Births, Australia

Latest release

Statistics about births and fertility rates for Australia, states and territories, and sub-state regions

Reference period
2022

Key statistics

  • There were 300,684 registered births in 2022, a decrease of 3% from 2021.
  • For all Australian women, the total fertility rate was 1.63 births per woman.
  • For Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women, the total fertility rate was 2.35 births per woman.
Summary statistics
201220212022(a)
Male births158,988158,917154,281
Female births150,594151,079146,403
Total births309,582309,996300,684
Total Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births18,29523,51024,388
Sex ratio105.6105.2105.4
Total fertility rate1.931.701.63
Total fertility rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women(b)(c)2.292.342.35
Crude birth rate13.612.111.6
Net reproduction rate0.930.820.79
  1. All jurisdictions recorded a decrease in birth registrations in 2022. This follows higher birth registrations in 2021.
  2. Care should be taken when interpreting data, due to changes over time in the completeness and coverage of responses by the parent(s) to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander question on the birth registration form.
  3. Fertility rates for 2021 and 2022 calculated using 2016 Census-based population projections will be higher than those based on 2021 Census-based projections, which are not yet available. For details see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fertility rates in Methodology. 

Total fertility rate is the number of registered births per woman.

Crude birth rate is the number of births per 1,000 estimated resident population.

Net reproduction rate is the average number of daughters surviving to reproductive age per woman.

Sex ratio is the number of male births per 100 female births.

All statistics are based on year of registration unless otherwise specified.

National

Occurrence of a birth and registration of a birth

Statistics published in Births, Australia are based on births registered in a calendar year (reference year) and reported to the ABS by Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages in each state and territory.

The number of births in all tables, except for one, are based on year of registration. These data are final and are not updated.

One table reports birth occurrences: 'Births, by month and year of occurrence, by state and territory', available in Data Explorer. Each annual release provides updates to the births occurrence data after receiving new data from state and territory registries. See National data - Occurrence data and yearly updates in Methodology.

Births registered

There were 300,684 births registered in 2022, a decrease of 3% (or 9,312 births) from 2021:

  • 51.3% were males, resulting in a sex ratio at birth of 105.4 male births per 100 female births 
  • 60.0% were to parents in a registered marriage.
  1. Data for 2022 show a decrease of 9,312 births registrations. This follows higher birth registrations in 2021.

Median age of parents

For births registered in 2022, the median age of: 

  • mothers was 31.9 years
  • fathers was 33.7 years.
  1. Not available for 1974 and earlier years.

Multiple births

Some pregnancies result in the birth of two or more children, at least one of which is live-born.

  • 1.4% (4,286) of pregnancies resulted in multiple births, a proportion remaining relatively consistent over the past decade.
  • Of these, 4,235 were twins and 51 were triplets or higher order births.

Total fertility rate

The total fertility rate level required for replacement is currently considered to be around 2.1 babies per woman to replace herself and her partner in the absence of overseas migration.

Australia's total fertility rate: 

  • was 1.63 babies per woman in 2022, lower than 2021 (1.70) and remaining lower than 2012 (1.93)
  • has been below replacement since 1976.
  1. Data for 2022 show a decrease of 9,312 births registrations. This follows higher birth registrations in 2021.

Age-specific fertility rate

In recent decades, the average age of mothers has been increasing.

  • Women aged 30-34 years had the highest fertility rate at 114.9 babies per 1,000 women, higher than 108.6  babies in 2001.
  • Women aged 45-49 years had the lowest fertility rate (1.1 babies), followed by women aged 15-19 years (6.8 babies).
  • All age groups except 40-44 years and over showed a decrease in fertility rate from 2021.

States and territories

Counts of births in 2022 in Tasmania were affected by a change in the way birth registrations were assigned to the reference year. This change resulted in a lower number of birth registrations than recorded in previous years, which has introduced a break in time series for birth statistics in Tasmania. 

For further details of this change and its impacts see State and territory data - Tasmania in Methodology.

Births registered

All states and territories recorded a decrease in birth registrations in 2022. This follows higher birth registrations in 2021. The largest proportional decreases in registered births in each state and territory were:

  • Tasmania (529 births or -8.8%)
  • Western Australia (2,591 births or -7.6%)
  • Northern Territory (159 or -4.3%).
Births registered by state or territory of registration
202120222021-22(no.)2021-22(%)
New South Wales99,30095,758-3,542-3.6
Victoria76,41476,187-227-0.3
Queensland64,26162,313-1,948-3.0
South Australia19,78319,502-281-1.4
Western Australia34,06531,474-2,591-7.6
Tasmania(a)6,0275,498-529-8.8
Northern Territory3,7363,577-159-4.3
Australian Capital Territory6,4106,375-35-0.5
Australia309,996300,684-9,312-3.0
  1. Birth registrations in Tasmania in 2022 were affected by a change in the way births were assigned to the reference year. This change resulted in a lower number of birth registrations than recorded in previous years. For details see State and territory data - Tasmania in Methodology.

Median age of parents

The oldest median ages for mothers and fathers were in:

  • the Australian Capital Territory (32.6 years for mothers and 34.3 years for fathers)
  • Victoria (32.5 years for mothers and 34.3 years for fathers).

