BIRTHS


There were 309,582 births registered in Australia in 2012, approximately 8,000 (2.6%) more than the number registered in 2011 (301,617). Just over half (51%) of all births registered in 2012 were male babies, resulting in a sex ratio at birth of 105.6 male births per 100 female births.



The median age of all mothers for births registered in 2012 was 30.7 years, while the median age of fathers was 33.0 years.



The median age of first-time mothers in 2012 was 29.1 years, 62% of whom were married at the time of giving birth.

Of all births registered in 2012, 65% of births were to parents in a registered marriage. For more information see data cube Table 1: Births, Summary, States and territories - 2002 to 2012.

The number of confinements resulting in a multiple birth has increased consistently since the 1970s. In 2012, there were 4,480 confinements resulting in a multiple birth; of these, 59 were triplets or higher order. This number of confinements was 34% higher than the number recorded in 1991 (3,355 confinements), and 1.8% lower than the number recorded in 2011 (4,560 confinements). For more information see data cube Table 9: Multiple births, States and territories - 2002 to 2012.

Multiple births(a), States and territories - 2012
	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	95 759	1 349	20	1 369	97 128
Victoria	75 057	1 155	11	1 166	76 223
Queensland	61 803	1 000	18	1 018	62 821
South Australia	19 808	304	5	309	20 117
Western Australia	32 732	444	5	449	33 181
Tasmania	6 092	39	-	39	6 131
Northern Territory	4 014	45	-	45	4 059
Australian Capital Territory	5 299	83	-	83	5 382
Australia(b)	300 599	4 421	59	4 480	305 079
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(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