Australia Rate of Natural Increase

Australia’s rate of natural increase (RNI)—the difference between its crude birth rate and crude death rate—has been relatively low in recent years, typically hovering around 0.4% to 0.6% per year. This modest RNI reflects Australia’s aging population and declining fertility rates, both of which are characteristic of many developed countries. In contrast, several of Australia’s neighboring countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, such as Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, have higher RNIs, often exceeding 1% annually, due to higher birth rates and younger populations. However, some nearby developed nations, like New Zealand, also experience low RNIs similar to Australia’s, while others, such as Japan, have negative natural increase rates due to very low birth rates and high proportions of elderly citizens. Thus, Australia’s RNI situates it between the higher-growth developing nations of the region and the low or negative growth rates of other developed countries.

Data from US Census International Database