Birth rates are declining and there's no end in sight

The western Sydney suburb recorded 718 births in 2022, beating the second placed Dubbo, by over 100 arrivals.

There seems to be something in the water in western Sydney, as Blacktown, Auburn, Merrylands, Bankstown, Liverpool, Parramatta and Ryde made up seven of the top 10 spots.

Although the total number of births in Australia has not yet been released for 2022, statistics show births have rebounded since the pandemic, rising from 294,369 in 2020 to 309,996 in 2021.

But in spite of this uptick, Australia's birthrate is dropping at a rapid pace.

The birth rate has been below replacement levels since 1976, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. While it did increase in 2021 to 1.7 babies per woman from 1.5 in 2020, it's still below the 2.1 babies needed.

The Demographics Group co-founder Simon Kuestenmacher said birth rates only increase when young people are optimistic about the future.

"The birth rate is falling like crazy and it only knows one way, and that's down," he said.

"Will it be reversed? Absolutely not.

"I would argue that you could even throw your baby bonus grants around and it won't change a thing."

Mr Kuestenmacher said the trend is a bi-product of an economically rich society.

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"People only start having a couple more kids when their view of the future is outrageously optimistic," Mr Kuetenmacher said.

"When they believe that their personal fortunes will forever be rising.

"So unless there is a massive new mining boom, if we make housing cheaper, if wages grow really fast, if, generally speaking, younger people have an optimistic view of the world, rates will go up.

"But that isn't the case at the moment - people view themselves as a cancer on the planet."

Global birth rates are falling, even in the most underdeveloped, sub-Saharan African countries.

"Subsistence farming is on the way out, and you must remember, that even in the most back-water regional places people are consuming the same global media," Mr Kuetenmacher said.

"And they are very much exposed to small family standards, and education for women is going up also, which always drives the birth rates down."

Mr Kuetenmacher said if the trends continue we will reach peak human population by 2060.

"On a global perspective, if we reach peak humanity in 40 years time, we will be forever shrinking, and then the whole phenomenon in Japan where the country is ageing and slowly shrinking away, will happen on a global scale," he said.