Home > Topics > Pregnancy and Before > Birth and Fertility Rates > Total General Fertility Rates

Total and General Fertility Rates

General Fertility Rate

The general fertility rate is the number of live births per 1,000 women of reproductive age in a population per year. This is a more standardized way to measure fertility in a population than crude birth rate because it accounts for the percentage of women of reproductive age. These data come from the Population Estimates and Vital Statistics.

Figure 1 below shows the general fertility rate in Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario between 1986 and 2006. The general fertility rate has declined from 55 and 53 live births per 1,000 women of reproductive age respectively in Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario in 1986 to 40 and 41 live births per 1,000 women of reproductive age in 2006.

Figure 1: