3101.0 - Australian Demographic Statistics, Dec 2015 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 23/06/2016   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All
MEDIA RELEASE
23 June 2016
Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
74/2015

Women outnumbering men in Australia

Australia's female population has hit 12 million, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

There are still 96,300 men to go to reach the 12 million milestone.

ABS Director of Demography, Beidar Cho said that as at 31 December 2015 Australia’s sex ratio was 99 males per 100 females.

"With the exception of Western Australia and the Northern Territory, all states and territories have more females than males. Western Australia has 102 males for every 100 females and the Northern Territory has 112 males for every 100 females," Ms Cho said.

The sex ratio of Australians varies depending on age and where people live. At birth there are around 106 males born for every 100 females in Australia, with the number of males first falling below the number of females at age 28.

Above age 70, the sex ratio reduces markedly due to higher male mortality. By the age of 80, Australia has 83 males for every 100 females; by 90, this drops to 55 males for every 100 females. By the time one reaches 100 or over there are only 32 males for every 100 females.

Overall, Australia's population grew by 326,100 people (1.4 per cent) to reach 23.9 million by the end of December 2015. The ABS population clock hit 24 million the following February.

Net overseas migration contributed 177,100 people to the population (0.5 per cent lower than the previous year), and accounted for 54 per cent of Australia's total population growth.

Net overseas migration was the major contributor to population change in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, whilst natural increase was the major contributor in all other states and territories.

Over the year, natural increase contributed 148,900 people to Australia's population, made up of 305,400 births (0.5 per cent higher than the previous year) and 156,400 deaths (2 per cent higher than the previous year).

Further information is available in Australian Demographic Statistics, December Quarter 2015 (cat. no. 3101.0).

For population estimates at the regional level, please see Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2014-15 (cat. no. 3218.0) and Population by Age and Sex, Regions of Australia, 2014 (cat. no. 3235.0), available for free download from www.abs.gov.au.


Population at end December Qtr 2015
Change over previous year
Change over previous year
PRELIMINARY DATA
'000
'000
%
New South Wales
7 670.7
106.1
1.4
Victoria
5 996.4
109.8
1.9
Queensland
4 808.8
59.7
1.3
South Australia
1 702.8
11.2
0.7
Western Australia
2 603.9
31.0
1.2
Tasmania
517.4
2.1
0.4
Northern Territory
244.0
0.8
0.3
Australian Capital Territory
393.0
5.3
1.4
Australia (a)
23 940.3
326.1
1.4
(a) Includes Other Territories comprising Jervis Bay Territory, Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

Media note:

  • When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
  • Media requests and interviews - contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070 (8.30am-5pm Mon-Fri).
  • Subscribe to our media release notification service to notify you of ABS media releases or publications upon their release.