There must be something in the water in Taylor, the Canberra suburb with the highest fertility rate in 2023.
Women of child-bearing age in Taylor are likely to have, on average, 2.43 babies, according to 2023 KPMG data.
This statistic is based on how many babies were born in 2023, and is much higher than the Australian average of 1.6.
Baby craze
Other baby-crazy suburbs in the capital are Throsby, Charnwood, Fisher, Dunlop, Holt, Chisholm, Macarthur, Giralang and Straitharn.
On the list are some of Canberra's newest suburbs - like Throsby, Holt and Straitharn - which offer big plots and homes.
Many are also found on Canberra's outskirts, which may offer more bedrooms for less money.
Based on fertility data, there are not too many prams in city suburbs like Braddon, Barton, Civic and Turner.
On the other hand, parent groups in Ngunnawal, Whitlam and Kambah may be quite full this year.
Those three suburbs had the most babies born last year, along with Taylor, Belconnen, Moncrieff, Coombs, Bonner, Casey and Gungahlin.
Babies from Majura are very special as only one of three.
Many suburbs, like Acton, Hall, Macnamara, Mitchell and Russell did not record any births.
Big homes for big families
When Benazir Badsha Zaidi, 39, fell pregnant with daughter Alayna, she and husband Asif had just moved into a new four-bedroom Taylor home.
The eight-month-old was born last November after many years of the couple trying to have a baby.
She is one of 148 infants from the Gungahlin suburb, and 5530 from Canberra, born in 2023.
Ms Badsha Zaidi, who is from Bombay, said there were many families and a large Indian-Australian population in the area.
"It's one of those new suburbs and it's quite open and quite fresh and airy," she said.
"I think a lot of Indian families do like to have kids [and after settling abroad] the next thing would be to have a family."
Suburbs with highest fertility rate
- Taylor: 2.43
- Throsby: 2.18
- Charnwood: 2.11
- Fisher: 2.04
- Dunlop: 1.98
- Holt: 1.95
- Chisholm: 1.92
- Macarthur and Giralang: 1.88
- Strathnairn: 1.85
For mum, dad and the country
There were 20 more Canberra babies born last year than in 2022 and it is the only capital city to see no drop in births since 2019.
Canberra is having more bubs per women than other cities, KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley said.
"CPI growth in Canberra has been slightly subdued compared to that in other major cities, and the economic outlook has remained strong," he said.
"This means families have not been hurting as much as those in other capital cities, and in turn, we've seen a stabilisation of births in the ACT."
However, the decline in fertility rates remains.
While the capital's population grew by 55,000 people from 2013 to 2023, there were 20 fewer babies born in the later year.
Suburbs with most babies born in 2023
- Ngunnawal
- Whitlam
- Kambah
- Taylor
- Belconnen
- Moncrieff
- Coombs
- Bonner
- Casey
- Gungahlin
Cost-of-living concerns
Federal treasurer Jim Chalmers has expressed concern about Australia's low fertility rate, which can lead to an aging population.
Nationwide, the number of births in 2023 dropped to the lowest annual total since 2006.
The "baby recession" suggests cost-of-living pressures are stopping Australians from growing their families, Mr Rawnsley said.
"Birth rates provide insight into long-term population growth as well as the current confidence of Australian families," he said.
"We haven't seen such a sharp drop in births in Australia since the period of economic stagflation in the 1970s, which coincided with the initial widespread adoption of the contraceptive pill."
The cost of housing is also a deterrent to expanding or starting families, University of Melbourne business professor Mark Wooden said.
He said fertility rates in Australia and other countries have trended down since the 2008 global financial crisis.
- With AAP
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