3301.0 - Births, Australia, 2011 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 25/10/2012   
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BIRTHS


There were 301,617 births registered in Australia in 2011, approximately 3,700 (1.2%) more than the number registered in 2010 (297,903). Just over half (51%) of all births registered in 2011 were male babies, resulting in a sex ratio at birth of 105.7 male births per 100 female births.

Graph Image for Births registered - 1901 to 2011

Source(s): Births, Australia


The median age of all mothers for births registered in 2011 was 30.6 years, while the median age of fathers was 33.0 years.

Graph Image for Median age of parents, Australia - 1931 to 2011

Footnote(s): (a) Where age is known. (b) Not available for 1974 and earlier years.

Source(s): Births, Australia


The median age of first-time mothers in 2011 was 28.9 years, 62% of whom were married at the time of giving birth.

Of all births registered in 2011, 66% of births were to parents in a registered marriage. For more information see data cube Table 1: Births, Summary, States and territories - 2001 to 2011.

The number of confinements resulting in a multiple birth has increased consistently since the 1970s. In 2011, there were 4,560 confinements resulting in a multiple birth; of these 62 were triplets or higher order. The number of confinements was 36% higher than the number recorded in 1991 (3,355 confinements), and 0.7% higher than the number recorded in 2010 (4,527 confinements). For more information see data cube Table 9: Multiple births, States and territories - 2001 to 2011.

Multiple births(a), States and territories - 2011
Single
Twins
Triplets and higher order
Total multiple confinements
Total confinements
State or territory of usual residence
no.
no.
no.
no.
no.
New South Wales
96 132
1 450
20
1 470
97 602
Victoria
69 221
1 102
10
1 112
70 333
Queensland
61 236
977
22
999
62 235
South Australia
19 307
np
np
292
19 599
Western Australia
31 372
441
7
448
31 820
Tasmania
6 422
96
-
96
6 518
Northern Territory
3 834
60
-
60
3 894
Australian Capital Territory
4 956
np
np
83
5 039
Australia(b)
292 512
4 498
62
4 560
297 072
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(a) A multiple birth is a confinement (pregnancy) which results in two or more children, at least one of which is live-born.
(b) Includes Other Territories.