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INCREASES IN FERTILITY RATES

• Australia's total fertility rate (TFR) in 2008 was 1.97 babies per woman, up from 1.92 babies per woman in 2007 and the highest since 1977 (2.01).
• The increase in the TFR between 2007 and 2008 was largely due to births to women aged 30 to 39 years, who accounted for 55% of the increase.
• Fertility rates increased for all age groups of women between 2007 and 2008, except for women aged 45-49 years for whom the fertility rate remained the same.
• Women aged 30-34 years experienced the highest fertility rate of all age groups in 2008, with 127.8 babies per 1,000 women. This was the highest rate recorded for women aged 30-34 years since 1961.
• Women aged 25-29 years continued to record the second highest fertility rate of all age groups, with 105.8 babies per 1,000 women in 2008.
• The fertility rate for women aged 35-39 years continued to increase, reaching 70.9 babies per 1,000 women in 2008. This was the highest rate for women aged 35-39 years since 1948.
• The fertility rate for women aged 20-24 years increased to 57.1 babies per 1,000 women in 2008. This was the second time that the fertility rate for women aged 20-24 years has increased since 1990, the first being in 2007.
• At the national level, the teenage fertility rate in 2008 was 17.3 babies per 1,000 women aged 15-19 years, slightly higher than in 2007 (16.0 babies per 1,000 women).