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DEMOGRAPHIC INDICATORS

• Since 2002, when the fertility of the Western Australian population reached an historic low of 1.7 babies per woman, the total fertility rate (TFR) has trended upwards reaching 2.0 babies per woman in 2007. In line with national trends, the recent increase would appear to be the result of higher fertility among women aged 30 years and over.
• In the 10 years to June 2007, the number of births to mothers aged 35 years and over rose by 72%. These births represented 14% of all births in Western Australia in 1997 but 21% of all births in 2007.
• Life expectancy has continued to rise for both sexes. In the 10 years to 2007, it rose from 75.7 to 79.2 years for males and from 81.6 to 84.0 years for females.
• In the past decade the median age at first marriage has steadily increased for both sexes reaching 29.9 years for males and 27.8 years for females in 2008.
• The crude divorce rate has decreased over the last decade, falling from 2.9 divorces per 1,000 of the estimated resident population in 1998 to 2.2 in 2008.
• Over the same period, the crude death rate has also decreased from 6.0 to 5.8 deaths per 1,000 of the population.

3 Demographic indicators
			Reference period	Current figure	Figure 1 year ago	Figure 10 years ago
Births
	Crude birth rate(a)	rate	2007	13.8	13.5	13.8
	Total fertility rate(b)	rate	2007	2.0	1.9	1.8
Life expectancy at birth
	Males	years	2007	79.2	79.1	75.7
	Females	years	2007	84.0	83.8	81.6
Family formation
	Crude marriage rate (a)	rate	2008	5.7	5.8	5.9
	Median age at first marriage - males	years	2008	29.9	30.0	28.2
	Median age at first marriage - females	years	2008	27.8	27.8	26.2
	Crude divorce rate (c)	rate	2008	2.2	2.3	2.9
Deaths
	Crude death rate (a)	rate	2007	5.8	5.7	6.0
(a) Number registered in the calendar year per 1,000 of the estimated resident population at 30 June of that year.
(b) The sum of age-specific fertility rates (live births at each age of mother per female population of that age). It represents the number of children a female would bear during her lifetime if she experienced current age-specific fertility rates at each age of her reproductive life.
(c) The number of divorces granted in the calendar year per 1,000 of the estimated resident population at 30 June of that year.
Source: Marriages, Australia cat. no. 3306.0.55.001; Marriages and Divorces cat. no 3310.0; Births, Australia cat. no. 3301.0; Australian Historical Population Statistics, cat. no. 3105.0.65.001