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Australia Records Highest Birth Rate in 9 Years

Australia has recorded its highest annual birth rate in nine years, with indications that couples are encouraged by low unemployment and economic stability to have babies.

Population figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released over the Easter break showed there were 133,000 births in the six months to September 2004 -- the highest half-year total since 1990.

Over the full year to September there were about 255,100 births, the highest annual total in nine years, giving a fertility rate, or number of births per woman, of 1.773 for 2003-2004.

Craig James, an economist at CommSec, said Australia's baby boom appeared to be a result of strong consumer confidence and an unemployment rate of just 5.1 percent.

"Unemployment is at a 28-year low, wages are up, confidence is high," James told Wednesday's The Australian newspaper.

"People are feeling like it's safe to start a family again."

Australia's birth rate had been in steady decline since 1990, dropping to a half-yearly low of around 125,000 births during the April-September period of 2002.

Australia's conservative government has tried to boost flagging fertility by offering financial inducements -- including a 3,000-dollar (2,324 US dollar) payment to parents introduced on July 1.

Australia's current population is estimated to be 20,168,900. In the 12 months to September 2004, the population grew 1.2 percent, about half the increase due to immigration.

While Britain remains the greatest source of overseas-born residents, between 1998 and 2003 the countries with the largest increase in migration to Australia were South Africa (up 7.9 percent) and India (up 5.8 percent).