Fertility & birth rates in Australia and China

Fertility rate in Australia vs China chart

According to the latest available data on birth rates, the fertility rate in Australia was 1.5 children per woman in 2023, compared to 1 in China in 2023. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 children per woman.

Check Australia vs China population clock for a dynamic visualization of the changing population.

The chart below showcases historical changes in the birth rates.

Table

Year	Fertility rate
	Australia	China
1960	3.45	4.45
1961	3.54	3.86
1962	3.44	6.09
1963	3.33	7.51
1964	3.15	6.67
1965	2.98	6.61
1966	2.88	6.31
1967	2.85	5.81
1968	2.89	6.51
1969	2.89	6.18
1970	2.86	6.09
1971	2.96	5.52
1972	2.74	5.11
1973	2.49	4.73
1974	2.4	4.17
1975	2.15	3.57
1976	2.06	3.24
1977	2.01	2.84
1978	1.95	2.72
1979	1.91	2.75
1980	1.89	2.74
1981	1.94	2.79
1982	1.93	2.97
1983	1.92	2.56
1984	1.84	2.61
1985	1.92	2.63
1986	1.87	2.72
1987	1.85	2.76
1988	1.83	2.54
1989	1.84	2.52
1990	1.9	2.51
1991	1.85	1.93
1992	1.89	1.78
1993	1.86	1.69
1994	1.84	1.63
1995	1.82	1.59
1996	1.8	1.55
1997	1.78	1.53
1998	1.76	1.52
1999	1.76	1.53
2000	1.76	1.63
2001	1.74	1.56
2002	1.76	1.57
2003	1.75	1.57
2004	1.77	1.61
2005	1.81	1.62
2006	1.91	1.64
2007	1.96	1.67
2008	1.98	1.7
2009	1.97	1.71
2010	1.93	1.69
2011	1.93	1.67
2012	1.92	1.8
2013	1.86	1.71
2014	1.83	1.77
2015	1.81	1.67
2016	1.75	1.77
2017	1.74	1.8
2018	1.74	1.54
2019	1.66	1.5
2020	1.58	1.24
2021	1.7	1.12
2022	1.63	1.03
2023	1.5	1
2024	1.5	1.01
2025	1.5	1.02
2026	1.5	1.03
2027	1.5	1.04
2028	1.51	1.05
2029	1.5	1.05
2030	1.51	1.06
2031	1.5	1.07
2032	1.5	1.08
2033	1.5	1.08
2034	1.5	1.09
2035	1.5	1.1
2036	1.5	1.1
2037	1.5	1.11
2038	1.5	1.12
2039	1.5	1.12
2040	1.5	1.13
2041	1.5	1.13
2042	1.5	1.14
2043	1.5	1.15
2044	1.5	1.15
2045	1.5	1.16
2046	1.5	1.16
2047	1.5	1.17
2048	1.5	1.17
2049	1.5	1.18
2050	1.5	1.18

