Fewer twins and triplets are being born in Australia despite the rising number of total births, prompting links with advancements in assisted fertility.
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The number of multiple births fell to 4480 nationally in 2012, down by just under two per cent from the year prior, and three per cent from 2010, when 4611 multiple births were recorded.
The decline, shown in Australian Bureau of Statistics data released last week, comes despite the total number of births rising to 309,000 in 2012.
That is the highest number of total births in more than a decade, and an increase of 8000 from 2011.
The fertility rate and the crude birth rate also rose from 2011 to 2012.
The number of multiple births in the ACT has also flatlined in the past three years, despite the increasing number of total births in the territory.
Australian Multiple Birth Association communications director Ali Mountifield believes the decline may be linked to improvements in artificial reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilisation.
Mrs Mountifield, a Canberra mother of triplets, spoke at the association's national convention in the ACT on Sunday.
''Australia and New Zealand are leading the way with their IVF or assisted fertility, and the number of embryos implanted,'' Mrs Mountifield said.
''As a result they actually have less multiple births … so I think that there might be a correlation,'' she said.
A study released by the University of NSW in August found roughly one in 25 births now involve assisted fertility, rising by 17 per cent from 2007 to 2011.
