) by LGA 2011.