MEDIA RELEASE
13 December 2017	Embargo: 11:30 am (Canberra Time)	168/2017

The most common birthday for babies born in Australia is 17 September, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Analysis of the last 10 years of births data from 2007 to 2016, shows that:

• Of the five most common birthdays, three are in September,
• Two of the five least common birthdays are in December,
• The least common birthday is 25 December (excluding 29 February, which only occurs in leap years).

"These trends are similar in New Zealand, England and Wales, and the United States," Beidar Cho, the ABS Director of Demography, said. "More babies are likely to be conceived around the Christmas/New Year holidays, resulting in more babies born in September and October. Fewer babies are born on public holidays - possibly a result of doctors scheduling deliveries on non-public holidays."


Table: Top 5 most common and least common birthdays over the past 10 years(a)(b)

5 most common birthdays	Rank	Number of persons with same birthday
September 17	(Rank 1)	8,862
April 8	(Rank 2)	8,829
September 23	(Rank 3)	8,816
September 24/ October 1	(Rank 4)	8,813
February 12	(Rank 5)	8,810
5 least common birthdays
February 29	(Rank 366)	2,327
December 25	(Rank 365)	4,388
December 26	(Rank 364)	4,743
January 1	(Rank 363)	6,017
January 26	(Rank 362)	6,136

(a) Based on month and day of birth, 2007-2016.
(b) Days are ranked 1 to 366 by number of births, where 1 is the most common birthday and 366 is the least common birthday. Some days are tied for ranking, as they had the same number of births (eg. September 24th and October 1st).


A total of 311,104 births were registered in Australia in 2016, up from 305,377 in 2015.

In 2016, Australia's total fertility rate was 1.79 babies per woman, the same as in 2015. The total fertility rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers in 2016 was 2.12 babies per woman.


All birthday ranks are in the table below.


Table: Birthday rank over the past 10 years(a)(b)

DAY	MONTH
	JAN	FEB	MAR	APR	MAY	JUN	JUL	AUG	SEP	OCT	NOV	DEC
1	363	97	210	294	61	252	36	120	189	4	326	342
2	297	172	72	18	158	233	130	301	121	128	321	334
3	269	146	92	154	264	63	170	218	50	183	333	304
4	59	37	8	32	213	41	213	211	196	280	258	332
5	76	16	10	276	119	81	291	88	185	274	157	348
6	162	116	83	331	56	147	196	79	289	206	281	355
7	71	262	34	104	93	276	200	153	254	131	300	350
8	52	143	260	2	165	295	68	125	171	25	329	347
9	255	141	124	143	165	323	90	263	48	63	321	339
10	272	106	127	230	271	114	218	216	33	136	292	286
11	140	46	24	59	193	95	244	216	250	265	226	316
12	163	6	26	175	159	109	269	90	110	246	179	327
13	259	243	209	320	222	317	265	195	302	237	313	357
14	72	242	152	151	43	330	239	188	83	76	311	351
15	110	78	223	28	199	126	122	220	129	21	344	343
16	159	47	134	9	175	138	54	283	14	206	324	305
17	273	98	75	118	335	69	173	228	1	220	314	159
18	215	11	17	249	225	29	212	204	30	325	303	204
19	185	38	13	253	203	131	306	113	58	275	267	308
20	150	74	45	136	62	103	174	100	108	256	283	346
21	70	245	201	192	40	261	169	237	66	142	337	328
22	35	101	226	82	201	181	39	168	123	85	354	336
23	155	102	99	12	191	194	54	267	3	187	345	349
24	232	94	206	53	296	49	190	279	4	231	338	358
25	85	23	27	361	167	31	156	257	42	315	311	365
26	362	20	15	341	234	139	288	164	80	310	306	364
27	285	44	87	134	96	182	148	177	241	278	319	360
28	240	198	179	105	51	235	133	236	117	224	340	359
29	57	366	287	7	248	184	66	247	114	145	356	282
30	107	na	63	22	251	148	110	318	19	229	352	290
31	299	na	88	na	297	na	178	293	na	309	na	353

(a) Based on month and day of birth, 2007-2016.
(b) Days are ranked 1 to 366 by number of births, where 1 is the most common birthday and 366 is the least common birthday. Some days are tied for ranking, as they had the same number of births (eg. September 24th and October 1st).
na not applicable.


Media Notes:

• When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
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