'Baby bounce-back': Newcastle/Hunter leading the country in having babies
The region recorded 8130 births in 2024, up from 7770 the previous year, a KPMG report said.
Released on Thursday, the report said births have "bounced back a bit" from last year's "baby recession".
Among the areas that KPMG listed, Geelong (7.6 per cent) and Newcastle/Hunter Valley (4.6 per cent) had the highest birth-rate rises.
Rises in metropolitan areas included: Greater Sydney (1.1 per cent), Greater Brisbane (1.8 per cent), Greater Melbourne (1.5 per cent) and Greater Adelaide (2 per cent).
KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley said "the baby bounce-back was largely felt outside the nation's capital cities".
"Regional Australia reached 94,900 births in the last year, a 3.9 per cent increase from 2023," Mr Rawnsley said.
The report said the fertility rate in Australia was 1.5 babies per woman.
A rate of 2.1 children is needed to ensure a stable population.
The Newcastle Herald reported in May that the fertility rate in Hunter New England averaged 1.9 babies per woman over a decade.
University of Newcastle Distinguished Emeritus Professor John Aitken said then that "more women are going into the paid workforce and pushing the boundaries of their own fertility".
"Many want to have children but can't because they've left it too late," said Professor Aitken, author of The Infertility Trap.
"Increasingly, there is a lot of voluntary childlessness, where women are making a conscious choice not to have children."
The KPMG analysis attributes Australia's declining birth rates mainly to economic pressures.
It said changes in disposable income had "a significant impact on the country's birth rate".
Mr Rawnsley said rising rents, mortgage payments, and childcare costs in metro areas were "putting a handbrake" on people's plans to have children.
He said strong birth rates outside the cities were partly "a consequence of the great migration we saw during the pandemic".
COVID led many people "to leave city lockdowns for a better lifestyle in the regions".
"These regions are now feeling the long-term benefits of that migration," he said.
"Their relative affordability has allowed them to retain those people who have put down roots and are starting families."
He said the cost of living remained a key issue for many people.
After the COVID lockdowns, birth rates temporarily spiked "due to low unemployment and substantial government stimulus".
But rising costs in 2022 and 2023 triggered "a significant baby recession, with births dropping by 5.1 per cent during that time".
The KPMG report said disposable household income had fallen by almost 8 per cent since 2022.
This year it had risen by less than 1 per cent.
"The growth in disposable household income per capita in 2024 suggests there's cause for optimism that birth rates will recover further," he said.
He said the birth rate could reach 300,000 this year, but this was below "the magic 350,000 figure needed to sustain our way of life well into the 21st century".
The birth rate in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley rose by 4.6 per cent in a year in a "baby bounce-back" attributed to people moving from cities to escape COVID lockdowns.
The region recorded 8130 births in 2024, up from 7770 the previous year, a KPMG report said.
Released on Thursday, the report said births have "bounced back a bit" from last year's "baby recession".
Among the areas that KPMG listed, Geelong (7.6 per cent) and Newcastle/Hunter Valley (4.6 per cent) had the highest birth-rate rises.
Rises in metropolitan areas included: Greater Sydney (1.1 per cent), Greater Brisbane (1.8 per cent), Greater Melbourne (1.5 per cent) and Greater Adelaide (2 per cent).
KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley said "the baby bounce-back was largely felt outside the nation's capital cities".
"Regional Australia reached 94,900 births in the last year, a 3.9 per cent increase from 2023," Mr Rawnsley said.
The report said the fertility rate in Australia was 1.5 babies per woman.
A rate of 2.1 children is needed to ensure a stable population.
The Newcastle Herald reported in May that the fertility rate in Hunter New England averaged 1.9 babies per woman over a decade.
University of Newcastle Distinguished Emeritus Professor John Aitken said then that "more women are going into the paid workforce and pushing the boundaries of their own fertility".
"Many want to have children but can't because they've left it too late," said Professor Aitken, author of The Infertility Trap.
"Increasingly, there is a lot of voluntary childlessness, where women are making a conscious choice not to have children."
The KPMG analysis attributes Australia's declining birth rates mainly to economic pressures.
It said changes in disposable income had "a significant impact on the country's birth rate".
Mr Rawnsley said rising rents, mortgage payments, and childcare costs in metro areas were "putting a handbrake" on people's plans to have children.
He said strong birth rates outside the cities were partly "a consequence of the great migration we saw during the pandemic".
COVID led many people "to leave city lockdowns for a better lifestyle in the regions".
"These regions are now feeling the long-term benefits of that migration," he said.
"Their relative affordability has allowed them to retain those people who have put down roots and are starting families."
He said the cost of living remained a key issue for many people.
After the COVID lockdowns, birth rates temporarily spiked "due to low unemployment and substantial government stimulus".
But rising costs in 2022 and 2023 triggered "a significant baby recession, with births dropping by 5.1 per cent during that time".
The KPMG report said disposable household income had fallen by almost 8 per cent since 2022.
This year it had risen by less than 1 per cent.
"The growth in disposable household income per capita in 2024 suggests there's cause for optimism that birth rates will recover further," he said.
He said the birth rate could reach 300,000 this year, but this was below "the magic 350,000 figure needed to sustain our way of life well into the 21st century".
