More Aussie women over 40 having babies than ever before
MORE Australian women over the age of 40 are having babies than ever before, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released on Thursday.
The ABS' Births, Australia, 2011 publication shows that in 2011 a record 12,800 babies were born to women over 40, up from 7,100 in 2001.
Director of ABS Demography Bjorn Jarvis said the fertility rate for mothers in the 40-44 year old age group has increased to 15.1 babies per 1000 women in 2011 from 9.2 in 2001.
"We have also seen the total number of births in Australia pass the 300,000 mark for the first-time," Mr Jarvis said.
"The total fertility rate in Australia for 2011 was 1.88 babies per woman; this is higher than the record low of 1.73 in 2001 but a decline from the recent peak of 1.96 in 2008.
"Tasmania had the highest fertility rate at 2.17 babies per woman, while Victoria had the lowest at 1.75.
"The median age of all mothers was 30.6 years in 2011, whereas the median age of all fathers was 33 years,' Mr Jarvis added.
| Australia(c) |  2001 | 2010 | 2011 | change | |
| Births (no.) | 246 394 | 297 903 | 301 617 | 22.4 | 1.2 |
| Total fertility rate(d) | 1.729 | 1.886 | 1.884 | | |
| Median age of mother (years) | 30.0 | 30.7 | 30.6 | | |
| Median age of father (years) | 32.3 | 33.1 | 33.0 | | |
| | |||||
| New South Wales | |||||
| Births (no.) | 84 578 | 95 918 | 99 054 | 17.1 | 3.3 |
| Total fertility rate(d) | 1.762 | 1.865 | 1.908 | | |
| Median age of mother (years) | 30.0 | 31.0 | 30.9 | | |
| Median age of father (years) | 32.5 | 33.4 | 33.3 | | |
| | |||||
| Victoria | |||||
| Births (no.) | 58 626 | 70 568 | 71 444 | 21.9 | 1.2 |
| Total fertility rate(d) | 1.610 | 1.756 | 1.748 | | |
| Median age of mother (years) | 30.7 | 31.6 | 31.4 | | |
| Median age of father (years) | 32.8 | 33.7 | 33.6 | | |
| | |||||
| Queensland | |||||
| Births (no.) | 47 678 | 64 467 | 63 253 | 32.7 | -1.9 |
| Total fertility rate(d) | 1.795 | 2.030 | 1.964 | | |
| Median age of mother (years) | 29.3 | 29.7 | 29.8 | | |
| Median age of father (years) | 31.5 | 32.1 | 32.0 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
