 | MEDIA RELEASE | |
| 08 November 2016 | Embargo: 11:30 am (Canberra Time) | 120/2016 |
Teenage fertility rate lowest on record
While the fertility rate of Australian women is steady, teenage fertility has dropped to its lowest rate on record, according to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Australia’s total fertility rate in 2015 was 1.81 babies per woman, changing little since 2014 (1.8). However, in 2015, births to mothers aged 19 years and under continued to decline both in number (8,574) and proportion of all births (2.8 per cent).
"The low share of births to teenage mothers in 2015 breaks the previous record low of 3.1 per cent in 2014,” said Beidar Cho from the ABS.
"The fertility rate for 30-34 year olds was the highest of all age groups, followed by 25-29 year olds."
In comparison to other countries, the teenaged fertility rate of 11.9 births per 1,000 women was very close to Canada (11.1), less than New Zealand (18.5) and less than England and Wales (14.5).
"A total of 305,377 births were registered in Australia in 2015," said Ms Cho.
Consistent with previous years, Victoria recorded the lowest total fertility rate (1.7) and the Northern Territory the highest (2.1).
In 2015, the total fertility rate for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander mothers was 2.3. There were 18,537 births registered (6 per cent of all births) where at least one parent was an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australian.
More details, including state and sub-state information, can be found in
Births, Australia, 2015 (cat. no. 3301.0) available for free download from the ABS website
https://www.abs.gov.au.
Media notes:
- The total fertility rate represents the average number of babies that a woman could expect to bear if current fertility rates prevail throughout her reproductive lifetime.
- Births registered in NSW increased by almost 10 per cent from the 2014 figure due to delayed processing throughout 2014. This resulted in a higher than usual number of births occurring in the previous year (2014) but registered in the subsequent year (2015).
- Population fertility rates measure a community's actual reproductive outcomes - a concept of adding to the population through live births. Still births are not added to the population and therefore are not counted in this context; however, they are reported in Causes of Death, Australia (cat. no. 3303.0).
- When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
- For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070 (8.30am - 5pm Mon-Fri).
- Subscribe to our email notification service and get media releases or products sent to you on release.
Births, Summary Statistics |
|
| | | | | Change (%) | Change (%) |
| | 2005 | 2014 | 2015 | 2005 to 2015 | 2014 to 2015 |
|
| Australia(a) | | | | | |
| Births (no.) | 264 493 | 299 697 | 305 377 | 15.5 | 1.9 |
| Total fertility rate(b) | 1.846 | 1.8 | 1.807 | .. | .. |
| Median age of mother (years) | 30.7 | 30.9 | 31 | .. | .. |
| Median age of father (years) | 32.9 | 33 | 33.1 | .. | .. |
| | | | | | |
| New South Wales | | | | | |
| Births (no.) | 91 224 | 91 074 | 100 079 | 9.7 | 9.9 |
| Total fertility rate(b) | 1.912 | 1.727 | 1.869 | .. | .. |
| Median age of mother (years) | 30.7 | 31.2 | 31.2 | .. | .. |
| Median age of father (years) | 33 | 33.4 | 33.4 | .. | .. |
| | | | | | |
| Victoria | | | | | |
| Births (no.) | 63 297 | 74 224 | 73 568 | 16.2 | -0.9 |
| Total fertility rate(b) | 1.732 | 1.731 | 1.678 | .. | .. |
| Median age of mother (years) | 31.5 | 31.5 | 31.6 | .. | .. |
| Median age of father (years) | 33.5 | 33.6 | 33.6 | .. | .. |
| | | | | | |
| Queensland | | | | | |
| Births (no.) | 51 707 | 63 066 | 61 745 | 19.4 | -2.1 |
| Total fertility rate(b) | 1.872 | 1.906 | 1.847 | .. | .. |
| Median age of mother (years) | 29.9 | 30.1 | 30.2 | .. | .. |
| Median age of father (years) | 32.2 | 32.1 | 32.3 | .. | .. |
| | | | | | |
| South Australia | | | | | |
| Births (no.) | 17 801 | 20 384 | 19 587 | 10 | -3.9 |
| Total fertility rate(b) | 1.776 | 1.854 | 1.763 | .. | .. |
| Median age of mother (years) | 30.1 | 30.6 | 30.7 | .. | .. |
| Median age of father (years) | 32.6 | 32.8 | 32.8 | .. | .. |
| | | | | | |
| Western Australia | | | | | |
| Births (no.) | 26 253 | 35 403 | 35 135 | 33.8 | -0.8 |
| Total fertility rate(b) | 1.87 | 1.884 | 1.846 | .. | .. |
| Median age of mother (years) | 30.4 | 30.6 | 30.7 | .. | .. |
| Median age of father (years) | 32.8 | 32.8 | 32.9 | .. | .. |
| | | | | | |
| Tasmania | | | | | |
| Births (no.) | 6 310 | 5 935 | 5 680 | -10 | -4.3 |
| Total fertility rate(b) | 2.075 | 1.988 | 1.911 | .. | .. |
| Median age of mother (years) | 29.4 | 29.6 | 29.8 | .. | .. |
| Median age of father (years) | 32 | 31.7 | 31.9 | .. | .. |
| | | | | | |
| Northern Territory | | | | | |
| Births (no.) | 3 660 | 4 026 | 4 004 | 9.4 | -0.5 |
| Total fertility rate(b) | 2.195 | 2.12 | 2.108 | .. | .. |
| Median age of mother (years) | 27.9 | 28.9 | 29.5 | .. | .. |
| Median age of father (years) | 31.6 | 31.6 | 32.2 | .. | .. |
| | | | | | |
| Australian Capital Territory | | | | | |
| Births (no.) | 4 210 | 5 552 | 5 542 | 31.6 | -0.2 |
| Total fertility rate(b) | 1.596 | 1.767 | 1.745 | .. | .. |
| Median age of mother (years) | 31.4 | 31.6 | 31.7 | .. | .. |
| Median age of father (years) | 33.4 | 33.7 | 33.7 | .. | .. |
|
| (a) Includes Other Territories. |
| (b) Babies per woman. The total fertility rate represents the average number of babies that a woman could expect to bear during her reproductive lifetime if current fertility rates continue. |
Quality Declaration 
Print Page
Print All