Share of births that are twins in Australia
Australia: Share of births that are twins was 1.4% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Latest (2020)
1.4%
Change on year
down 3.1%
World rank
12th
of 23 countries
All-time high
1.6%
in 2002
All-time low
0.9%
in 1977
Years of data
113
1907–2020
Share of births that are twins in Australia, 1907–2020
Source: Human Multiple Births Database (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, share of births that are twins in Australia stood at 1.4%.
The figure is down 3.1% on the previous year and down 6.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of births that are twins in Australia peaked at 1.6% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 0.9%, in 1977.
That places Australia 12th out of 23 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 113 years of available data.
Share of births that are twins in Australia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1907 | 0.9% | — |
| 1908 | 1.0% | +1.8% |
| 1909 | 1.0% | +4.3% |
| 1910 | 1.0% | +1.8% |
| 1911 | 1.0% | -0.7% |
| 1912 | 1.0% | +0.3% |
| 1913 | 1.0% | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 1.0% | +0.8% |
| 1915 | 1.1% | +3.2% |
| 1916 | 1.1% | +0.1% |
| 1917 | 1.1% | +9.0% |
| 1918 | 1.1% | -4.8% |
| 1919 | 1.1% | -0.7% |
| 1920 | 1.1% | +2.7% |
| 1921 | 1.1% | -3.4% |
| 1922 | 1.1% | -2.3% |
| 1923 | 1.0% | -1.0% |
| 1924 | 1.0% | -3.9% |
| 1925 | 1.1% | +8.4% |
| 1926 | 1.1% | -1.2% |
| 1927 | 1.1% | +2.4% |
| 1928 | 1.1% | -3.1% |
| 1929 | 1.0% | -3.9% |
| 1930 | 1.1% | +10.2% |
| 1931 | 1.1% | -4.6% |
| 1932 | 1.0% | -6.7% |
| 1933 | 1.0% | +3.5% |
| 1934 | 1.1% | +3.1% |
| 1935 | 1.0% | -2.2% |
| 1936 | 1.1% | +1.3% |
| 1937 | 1.1% | +3.6% |
| 1938 | 1.0% | -5.4% |
| 1939 | 1.0% | +0.1% |
| 1940 | 1.0% | -2.3% |
| 1941 | 1.1% | +6.3% |
| 1942 | 1.1% | +0.3% |
| 1943 | 1.1% | +0.7% |
| 1944 | 1.2% | +7.5% |
| 1945 | 1.1% | -4.3% |
| 1946 | 1.2% | +2.9% |
| 1947 | 1.1% | -3.6% |
| 1948 | 1.1% | -1.9% |
| 1949 | 1.1% | +3.2% |
| 1950 | 1.2% | +4.4% |
| 1951 | 1.2% | -0.8% |
| 1952 | 1.2% | -0.8% |
| 1953 | 1.2% | +6.7% |
| 1954 | 1.2% | -5.2% |
| 1955 | 1.2% | -1.5% |
| 1956 | 1.2% | +0.9% |
| 1957 | 1.1% | -1.6% |
| 1958 | 1.2% | +3.2% |
| 1959 | 1.2% | -1.6% |
| 1960 | 1.1% | -3.3% |
| 1961 | 1.1% | -1.8% |
| 1962 | 1.1% | -0.6% |
| 1963 | 1.1% | +0.9% |
| 1964 | 1.1% | -4.8% |
| 1965 | 1.1% | +1.9% |
| 1966 | 1.0% | -2.5% |
| 1967 | 1.0% | -2.5% |
| 1968 | 1.0% | +1.5% |
| 1969 | 1.0% | +0.7% |
| 1970 | 1.1% | +2.2% |
| 1971 | 1.0% | -4.8% |
| 1972 | 1.0% | -1.7% |
| 1974 | 1.0% | -2.4% |
| 1975 | 1.0% | -1.2% |
| 1976 | 1.0% | +5.0% |
| 1977 | 0.9% | -10.9% |
| 1978 | 1.0% | +9.0% |
| 1979 | 1.0% | -0.2% |
| 1980 | 1.0% | +1.4% |
| 1981 | 1.0% | -1.9% |
| 1982 | 1.0% | +5.5% |
| 1983 | 1.0% | -2.0% |
| 1984 | 1.0% | +1.0% |
| 1985 | 1.1% | +5.3% |
| 1986 | 1.1% | +2.1% |
| 1987 | 1.1% | -1.8% |
| 1988 | 1.2% | +9.9% |
| 1989 | 1.2% | +4.7% |
| 1990 | 1.2% | -4.2% |
| 1991 | 1.3% | +8.6% |
| 1992 | 1.3% | -1.2% |
| 1993 | 1.3% | +4.1% |
| 1994 | 1.3% | +1.1% |
| 1995 | 1.3% | -0.7% |
| 1996 | 1.3% | +0.5% |
| 1997 | 1.4% | +4.0% |
| 1998 | 1.5% | +5.1% |
| 1999 | 1.5% | +1.4% |
| 2000 | 1.5% | +4.5% |
| 2001 | 1.6% | +5.0% |
| 2002 | 1.6% | +1.5% |
| 2003 | 1.6% | -2.1% |
| 2004 | 1.6% | +1.7% |
| 2005 | 1.6% | -1.8% |
| 2006 | 1.6% | -0.3% |
| 2007 | 1.5% | -5.0% |
| 2008 | 1.5% | +0.9% |
| 2009 | 1.5% | -2.9% |
| 2010 | 1.5% | +1.7% |
| 2011 | 1.5% | -0.4% |
| 2012 | 1.4% | -4.3% |
| 2013 | 1.5% | +1.7% |
| 2014 | 1.5% | -0.9% |
| 2015 | 1.4% | -2.5% |
| 2016 | 1.5% | +2.9% |
| 2017 | 1.5% | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 1.4% | -2.6% |
| 2019 | 1.5% | +3.3% |
| 2020 | 1.4% | -3.1% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 1.4% is above the median for high income countries, which is 1.4%, 1.0× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.0% | 3 |
| 1910s | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 10 |
| 1920s | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 10 |
| 1930s | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 10 |
| 1940s | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 1950s | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 1960s | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 10 |
| 1970s | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.1% | 9 |
| 1980s | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More reference data data for Australia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.21 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 28.02 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 38.41 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 38.41 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 4.07 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 6.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 118.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 170.29 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 13.9 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of births that are twins in Australia?
- Share of births that are twins in Australia was 1.4% in 2020, according to Human Multiple Births Database (2024) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of births that are twins recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 1.6% in 2002.
- What is the lowest share of births that are twins recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.9% in 1977.
- How does Australia rank for share of births that are twins?
- Australia ranks 12th out of 23 countries with data for 2020.
- Is share of births that are twins rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Human Multiple Births Database (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of births that are twins. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 113 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of twin deliveries per 100 deliveries.