Australia’s total fertility rate has reached a record low, at 1.461 births per woman, according to new statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today.
The ABS reports there were 292.318 registered births in 2024, a slight increase of 1.9 per cent from 2023.
The birth rate has dropped from 1.499 in 2023 and from 1.795 a decade earlier in 2014.
The median age for mothers giving birth was 32.1 in 2024, and 33.9 for fathers, reflecting an ongoing trend of parents having children later.
Beidar Cho, ABS head of demography, said the increasing median age of parents reflects a number of different trends, including further participation in education and higher workforce participation by women. It also reflects evolving patterns in how and when people choose to start families.
Australia’s record low reflects an international trend in declining birth rates, but is below the UK at 1.55 births, the US at 1.62 births, and New Zealand at 1.66. Australia’s fertility rate remains ahead of China and Japan.
Pictured above: Beidar Cho, courtesy of the ABS.