3301.0 - Births, Australia, 2013 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 23/10/2014   
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BIRTHS


There were 308,065 births registered in Australia in 2013, approximately 1,500 (0.5%) less than the number registered in 2012 (309,582). Just over half (52%) of all births registered in 2013 were male babies, resulting in a sex ratio at birth of 106.3 male births per 100 female births.

Graph Image for Births registered - 1901 to 2013


The median age of all mothers for births registered in 2013 was 30.8 years, while the median age of fathers was 33.0 years.

Graph Image for Median age of parents, Australia - 1933 to 2013

Footnote(s): (a) Where age is known. (b) Not available for 1974 and earlier years.

Source(s): Births, Australia



The median age of first-time mothers in 2013 was 29.3 years, 63% of whom were married at the time of giving birth.

Of all births registered in 2013, 66% of births were to parents in a registered marriage. For more information see data cube Table 1: Births, Summary, States and territories - 2003 to 2013, from the Downloads tab.

The number of confinements resulting in a multiple birth has remained fairly consistent for the past decade, with a slight increase in 2013 from the previous year. In 2013, there were 4,550 confinements resulting in a multiple birth. This was 36% higher than the number recorded in 1991 (3,355 confinements), and 1.6% higher than the number recorded in 2012 (4,480 confinements). In 2013, 75 confinements were triplets or higher order. For more information see data cube Table 10: Multiple births, States and territories - 2003 to 2013, from the Downloads tab.

Multiple births(a), States and territories - 2013

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

New South Wales
97 555
1 430
26
1 456
99 011
Victoria
71 669
1 134
14
1 148
72 817
Queensland
61 486
925
17
942
62 428
South Australia
19 446
310
9
319
19 765
Western Australia
33 570
470
6
476
34 046
Tasmania
5 894
78
-
78
5 972
Northern Territory
3 966
45
-
45
4 011
Australian Capital Territory
5 371
83
3
86
5 457
Australia(b)
298 984
4 475
75
4 550
303 534

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) A multiple birth is a confinement (pregnancy) which results in two or more children, at least one of which is live-born.
(b) Includes Other Territories