Canberra: Australia’s fertility rate has fallen to a new record low in 2023, according to official data. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) announced on Wednesday that the total fertility rate dropped to 1.50 babies per woman in 2023, with 286,998 births registered during the year. This represents a decline from 1.63 babies per woman in 2022, marking the lowest fertility rate since records began in 1935. The fertility rate in Australia peaked at 3.54 babies per woman in 1961, according to Xinhua news agency reports.
As per IANS inputs, the ABS attributed this record low to a decline in births across most of Australia's states and territories. "The record low total fertility rate is due to fewer births in most states and territories," said Beidar Cho, head of demography statistics at the agency, in a media release. Tasmania was the only state where the fertility rate increased slightly from 1.49 babies per woman in 2022 to 1.51 in 2023. Despite this, Australia’s highest fertility rate was recorded in the Northern Territory, where it was 1.57 babies per woman, down from 1.62 in 2022.
In New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, the fertility rate dropped significantly over the past decade, from 1.94 babies per woman in 2013 to 1.55 in 2023.
The data also highlighted a disparity in fertility rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women. Indigenous women had a fertility rate of 2.17 babies per woman in 2023, significantly higher than the national average.
According to IANS inputs, the ABS also noted demographic shifts in the age of mothers, with the median age reaching an equal-record high of 31.9 years in 2023. The agency further reported that over the past 30 years, the fertility rate among women aged 15-19 has dropped by more than two-thirds, while the fertility rate for women aged 40-44 has nearly doubled, reflecting a broader trend toward delayed childbearing.
"The long-term decline in fertility among younger mothers, coupled with an increase in fertility among older mothers, shows a clear shift towards later childbearing," Cho added.
Since 2000, women aged 30-34 have consistently had the highest fertility rates, underscoring the ongoing trend of later maternal age.