Australia's fertility rate fell twice in a row, with the number of newborns falling below 300,000 for the first time in fourteen years.
On Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the latest census results, which showed that the number of newborns in 2020 was 294,369, down 3.7% from 2019. The fertility rate in 2019 is down 3% from 2018.
The total fertility rate also hit an all-time low, falling to an average of 1.58 births per woman.
In fact, since 2008, the total fertility rate has been plummeting. The fertility boom of the middle of the last century is difficult to reproduce. Fertility peaked in 1962, when an average of 3.55 babies per woman was born.
Beidar Cho, director of population at the Australian Bureau of Statistics, said the decline in fertility was also blamed on "the impact of the epidemic on people's lives".
The Northern Territory has the highest fertility rate, with an average of 1.86 babies per woman last year, ahead of Tasmania (1.77) and Western Australia (1.70).
Victoria has the lowest birth rate, with 1.43 babies per woman.
Aude Bernard, a senior lecturer in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Queensland, said Australia's population growth rate could have reached its lowest level since the 20th century.
She said that as the country's residents move to foreign countries, it is difficult for immigrants to immigrate, and there may even be negative population growth this year.
However, as maternity wards fill up and the number of migrants increases, the birth rate should stop falling.
(Image source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
"Historical data, the birth rate is likely to pick up." Bernard said. "But it's temporary. Due to the uncertainty caused by the lockdown, more and more people may choose to postpone their birth plans. ”
The data also reflect trends in late childbearing
Fertility among young women has declined, with the largest decline in fertility among women aged 15-19 years, falling by almost two-thirds, with an average of only 7.8 babies per 1,000 women.
The fertility rate for women aged 40 to 44 nearly tripled to an average of 15.2 babies per 1,000 women.
Bernard said that because the older a woman is to start having children, the less likely she is to have children, "there is a very clear relationship between the age of having the first child and the total number of children born." ”
In fact, not only in Australia, but also in the world, people's willingness to have babies is decreasing. Many young people decide not to have children. Research has found that factors such as climate change, inequality and the high cost of living and education are the main reasons for the low fertility rate of modern people.
Musk, the world's richest man and CEO of Tesla, said that he was very worried about this, and when he attended the Wall Street Journal CEO Summit recently, Musk shouted for "having a baby".
He bluntly said that one of the biggest risks facing human civilization is low fertility. Musk said seriously: "Remember what I said today, the problem of humanity has never been too many people, but no more people are born. ”
"Too many good, smart people think there's too much population in the world and population growth is out of control." Musk said, "But in fact, not enough people is the biggest risk, I can't overemphasize, there are not enough people!" ”
Musk said that if one looks at historical statistics, civilization collapses if people don't have more children.
Musk himself has 6 babies, and it is really consistent with words and deeds, but it is easy to raise a baby and difficult to raise a baby, and this kind of thing is still combined with his own situation, do what he can!