Children 0-14 years as share of population

Table

Year	Share of people 0-14 years old
	Australia	China
1960	30.2%	40.3%
1961	30.2%	40%
1962	30.1%	40%
1963	29.9%	40.6%
1964	29.8%	41.2%
1965	29.6%	41.5%
1966	29.5%	41.5%
1967	29.3%	41.3%
1968	29.1%	41%
1969	28.9%	41%
1970	28.8%	40.8%
1971	28.7%	40.7%
1972	28.5%	40.4%
1973	28.2%	40.1%
1974	27.9%	40.2%
1975	27.5%	40.2%
1976	27%	40.3%
1977	26.5%	39.8%
1978	26.1%	38.6%
1979	25.6%	37.2%
1980	25.3%	36.1%
1981	25%	35.1%
1982	24.7%	34.3%
1983	24.4%	33.3%
1984	24%	32.2%
1985	23.6%	31.2%
1986	23.1%	30.4%
1987	22.7%	29.8%
1988	22.4%	29.3%
1989	22.2%	28.9%
1990	22%	28.8%
1991	21.9%	28.6%
1992	21.8%	28.4%
1993	21.7%	28.2%
1994	21.7%	27.8%
1995	21.5%	27.4%
1996	21.4%	27%
1997	21.2%	26.3%
1998	21.1%	25.7%
1999	20.9%	25.2%
2000	20.8%	24.5%
2001	20.6%	23.8%
2002	20.4%	22.9%
2003	20.2%	22%
2004	20%	21.2%
2005	19.8%	20.3%
2006	19.6%	19.6%
2007	19.4%	19.2%
2008	19.3%	18.9%
2009	19.2%	18.6%
2010	19.1%	18.5%
2011	19%	18.3%
2012	18.9%	18.3%
2013	18.9%	18.3%
2014	18.9%	18.3%
2015	18.9%	18.3%
2016	18.9%	18.3%
2017	18.8%	18.4%
2018	18.8%	18.3%
2019	18.7%	18.2%
2020	18.6%	18%
2021	18.4%	17.6%
2022	18.2%	17.1%
2023	18%	16.6%
2024	17.8%	16%
2025	17.7%	15.4%
2026	17.5%	14.8%
2027	17.4%	14.1%
2028	17.2%	13.5%
2029	17%	12.8%
2030	16.9%	12.1%
2031	16.7%	11.5%
2032	16.6%	10.8%
2033	16.5%	10.3%
2034	16.4%	9.83%
2035	16.3%	9.53%
2036	16.2%	9.37%
2037	16.1%	9.31%
2038	16%	9.31%
2039	15.9%	9.34%
2040	15.9%	9.38%
2041	15.8%	9.43%
2042	15.8%	9.49%
2043	15.7%	9.56%
2044	15.7%	9.63%
2045	15.7%	9.71%
2046	15.7%	9.78%
2047	15.7%	9.85%
2048	15.7%	9.9%
2049	15.7%	9.93%
2050	15.7%	9.94%

Children aged 0-14 make up 17.8% of the population in Australia and 16% in China in 2024, compared to 22% and 28.8% respectively in 1990.

Demographics of Australia and China compared.

Natural population change in Australia vs China by year

For the past 10 years, the annual natural population change (excluding migration) has been +0.56% in Australia and +0.31% in China. The chart below illustrates the comparison of the absolute yearly changes resulting from births and deaths.

Table

Year	Population change due to births and deaths
	Australia	China
1960	141,816	-3,048,510
1961	150,955	2,496,047
1962	143,943	17,969,132
1963	140,161	22,742,225
1964	128,420	19,302,532
1965	122,990	20,296,950
1966	126,996	19,282,187
1967	126,249	19,263,662
1968	132,099	21,206,083
1969	143,477	20,760,332
1970	145,081	21,137,076
1971	165,593	19,622,980
1972	155,488	19,102,585
1973	136,476	18,423,727
1974	128,996	15,738,118
1975	123,648	14,378,237
1976	115,070	11,782,472
1977	117,793	11,378,068
1978	116,299	11,473,980
1979	116,112	11,250,148
1980	117,536	11,647,260
1981	125,356	14,461,027
1982	126,030	15,815,318
1983	130,844	13,599,789
1984	123,077	13,561,671
1985	143,674	14,987,830
1986	123,342	16,609,920
1987	128,484	18,005,821
1988	127,298	17,328,640
1989	127,789	16,824,495
1990	143,347	16,335,313
1991	138,273	14,937,124
1992	139,829	13,548,601
1993	137,551	13,493,138
1994	131,761	13,360,470
1995	131,436	12,711,220
1996	125,751	12,686,872
1997	121,592	12,374,554
1998	120,949	11,351,286
1999	118,517	10,247,372
2000	119,882	9,570,849
2001	117,575	8,839,358
2002	116,971	8,258,580
2003	118,325	7,743,284
2004	115,610	7,607,960
2005	129,132	7,678,911
2006	132,931	6,922,185
2007	154,124	6,813,465
2008	155,119	6,729,247
2009	160,518	6,483,236
2010	158,628	6,407,607
2011	156,380	8,245,065
2012	161,408	10,075,174
2013	159,584	8,043,116
2014	154,940	9,205,180
2015	150,041	6,788,911
2016	152,403	9,062,269
2017	150,015	7,790,880
2018	157,269	5,302,433
2019	136,808	4,673,713
2020	133,376	2,046,095
2021	138,701	480,203
2022	111,862	-847,305
2023	103,945	-2,087,851

