RELEASE OF BIRTHS, AUSTRALIA, 2010 (CAT. NO. 3301.0)
Births, Australia, 2010 (3301.0) was released on 25 October 2011. This product presents statistics on live births and fertility for Australia and the states and territories based on calendar year of registration data. Data presented in this publication includes information on the characteristics of live births such as place of usual residence, sex, Indigenous status, martial status of the parents, median age of the parents, previous number of children of the mother and nuptiality of the birth. Statistics on regional births is also available for download from the ABS website.
There were 297,900 births registered in 2010, a slight increase (0.7%) from the number of births registered in 2009 (295,700). This is the highest number of births ever recorded in Australia in a calendar year. Of the total births registered in 2010, 16,100 births were registered where at least one parent was reported and recorded as being an Aboriginal person, Torres Strait Islander or both on the birth registration form.
Despite this record number of births, Australia's total fertility rate declined slightly to 1.89 babies per woman, down from a recent high of 1.96 in 2008. Fertility rates increased for New South Wales, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory in 2010, while the remaining states recorded decreases in their total fertility rates. The Northern Territory had the highest fertility rate (2.11 babies per woman) and Victoria had the lowest (1.75 babies per woman).
The median age of all mothers for births registered in 2010 was 30.7 years, while the median age of fathers was 33.1 years, both slightly older than in 2009.
Further information on births and fertility at the national and the state and territory levels, including information on births to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers, is available from the ABS website.
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