3301.0 - Births, Australia, 2016 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 13/12/2017   
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BIRTHS


There were 311,104 births registered in Australia in 2016. Over three-quarters (77.4%) of these births were to usual residents of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Just over half (51.3%) of all births registered in 2016 were male babies, resulting in a sex ratio at birth of 105.3 male births per 100 female births. There were 5,727 more birth registrations in 2016 (a 1.9% increase) than in 2015 (305,377). In New South Wales, there were 3,996 less births registered in 2016 than in 2015. See Explanatory Notes 27 and 28 regarding the registration processing lags in New South Wales.


Graph Image for Births registered - 1901 to 2016


The median age of all mothers for births registered in 2016 was 31.2 years, while the median age of fathers was 33.3 years. For all median age data, see the dataset Confinements, by nuptiality, by state from the Downloads tab.


Graph Image for Median age of parents, Australia - 1936 to 2016

Footnote(s): (a) Not available for 1974 and earlier years.

Source(s): Births, Australia



Of all births registered in 2016, 66% of births were to parents in a registered marriage. For more information see the dataset Births, summary, by state from the Downloads tab.

The proportion of confinements resulting in a multiple birth has remained fairly consistent for the past decade, ranging from 1.5 to 1.6% of total confinements. In 2016, there were 4,578 confinements resulting in a multiple birth and 81 of these were triplets or higher order births. There were 203 more multiple births in 2016 than in 2015. For more information see the dataset Confinements, by plurality, by state from the Downloads tab.


Multiple births, states and territories - 2016(a)(b)

Single
Twins
Triplets and higher order
Total multiple births
Total confinements
State of territory of usual residence
no.
no.
no.
no.
no.

New South Wales
93 240
1 417
27
1 444
94 684
Victoria
80 494
1 196
23
1 219
81 713
Queensland
60 123
860
16
876
60 999
South Australia
19 153
309
5
314
19 467
Western Australia
34 456
481
8
489
34 945
Tasmania
5 773
99
3
100
5 873
Northern Territory
3 826
51
-
51
3 877
Australian Capital Territory
4 983
84
1
85
5 068
Australia(c)
302 088
4 497
81
4 578
306 666

- nil or rounded to zero
(a) A multiple birth is a confinement (pregnancy) which results in two or more children, at least one of which is live-born.
(b) Where necessary, small values have been suppressed or randomised to protect confidentiality. As a result, sums of components may not add exactly to totals.
(c) Includes Other Territories. Births registered on Norfolk Island from 1 July 2016 are included in this publication for the first time. See Explanatory Note 3 for more information.