Australia’s fertility rate plunges to record low according to ABS data

Australia’s fertility rate has plunged to 1.5 births per woman — the lowest since records began in 1921 — as the number of babies born last year dropped to a 17-year low.

Last year, 286,998 babies were born nationwide, a fall of almost 14,000 compared with 2022 and the lowest since 2006.

While most States and territories recorded fewer births, WA recorded Australia’s highest number of births per woman — 1.57.

Mercer Actuary Dr David Knox AM said that although WA was bucking the national trend, the figures were simply too low.

“The government put out an intergenerational report only a year or so ago (and) they assumed the long-term number would be 1.62, and the worst number they were expecting was 1.52,” he said.

“We are now below that.”

With 2.1 births per woman required to maintain a natural population balance through births alone, the increasing shortfall puts further pressure on migration for Australia’s population to grow.

Dr Knox said the data translated to fewer people in the workforce in 20 years amid strong global competition for skilled migrants.

“What that means is we will get older quicker than we expected . . . and that means less taxpayers in 20 or 30 years,” he said.

There was a jump in births during 2021, when COVID lockdowns were at their peak. However, that has been wiped out.

Last year’s fall continued a trend seen since 2008, the last time the fertility rate was above 2.0.

The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed a continuing trend of mothers choosing to have children later in life.

There was a big drop in women aged 20-24 giving birth, while new mothers aged 40-44 almost doubled in the past three decades.

Among them is Perth mum Leela Giannasi, 35, who had her first-born son at 33.

After a costly IVF process, and with the rising cost of living, Ms Giannasi said she expected many people would be in the same boat as her choosing to only have one child — if any — because of the state of the economy.

“We’ve got friends that are not having kids at all just because they can’t see it being plausible with rent and living,” she said.

“We would love to have more kids, but unfortunately, at the moment, with the cost of living, we can’t.

“I think a lot of parents are going to be having kids later, and even if we’re having them, probably only one.”

She said she started a side business, Creative Munchkins Perth, on weekends to keep up with costs since having a child.

“The change in mortgage rates had a big impact so we went from three per cent to six per cent and I’m not working so I’ve started a side business to bring some money in,” she said.

ABS demography statistics head Beidar Cho said having a child was a “very personal matter”, adding parents were taking their own circumstances into account.

“There are personal life choices, what you want to prioritise first, and obviously the cost of living to consider,” she said.

“People are also delaying having children, which is a feature that has been consistent for the last few years . . . Older women are having more babies than they used to, and then the younger women, so 15 to 19-year-olds, have a very low age-specific fertility rate.”

Women aged 30-34 continue to have the highest age-specific fertility rate, followed by women aged 25-29. The median age of mums is now 31.9.

Dr Knox said the latest data highlighted how important it was for the Federal Government to make it easier for Australians to grow their families — which was in the country’s longer-term interest.

“We need to think about supporting families to encourage them,” he said.

“There’s a cost of living crisis at the moment, so families are either deferring, delaying or not having children.

“In some other economies, we actually see government payments, superannuation payments, to carers of young children — so not just for six months but for two or three years, so people aren’t losing out as much when they have their children.”

The latest fertility rate of 1.5 — down from 1.63 in 2022 — puts Australia on par with Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Croatia, and Uruguay.