Around 140 million babies are born every year in the world. That's more than four births every second of every day. More than half of all births take place in Asia with 25 million births in India and 16 million births in China alone every year.
In 2021, there were 315,705 babies born to 311,360 mothers in Australia. The ratio of male babies was 105.4 per 100 females babies (51% males compared with 49% females). The birth rate was 61 per 1,000 women of reproductive age (aged 15 to 44 years) in 2021, an increase from 56 per 1,000 in 2020.
The 2021 average of 18.1 births per 1,000 total population equates to approximately 4.3 births per second or about 259 births per minute for the world.
The current birth rate for Australia in 2023 is 12.085 births per 1000 people, a 1.3% decline from 2022. The birth rate for Australia in 2022 was 12.244 births per 1000 people, a 1.28% decline from 2021.
About 385,000 babies are born each day according to the UN. That adds up to more than 140 million a year. The 140 million extra babies per year join a world population projected to reach 10 billion people by 2056.
Population change rates in 2023
982 live births average per day (40.90 in an hour) 488 deaths average per day (20.32 in an hour)
First, which month has the least birthdays? The data comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Social Security Administration. The rarest month to be born in is February, making Aquarius the rarest zodiac sign. February is the shortest month of the year, even with a leap year.
It has been trending down since then. As noted above, there was a sharp decrease reported for 2020 but the 2021 statistics indicated a recovery in these numbers. Since 1976, Australia's total fertility rate has been below replacement level (about 2.1 births per woman).
"It's normal to be concerned about later age pregnancy, and yet women at the age of 35 are generally healthy and can have babies," says Juli Fraga, Psy. D., a San Francisco-based psychologist specializing in reproductive health.
Fertility rates in Australia and around the world
Dr Allen says the decline in the average number of children per woman is a result of increased education and paid employment for women. Women are starting families later and consequently having fewer children, and more people are choosing to be child-free.
February 3rd is the only day where no one in history has ever been born. Despite much scientific study, there is no explanation for this phenomena. Historically it has been referred to as "the empty day" or "nobody's birthday".
According to real birth data compiled from 20 years of American births, mid-September is the most birthday-packed time of the year, with September 9th being the most popular day to be born in America, followed closely by September 19th.
July through October tends to be the most popular birth months in the United States. August is the overall most popular month for birthdays, which makes sense, considering a late August birthday means December conception.
A Russian woman named Valentina Vassilyeva and her husband Feodor Vassilyev are alleged to hold the record for the most children a couple has produced. She gave birth to a total of 69 children – sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets – between 1725 and 1765, a total of 27 births.
One study estimated a woman can have around 15 pregnancies in a lifetime. And depending on how many babies she births for each pregnancy, she'd probably have around 15-30 children. But the "most prolific mother ever," according to Guinness World Records, was Mrs.
The fertility rate in South Korea, which has the world's lowest rate, hit 0.78 in February. Yun-Jeong Kim grew up imagining what her future family would look like — married with several kids, a nice home and a dog.
While a 92-year-old woman delivering a 60-year-old baby may sound like a bizarre plot twist from the movie “Benjamin Button,” it's true. Huang Yijun, 92, of southern China, recently delivered a child which she'd been carrying for well over half a century. The baby wasn't alive, however.
There's no maximum age that stops a man from being able to have a baby. You can become a father long into your older years, but there are risks.
While stories about women giving birth in their 50s, 60s, and even 70s make for good headlines, these pregnancies are usually accomplished with donor eggs and in vitro fertilization (IVF). There is no set oldest age when you can get pregnant naturally, but fertility starts to decline as you age.
It's no secret that Australians are having fewer children. The latest ABS statistics reveal our fertility rate was 1.7 – well below the so-called replacement rate needed to keep the population growing. The last time our fertility rate was this low we started literally paying people to have babies.
September most common month for babies born in Australia
Two of the five least common birthdays are in December, The least common birthday is 25 December (excluding 29 February, which only occurs in leap years).
The average age of mothers has been rising over time, from 30.0 in 2011 to 31.1 in 2021. Average maternal age has risen for both first-time mothers (from 28.4 years in 2011 to 29.7 in 2021) and those who have given birth previously (from 31.3 years in 2011 to 32.2 in 2021).
The least common birthdays in the U.S. interestingly all hover around major holidays. December 25 (Christmas Day) is the least common birthday, while January 1 (New Year's Day) is the second least common.
According to the study, which was published in the Journal of American Medical Informatics Association, things look a lot healthier for those born in May who had the lowest disease risk of any month. However, things aren't so rosy for October babies, who had the highest risk of disease.