Quebec's baby boom continues, as the birth rate rose for the sixth consecutive year.
The Quebec statistics institute said Tuesday that 87,000 babies were born in Quebec last year, up four per cent from the previous year.
What's more, women in their late 30s are more likely to have children than women of the generation before them.
About three-quarters of women born around 1960 have children, but that number jumps to 82 per cent for women born around 1970.
Quebec women had an average of 1.74 children each in 2008 -- the highest level since 1976.
"Preliminary results show the rise in births continues in 2009 but at a slower rate than years past," the statistics institute said.
Life expectancy
Quebec men and women continue to live longer lifespans, as is the case across Canada.
Women on average lived 83.3 years while men lived an average of 78.6 years.
Male life expectancy was rising at a rate faster than that of women, said the agency.
Population
Quebec's population stood at 7,830,000 in July of this year and was rising at a rate faster than in the first half of 2008.
The population rose by 70,000 people last year, the largest such increase since 1990.