Maternal mortality chart: Australia vs China

The maternal mortality rate, which is the probability of dying during childbirth or within 42 days of pregnancy termination, is 2 deaths per 100,000 live births in Australia, compared to 16 deaths in China.

Table

Year	Maternal mortality per 100K births
	Australia	China
1985	9	125
1986	8	120
1987	9	114
1988	9	108
1989	9	104
1990	9	102
1991	9	92
1992	9	86
1993	9	80
1994	9	76
1995	9	71
1996	8	67
1997	8	63
1998	7	60
1999	7	58
2000	7	56
2001	6	52
2002	6	50
2003	5	47
2004	5	45
2005	5	42
2006	5	40
2007	5	38
2008	5	38
2009	5	35
2010	5	34
2011	6	33
2012	6	32
2013	6	30
2014	6	28
2015	6	26
2016	6	25
2017	6	24
2018	5	22
2019	5	21
2020	5	20
2021	4	21
2022	4	18
2023	2	16

Under-five mortality rates

The chance that a newborn baby will die before reaching age five is 0.37% in Australia and 0.62% in China. Below is the historical data on under-five mortality rates.

Table

Year	Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
	Australia	China
1960	2.49%	-
1961	2.43%	-
1962	2.37%	-
1963	2.32%	-
1964	2.27%	-
1965	2.24%	-
1966	2.21%	-
1967	2.2%	-
1968	2.19%	-
1969	2.18%	11.9%
1970	2.15%	11.3%
1971	2.1%	10.7%
1972	2.03%	10.2%
1973	1.94%	9.61%
1974	1.84%	9.05%
1975	1.73%	8.5%
1976	1.62%	7.97%
1977	1.52%	7.47%
1978	1.44%	7.01%
1979	1.36%	6.62%
1980	1.3%	6.28%
1981	1.26%	6%
1982	1.22%	5.78%
1983	1.19%	5.61%
1984	1.16%	5.5%
1985	1.13%	5.43%
1986	1.1%	5.4%
1987	1.06%	5.4%
1988	1.02%	5.4%
1989	0.97%	5.39%
1990	0.92%	5.37%
1991	0.87%	5.31%
1992	0.82%	5.22%
1993	0.77%	5.08%
1994	0.73%	4.93%
1995	0.7%	4.75%
1996	0.68%	4.56%
1997	0.66%	4.36%
1998	0.64%	4.14%
1999	0.63%	3.91%
2000	0.62%	3.67%
2001	0.61%	3.42%
2002	0.6%	3.15%
2003	0.59%	2.89%
2004	0.58%	2.64%
2005	0.57%	2.4%
2006	0.56%	2.19%
2007	0.54%	2.01%
2008	0.52%	1.85%
2009	0.5%	1.71%
2010	0.48%	1.58%
2011	0.45%	1.46%
2012	0.43%	1.35%
2013	0.41%	1.25%
2014	0.4%	1.15%
2015	0.39%	1.07%
2016	0.38%	0.99%
2017	0.38%	0.92%
2018	0.38%	0.86%
2019	0.38%	0.8%
2020	0.38%	0.75%
2021	0.37%	0.7%
2022	0.37%	0.66%
2023	0.37%	0.62%