3311.5 - Demography, Western Australia, 2000  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 19/12/2001   
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Western Australian Fertility Is In Decline


Since 1971, Western Australia's crude birth rate has declined from 23.5 births per 1000 population to 13.3 births per 1000 population in 2000, according to a special report contained in the publication Demography, Western Australia, 2000 released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

Western Australian women are having children later in life and having fewer children in total. In 2000, women aged 30-34 years had the highest fertility rate among all women with 109.8 live births per 1,000 women of that age. Twenty years earlier, the fertility rate for this age group was 72.8 births per 1,000 women.

In addition to the special article on fertility, the publication also reports on recent findings relating to population, migration, marriages, divorces and deaths in Western Australia.
  • In 2000, Western Australia was the second fastest growing State/Territory with a population growth rate of 1.4%. Queensland was the only State/Territory with a higher rate of growth (1.7%). The estimated resident population of Western Australia at December 2000 was 1,897,199 persons, an increase of 26,024 on the previous year.
  • In 2000, Western Australia recorded negative growth from interstate migration for the first time since 1992. Interstate arrivals were slightly higher than in 1999 at 31,465 persons, while interstate departures were at the highest level recorded in the last 29 years (33,015).
  • The majority of Western Australia couples marrying in 2000 cohabited before marriage (77% compared with 71% nationally). Of the 8,430 marriages preceded by cohabitation, 62% were first marriages for both partners.
  • For 1998-2000, life expectancy at birth for Western Australians was 76.9 years for males and 82.6 years for females. Since 1990, this is an increase of 2.1 years for males and 2.0 years for females.
  • Deaths resulting from external causes, including transport accidents and suicide, were more than twice as high in the Indigenous population as in the total population, accounting for 21% of all Indigenous deaths but only 8% of all Western Australian deaths.
Further details are in Demography, Western Australia (cat. no. 3311.5) available in ABS bookshops. This media release and a summary of the main findings of the publication can be found on this site. If you wish to purchase a copy of the publication please contact the ABS Bookshop in your capital city.