 | MEDIA RELEASE | |
| 15 December 2016 | Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time) | 137/2016 |
More Australians entering the golden years
The proportion of Australia's population aged 65 years and over has increased in 2016, continuing a trend of the last two decades, according to the latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
ABS Demography Director Beidar Cho said that the percentage of the population aged 65 years and over has increased from 12.0 per cent in 1996 to 15.3 per cent in 2016.
"Over the last 20 years, there was a decrease in both the traditional working age population (from 66.6 to 65.9 per cent) and the proportion of children (21.4 to 18.8 per cent)," said Ms Cho.
In the states and territories, differences in age structure are largely due to migration as people move for economic, lifestyle and family reasons.
"In 2016, Tasmania is our oldest state or territory with a median age of 42 years, while the Northern Territory is the youngest with a median age of 33 years," said Ms Cho.
"Tasmania and South Australia have the highest proportions of older people and the lowest proportions of both children and working age population. The Territories have the lowest proportions of older people and the highest proportions of working age population. The Northern Territory also has the highest proportion of children, followed by Queensland."
Overall, Australia's population grew by 337,800 people (1.4 per cent) to reach 24.1 million by the end of June 2016.
Net overseas migration added 182,200 people to the population (2 per cent higher than the previous year), and accounted for 54 per cent of Australia's total population growth.
Natural increase contributed 155,700 additional people to Australia's population, made up of 315,500 births (2.6 per cent higher than the previous year) and 159,900 deaths (2.6 per cent higher).
Over the year, net overseas migration was the major contributor to population change in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, whilst natural increase was the major contributor in all other states and territories.
Further information is available in Australian Demographic Statistics, June Quarter 2016 (cat. no. 3101.0).
For population estimates at the regional level, see Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2014-15 (cat. no. 3218.0) and Population by Age and Sex, Regions of Australia, 2015 (cat. no. 3235.0), available for free download from https://www.abs.gov.au.
| Population at end June Qtr 2016 | Change over previous year | Change over previous year |
| PRELIMINARY DATA | '000 | '000 | % |
|
| New South Wales | 7 725.9 | 105.6 | 1.4 |
| Victoria | 6 068.0 | 123.1 | 2.1 |
| Queensland | 4 844.5 | 64.7 | 1.4 |
| South Australia | 1 708.2 | 9.3 | 0.5 |
| Western Australia | 2 617.2 | 27.1 | 1.0 |
| Tasmania | 519.1 | 2.5 | 0.5 |
| Northern Territory | 244.9 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 396.1 | 5.0 | 1.3 |
| Australia | 24 127.2 | 337.8 | 1.4 |
|
| Percentage of Total Population - 30 June 2016 |
|
| New South Wales | Victoria | Queensland | South Australia | Western Australia | Tasmania | Northern Territory | Australian Capital Territory | Australia |
|
0 to 14 years | 18.7% | 18.4% | 19.7% | 17.6% | 19.2% | 18.1% | 22.0% | 19.0% | 18.8% |
15 to 64 years | 65.4% | 66.5% | 65.6% | 64.6% | 67.3% | 63.1% | 70.8% | 68.5% | 65.9% |
65 plus years | 15.9% | 15.1% | 14.7% | 17.8% | 13.5% | 18.8% | 7.3% | 12.5% | 15.3% |
|
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- When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
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