--- title: "Fewer Births: The Fall in Australia’s Fertility Rate" url: https://australianproperty.network/analysis/demographic-analysis/demographic-trend-analysis-demographic-analysis/fall-in-australia-fertility-rate/ date: 2026-10-05 modified: 2026-09-30 lang: en author: "APN National" description: "Australia’s total fertility rate was 1.481 babies per woman in 2024, the lowest since at least 1975 and down from 1.917 in 2011. The fall is concentrated among women under 35." categories: - "Demographic Trend Analysis" tags: - "21440" - "Demographic trends" - "Fertility Rate" word_count: 837 --- # Fewer Births: The Fall in Australia’s Fertility Rate Australia’s total fertility rate was 1.481 babies per woman in 2024, the lowest since at least 1975 and down from 1.917 in 2011. It has fallen in nine of the thirteen years since. The fall is concentrated among women under 35: the birth rate among women aged 25 to 29 fell from 103.1 to 71.3 per 1,000, while among women aged 35 to 39 it fell only slightly, from 70.3 to 66.6 births per 1,000. Registered births, 292,318 in 2024, have fallen less, because there are more women of childbearing age. **Data anchors** · Node reading for Demographic Trend Analysis (21440): NIL RETURN. This article rests on the source data alone · Total fertility rate, 2024: 1.481 babies per woman (2011: 1.917); registered births 292,318 (2011: 301,617). Australian Bureau of Statistics, Births, Australia, 2024. #### What the fertility rate measures The **total fertility rate** is the average number of babies a woman would have over her lifetime if she experienced the birth rates of each age group in a given year. It adjusts for the size and age of the population, which the raw count of births does not. A rate of about 2.1 is often called replacement level: the rate at which, without migration, each generation would roughly replace itself. The figures are from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) annual births release, which counts births by the year they were registered, not the year they occurred; late registrations shift a small number of births between years. #### The lowest rate in fifty years The rate was 2.148 in 1975 and has been below 2.1 in every year since. It rose to 2.023 in 2008, its highest since 1976, and has fallen in most years since: to 1.917 in 2011, 1.593 in 2020, and, after a rise to 1.696 in 2021, to 1.499 in 2023 and 1.481 in 2024. ##### Total fertility rate, 1975 to 2024 1.21.41.61.82.02.22.41975198019851990199520002005201020152020Total fertility rateReplacement level (2.1)1.481 Babies per woman. Dotted line: replacement level of 2.1. Source: ABS, Births, Australia, 2024. #### Births have fallen less Registered births were 301,617 in 2011 and 292,318 in 2024, 3.1% fewer, having peaked at 315,147 in 2018. The count has fallen less than the rate because there are more women of childbearing age: the number aged 20 to 44 grew by 21% between June 2011 and June 2024. With deaths rising, the gap between births and deaths, natural increase, has narrowed, as set out in [Births, Deaths and Arrivals](https://australianproperty.network/?p=151004). ##### Registered births, 1975 to 2024 2002202402602803003203401975198019851990199520002005201020152020Registered births292.3 Thousands of births registered in each calendar year. Source: ABS, Births, Australia, 2024. | Year | Registered births | Total fertility rate | | ---- | ----------------- | -------------------- | | 2011 | 301,617 | 1.917 | | 2012 | 309,582 | 1.929 | | 2013 | 308,065 | 1.881 | | 2014 | 299,697 | 1.795 | | 2015 | 305,377 | 1.796 | | 2016 | 311,104 | 1.792 | | 2017 | 309,142 | 1.743 | | 2018 | 315,147 | 1.745 | | 2019 | 305,832 | 1.666 | | 2020 | 294,369 | 1.593 | | 2021 | 309,996 | 1.696 | | 2022 | 300,684 | 1.631 | | 2023 | 286,998 | 1.499 | | 2024 | 292,318 | 1.481 | Total fertility rate: the average number of babies a woman would have over her lifetime at that year’s age-specific rates. Source: ABS, Births, Australia, 2024. #### Fewer births at younger ages Birth rates have fallen at every age under 35 since 2011: from 53.0 to 30.6 births per 1,000 women aged 20 to 24, from 103.1 to 71.3 at 25 to 29, and from 124.9 to 106.0 at 30 to 34. The rate at 35 to 39 fell only slightly, from 70.3 to 66.6, and at 40 to 44 it rose slightly. Women aged 30 to 34 had the highest birth rate of any age group in both 2011 and 2024; in 1975 it was women aged 25 to 29. ##### Births per 1,000 women by age, 2011 and 2024 02040608010012014015–19, 201116.115–19, 20246.020–24, 201153.020–24, 202430.625–29, 2011103.125–29, 202471.330–34, 2011124.930–34, 2024106.035–39, 201170.335–39, 202466.640–44, 201115.240–44, 202415.5 Age-specific fertility rates. Source: ABS, Births, Australia, 2024. #### By state and territory Every state and territory had a lower rate in 2024 than in 2011, and every one was below 1.65. The Northern Territory had the highest rate, 1.629, and the ACT the lowest, 1.273. Tasmania’s fell furthest, from 2.154 to 1.485. ##### Total fertility rate by state and territory, 2024 0.00.51.01.52.02.5Northern Territory1.629 (2011: 2.148)Victoria1.521 (2011: 1.778)Queensland1.505 (2011: 2.017)Tasmania1.485 (2011: 2.154)New South Wales1.460 (2011: 1.963)South Australia1.458 (2011: 1.867)Western Australia1.434 (2011: 1.918)Australian Capital Territory1.273 (2011: 1.737) Babies per woman, with the 2011 rate in brackets. Source: ABS, Births, Australia, 2024. 1.481Total fertility rate, 20241.917Total fertility rate, 2011292,318Registered births, 2024106.0Births per 1,000 women aged 30–34, the highest of any age #### What this does not show The fertility rate describes the timing and number of births, not their causes. Research has examined many possible influences, including the cost of housing, but this piece draws no link between fertility and housing costs or any other factor. The age structure the rate feeds into is shown in [The Age Pyramid, 2011 to 2026](https://australianproperty.network/?p=151029), and the [Demographic Analysis series](https://australianproperty.network/apn-codex/series-20000/series-21000/series-21400/) carries the node readings. **Methodology note.** ABS, Births, Australia, 2024, via the ABS data API: registered births by state or territory of usual residence (dataflow BIRTHS_SUMMARY) and fertility rates by age of mother (dataflow FERTILITY_AGE_STATE), 1975 to 2024, retrieved 26 September 2026. The total fertility rate is the ABS’s published figure; it equals five times the sum of the five-year age-specific rates, divided by 1,000. Node reading for Demographic Trend Analysis (21440): NIL RETURN. Findings are presented on the basis of data and evidence alone.