3301.0 - Births, Australia, 2009 Quality Declaration 
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Contents >> Summary of findings >> International fertility rates

INTERNATIONAL FERTILITY RATES

According to the United Nations, the projected world average TFR for 2005-2010 is 2.6 babies per woman, declining from the relatively constant 5 births per woman that existed until the 1960s. However, TFRs for individual countries vary considerably. There are many factors that can influence a country's fertility rate, such as differences in social and economic development and contraceptive prevalence. In general, less developed countries have higher fertility rates than more developed countries.

Australia's TFR, according to the United Nations, for 2005-2010 of 1.8 babies per woman is well below the world average (2.6), although it is above the average TFR for developed countries (1.6). According to United Nations projections, a number of European and developed Asian countries will have low fertility rates in 2005-2010. Hong Kong's projected TFR of 1.0 is one of the lowest in the world. Middle Eastern and African countries have the highest fertility rates, with Niger (7.2), Afghanistan (6.6) and Uganda (6.4) some of the highest.

Projected fertility rates for the United States of America and New Zealand (2.1 and 2.0 respectively) are higher than Australia, while the rate for Canada is lower (1.6).

2.19 International Total Fertility Rates - 1965-1970 to 2005-2010
1965-1970
1970-1975
1975-1980
1980-1985
1985-1990
1990-1995
1995-2000
2000-2005
2005-2010
Afghanistan
7.7
7.7
7.7
7.8
7.9
8.0
8.0
7.4
6.6
Australia
2.9
2.5
2.0
1.9
1.9
1.9
1.8
1.8
1.8
Canada
2.6
2.0
1.7
1.6
1.6
1.7
1.6
1.5
1.6
China
5.9
4.8
2.9
2.6
2.6
2.0
1.8
1.8
1.8
France
2.6
2.3
1.9
1.9
1.8
1.7
1.8
1.9
1.9
Germany
2.3
1.6
1.5
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.3
1.4
1.3
Greece
2.4
2.3
2.3
2.0
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.3
1.4
Hong Kong
4.0
2.9
2.3
1.8
1.3
1.3
1.1
1.0
1.0
India
5.6
5.3
4.9
4.5
4.2
3.9
3.5
3.1
2.8
Indonesia
5.6
5.3
4.7
4.1
3.4
2.9
2.6
2.4
2.2
Italy
2.5
2.4
1.9
1.5
1.3
1.3
1.2
1.3
1.4
Japan
2.0
2.1
1.8
1.8
1.7
1.5
1.4
1.3
1.3
Korea, Republic of
4.7
4.3
2.9
2.2
1.6
1.7
1.5
1.2
1.2
Malaysia
5.9
5.2
4.2
4.2
4.0
3.5
3.1
2.9
2.6
New Zealand
3.4
2.8
2.2
2.0
2.0
2.1
2.0
2.0
2.0
Niger
7.5
7.7
8.0
8.1
7.9
7.8
7.6
7.4
7.2
Papua New Guinea
6.2
6.1
5.9
5.5
5.0
4.7
4.6
4.4
4.1
Singapore
3.5
2.6
1.9
1.7
1.7
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.3
Somalia
7.3
7.1
7.0
6.7
6.7
6.5
6.5
6.5
6.4
Spain
2.9
2.9
2.6
1.9
1.5
1.3
1.2
1.3
1.4
Sweden
2.2
1.9
1.7
1.7
1.9
2.0
1.6
1.7
1.9
Timor-Leste
6.2
6.2
4.3
5.4
5.2
5.7
7.0
7.0
6.5
Uganda
7.1
7.1
7.1
7.1
7.1
7.1
7.0
6.7
6.4
United Kingdom
2.5
2.0
1.7
1.8
1.8
1.8
1.7
1.7
1.8
United States of America
2.6
2.0
1.8
1.8
1.9
2.0
2.0
2.0
2.1
Viet Nam
7.3
6.7
5.9
4.5
4.0
3.3
2.5
2.3
2.1
Yemen
8.6
8.7
8.7
8.7
8.4
7.7
6.7
5.9
5.3
World
4.8
4.3
3.8
3.6
3.4
3.1
2.8
2.7
2.6
Source: Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision, Medium variant <http://esa.un.org/unpp>.





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