The birth rate in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley rose by 4.6 per cent in a year in a "baby bounce-back" attributed to people moving from cities to escape COVID lockdowns.
The region recorded 8130 births in 2024, up from 7770 the previous year, a KPMG report said.
Released on Thursday, the report said births have "bounced back a bit" from last year's "baby recession".
Among the areas that KPMG listed, Geelong (7.6 per cent) and Newcastle/Hunter Valley (4.6 per cent) had the highest birth-rate rises.
Rises in metropolitan areas included: Greater Sydney (1.1 per cent), Greater Brisbane (1.8 per cent), Greater Melbourne (1.5 per cent) and Greater Adelaide (2 per cent).
KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley said "the baby bounce-back was largely felt outside the nation's capital cities".
"Regional Australia reached 94,900 births in the last year, a 3.9 per cent increase from 2023," Mr Rawnsley said.
The report said the fertility rate in Australia was 1.5 babies per woman.
A rate of 2.1 children is needed to ensure a stable population.
The Newcastle Herald reported in May that the fertility rate in Hunter New England averaged 1.9 babies per woman over a decade.
University of Newcastle Distinguished Emeritus Professor John Aitken said then that "more women are going into the paid workforce and pushing the boundaries of their own fertility".
"Many want to have children but can't because they've left it too late," said Professor Aitken, author of The Infertility Trap.
"Increasingly, there is a lot of voluntary childlessness, where women are making a conscious choice not to have children."
The KPMG analysis attributes Australia's declining birth rates mainly to economic pressures.
It said changes in disposable income had "a significant impact on the country's birth rate".
Mr Rawnsley said rising rents, mortgage payments, and childcare costs in metro areas were "putting a handbrake" on people's plans to have children.
He said strong birth rates outside the cities were partly "a consequence of the great migration we saw during the pandemic".
COVID led many people "to leave city lockdowns for a better lifestyle in the regions".
"These regions are now feeling the long-term benefits of that migration," he said.
"Their relative affordability has allowed them to retain those people who have put down roots and are starting families."
He said the cost of living remained a key issue for many people.
After the COVID lockdowns, birth rates temporarily spiked "due to low unemployment and substantial government stimulus".
But rising costs in 2022 and 2023 triggered "a significant baby recession, with births dropping by 5.1 per cent during that time".
The KPMG report said disposable household income had fallen by almost 8 per cent since 2022.
This year it had risen by less than 1 per cent.
"The growth in disposable household income per capita in 2024 suggests there's cause for optimism that birth rates will recover further," he said.
He said the birth rate could reach 300,000 this year, but this was below "the magic 350,000 figure needed to sustain our way of life well into the 21st century".
The birth rate in Newcastle and the Hunter Valley rose by 4.6 per cent in a year in a "baby bounce-back" attributed to people moving from cities to escape COVID lockdowns.
The region recorded 8130 births in 2024, up from 7770 the previous year, a KPMG report said.
Released on Thursday, the report said births have "bounced back a bit" from last year's "baby recession".
Among the areas that KPMG listed, Geelong (7.6 per cent) and Newcastle/Hunter Valley (4.6 per cent) had the highest birth-rate rises.
Rises in metropolitan areas included: Greater Sydney (1.1 per cent), Greater Brisbane (1.8 per cent), Greater Melbourne (1.5 per cent) and Greater Adelaide (2 per cent).
KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley said "the baby bounce-back was largely felt outside the nation's capital cities".
"Regional Australia reached 94,900 births in the last year, a 3.9 per cent increase from 2023," Mr Rawnsley said.
The report said the fertility rate in Australia was 1.5 babies per woman.
A rate of 2.1 children is needed to ensure a stable population.
The Newcastle Herald reported in May that the fertility rate in Hunter New England averaged 1.9 babies per woman over a decade.
University of Newcastle Distinguished Emeritus Professor John Aitken said then that "more women are going into the paid workforce and pushing the boundaries of their own fertility".
"Many want to have children but can't because they've left it too late," said Professor Aitken, author of The Infertility Trap.
"Increasingly, there is a lot of voluntary childlessness, where women are making a conscious choice not to have children."
The KPMG analysis attributes Australia's declining birth rates mainly to economic pressures.
It said changes in disposable income had "a significant impact on the country's birth rate".
Mr Rawnsley said rising rents, mortgage payments, and childcare costs in metro areas were "putting a handbrake" on people's plans to have children.
He said strong birth rates outside the cities were partly "a consequence of the great migration we saw during the pandemic".
COVID led many people "to leave city lockdowns for a better lifestyle in the regions".
"These regions are now feeling the long-term benefits of that migration," he said.
"Their relative affordability has allowed them to retain those people who have put down roots and are starting families."
He said the cost of living remained a key issue for many people.
After the COVID lockdowns, birth rates temporarily spiked "due to low unemployment and substantial government stimulus".
But rising costs in 2022 and 2023 triggered "a significant baby recession, with births dropping by 5.1 per cent during that time".
The KPMG report said disposable household income had fallen by almost 8 per cent since 2022.
This year it had risen by less than 1 per cent.
"The growth in disposable household income per capita in 2024 suggests there's cause for optimism that birth rates will recover further," he said.
He said the birth rate could reach 300,000 this year, but this was below "the magic 350,000 figure needed to sustain our way of life well into the 21st century".
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