FERTILITY RATES


In 2015, Australia's total fertility rate (TFR) was 1.81 babies per woman. Since 1976, the TFR for Australia has been below replacement level. This means the average number of babies born to a woman throughout her reproductive lifetime (the TFR) has been insufficient to replace herself and her partner. The TFR required for replacement is currently considered to be around 2.1 babies per woman. The TFR reached a low of 1.74 babies per woman in 2001 before increasing to a thirty-year high of 2.02 babies per woman in 2008.



Fertility rates were highest for women aged 30-34 years, being 122 babies per 1,000 women; a slight increase from 121 babies per 1,000 women in 2014. At the national level, the teenage fertility rate continued to decline. There were 12 babies per 1,000 women aged 15-19 years in 2015. For more information see the dataset Fertility, by age, by state from the Downloads tab.