The youngest median age for mothers was in:

  • the Northern Territory (30.4 years)
  • Tasmania (30.8 years).

The youngest median age for fathers was in:

  • Tasmania (32.4 years)
  • Queensland (32.9 years).

Multiple births

  • The Northern Territory had the highest proportion of multiple births than any other state or territory (1.6%).
  • Tasmania had the lowest proportion of multiple births (1.3%).
Multiple births by state or territory of usual residence(a) - 2022
SingleTwinTriplet and higher orderTotal multiple birthsTotal confinements(b)
New South Wales95,2231,334101,34496,567
Victoria73,0431,051241,07574,118
Queensland60,288907891561,203
South Australia18,924263426519,189
Western Australia30,512471547630,988
Tasmania5,365700705,435
Northern Territory3,499573583,557
Australian Capital Territory5,295814825,377
Australia(c)292,1804,235514,286296,466
  1. Where necessary, small values have been suppressed or randomised to protect confidentiality. As a result, sums of components may not add exactly to totals.
  2. The labour period which results in at least one live birth.
  3. Includes Other Territories.

Total fertility rate by state or territory of usual residence

  • The Northern Territory recorded the highest total fertility rate (1.73 babies per woman), followed by New South Wales and Queensland (each 1.71 babies per woman).
  • The Australian Capital Territory had the lowest total fertility rate (1.41 babies per woman).
  1. Birth registrations in Tasmania in 2022 were affected by a change in the way births were assigned to the reference year. This change resulted in a lower number of births than recorded in previous years. For details see State and territory data - Tasmania in Methodology.
  2. Includes Other Territories.

Total fertility rate by state or territory of usual residence - 2022

Loading map...

This map presents total fertility rates by state or territory for Australia 2022.

Net reproduction rate

All states and territories had a decrease in net reproduction rate from 2021.

  • The Northern Territory had the highest net reproduction rate (0.83).
  • The Australian Capital Territory had the lowest net reproduction rate (0.68).
  1. Birth registrations in Tasmania in 2022 were affected by a change in the way births were assigned to the reference year. This change resulted in a lower number of birth registrations than recorded in previous years. For details see State and territory data - Tasmania in Methodology.
  2. Includes Other Territories.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Births registered

There were 24,388 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births registered, an increase of 878 babies from 2021. This represents 8.1% of all births registered in 2022. 

  • New South Wales and Queensland recorded the highest number of births (8,593 and 7,485).
  • The Australian Capital Territory recorded the lowest number of births (323).
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births, by state or territory of registration
201220212022
New South Wales5,3537,8408,593
Victoria1,4381,8622,045
Queensland5,6487,3937,485
South Australia8681,1431,156
Western Australia2,6522,8952,782
Tasmania(a)536687677
Northern Territory1,5881,3651,327
Australian Capital Territory212325323
Australia18,29523,51024,388

a. Birth registrations in Tasmania in 2022 were affected by a change in the way births were assigned to the reference year. This change resulted in a lower number of birth registrations than recorded in previous years. For details see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander birth registrations - Tasmania in Methodology.

Median age of parents

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women give birth at young ages.

  • Almost three-quarters (68.9%) were registered to women under 30 years of age.
  • This compared with 36.2% of births to all Australian women in the same age group.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander births registered in 2022, the median age of: 

  • mothers was 26.7 years, around five years younger than the median age of all mothers (31.9 years)
  • fathers was 29.2 years, around four years younger than the median age of all fathers (33.7 years).

Total fertility rate

Based on 2016-based population projections for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the total fertility rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women was:

  • 2.35 babies per woman
  • higher than for all Australian women (1.63).

These rates will be higher than those based on 2021-based projections which are not yet available. See Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fertility rates in Methodology.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander total fertility rate
State and territory of usual residence20122021(a)2022(a)
New South Wales1.992.332.52
Victoria1.982.032.1
Queensland2.622.672.55
South Australia2.162.172.06
Western Australia2.712.442.31
Tasmania(b)1.81.91.71
Northern Territory2.41.91.86
Australia2.292.342.35
  1. Fertility rates for 2021 and 2022 calculated using 2016 Census-based population projections will be higher than those based on 2021 Census-based projections which are not yet available. For details see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fertility rates in Methodology. 
  2. Birth registrations in Tasmania in 2022 were affected by a change in the way births were assigned to the reference year. This change resulted in a lower number of birth registrations than recorded in previous years. For details see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander birth registrations - Tasmania in Methodology.

Age-specific fertility rate

Based on 2016-based population projections for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the fertility rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women:

  • aged 15-19 years was almost six times the teenage fertility rate for all women (39.3 compared with 6.8 births per 1,000 women)
  • aged 20-24 years was over three times the fertility rate for all women of the same age (121.3 compared with 36.7 birth per 1,000 women).

Conversely, the fertility rate for all women aged 35 to 39 years was almost 1.5 times the fertility rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women of the same age (69.3 and 53.3).

  1. Age-specific fertility rates for 2021 and 2022 calculated using 2016 Census-based population projections will be higher than those based on 2021 Census-based projections, which are not yet available. For details see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander fertility rates in Methodology.

Data downloads

Data files

Post release changes

31/10/2023 - Table 6: Births, country of birth of parent, Australia - 2022 was added to the data cubes in the Data downloads section.

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