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INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS FERTILITY

In 2008 the TFR for Australian Indigenous mothers (2.52 babies per woman) was lower than that for New Zealand Maori women (2.95) (Statistics New Zealand, 2008). In 2007, the latest year for which American Indian fertility rates are available, the TFR for Australian Indigenous women was 0.7 babies per woman higher than that of American Indian women (1.86) (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2007).

These differences are reflected in age-specific fertility rates for the different populations. Higher fertility rates were experienced by Maori women in all age groups. All Indigenous populations experienced the highest age-specific fertility rate in the 20-24 year age group.

3.7 Indigenous fertility rates, Selected countries
		American Indian women	New Zealand Maori women	Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women
		2007	2008	2007	2008
Age-specific fertility rates(a)
	15-19 years(b)	59.0	80.0	70.0	75.2
	20-24 years	116.3	162.4	142.5	147.2
	25-29 years	96.4	150.1	125.5	131.6
	30-34 years	63.7	114.9	89.7	93.4
	35-39 years	29.4	64.2	43.1	44.5
	40-44 years	6.1	15.7	8.2	11.0
	45-49 years(c)	0.3	1.1	0.7	0.3
Total fertility rate(d)		1.861	2.951	2.399	2.515
(a) Births per 1,000 women.
(b) For Australian Indigenous women, includes births to mothers aged less than 15 years.
(c) Includes births to mothers aged 50 years and over.
(d) Births per woman. Includes births to women aged 10-14 years for American Indian and New Zealand Maori women.
Source: United States Department of Health and Human Services, Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, National Centre for Health Statistics, <http://www.cdc.gov> for American Indian data. Statistics New Zealand <http://www.stats.govt.nz> for New Zealand Maori data.