• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

MAIN FEATURES

• At June 2017, the median age of the Australian population (the age at which half the population is older and half is younger) was 37.3 years, which is unchanged from June 2012. The median age of males at June 2017 was 36.4 years while the median age of females was 38.1 years.

• Hobart had the oldest median age of all capital cities, at 39.8 years, ahead of Adelaide at 38.7 years. Darwin was the youngest capital city with a median age of 33.6 years, followed by the Australian Capital Territory at 35.0 years.

• At June 2017, there were 193,900 more females than males residing in Australia, with 12.2 million males and 12.4 million females. The sex ratio (the number of males per hundred females) was 98.4. The sex ratio of all greater capital cities combined (98.3) was lower than for the rest of Australia (98.7).

• With the exception of New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, the ratio of males to females was lower in the capital city than in the rest of the state or territory. Adelaide (96.7) had the lowest sex ratio of all capital cities, while Darwin (111.5) had the highest. Darwin was the only capital city where males outnumbered females.

SEX RATIOS AND MEDIAN AGES - Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (GCCSAs), 2017
	Sex Ratio	Median Age(a)
GCCSA	males per 100 females	years
Greater Sydney	98.7	35.8
Greater Melbourne	97.7	35.6
Greater Brisbane	98.1	35.3
Greater Adelaide	96.7	38.7
Greater Perth	99.3	36.1
Greater Hobart	99.2	39.8
Greater Darwin	111.5	33.6
Australian Capital Territory	98.0	35.0
Total Greater Capital Cities	98.3	35.9
Total Australia	98.4	37.3
(a) The age at which half the population is older and half is younger.

• The Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2s) with the highest median ages were Tea Gardens - Hawks Nest (62.4 years) and Tuncurry (60.8) in New South Wales, Bribie Island (59.6) in Queensland and Sussex Inlet - Berrara (58.9) on the New South Wales south coast. These areas are all popular retirement destinations.

• Many of the SA2s with the youngest median ages also had large populations of students or military personnel, including Acton (21.3 years) and Duntroon (21.9) in the Australian Capital Territory, or high proportions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, such as Northern Peninsula (22.4) and Yarrabah (22.7) in Queensland.

SA2s WITH OLDEST AND YOUNGEST MEDIAN AGES(a), 2017
		Median Age
SA2	GCCSA	years
OLDEST MEDIAN AGES
Tea Gardens - Hawks Nest	Rest of NSW	62.4
Tuncurry	Rest of NSW	60.8
Bribie Island	Greater Brisbane	59.6
Sussex Inlet - Berrara	Rest of NSW	58.9
Cooloola	Rest of Qld	58.5
YOUNGEST MEDIAN AGES
Acton	Australian Capital Territory	21.3
Duntroon	Australian Capital Territory	21.9
Northern Peninsula	Rest of Qld	22.4
Yarrabah	Rest of Qld	22.7
St Lucia	Greater Brisbane	23.9
(a) Excludes SA2s with a population of less than 1,000 at June 2017.

• The SA2 with the highest sex ratio was Howard Springs (294.1 males per 100 females) in Darwin, home of the Darwin Correctional Centre. This was followed by East Pilbara (274.7) and Ashburton (245.9), which are areas with significant mining activity in Western Australia.

• The lowest sex ratio was in the SA2 of Deakin (81.1) in the Australian Capital Territory, followed by Woollahra (83.4) and Castle Hill - East (84.0) both in Sydney and Mosman Park - Peppermint Grove (85.6) in Perth.

SA2s WITH HIGHEST AND LOWEST SEX RATIOS(a), 2017
		Sex Ratio
SA2	GCCSA	males per 100 females
HIGHEST SEX RATIOS
Howard Springs	Greater Darwin	294.1
East Pilbara	Rest of WA	274.7
Ashburton	Rest of WA	245.9
Wacol	Greater Brisbane	241.2
Chidlow	Greater Perth	238.7
LOWEST SEX RATIOS
Deakin	Australian Capital Territory	81.1
Woollahra	Greater Sydney	83.4
Castle Hill - East	Greater Sydney	84.0
Mosman Park - Peppermint Grove	Greater Perth	85.6
Page	Australian Capital Territory	85.8
(a) Excludes SA2s with a population of less than 1,000 at June 2017.

• The following graph (called a 'population pyramid') compares the age/sex structure of the population residing in greater capital cities with the population residing in the rest of Australia. Each dark bar illustrates the percentage contribution of a sex and five-year age group to the total population of capital cities, while each light bar illustrates the percentage contribution to the rest of Australia's population. For example, the graph shows that in June 2017, males aged 0 to 4 years made up 3.4% of the population of the combined capital cities compared with 3.1% of the rest of Australia.

• A distinctive feature in the age distribution of Australia at June 2017 was the higher representation of people aged 20 to 44 years residing in capital cities. People in this age group represented 38% of the combined capital city population, compared with 30% of the population in the rest of Australia. This reflects the attraction of younger adults to education, employment and other opportunities in capital cities. In contrast, older adults aged 45 years and over made up a smaller proportion of the population in capital cities (37%) than in the rest of Australia (45%).

• The population pyramid also highlights differences between the sexes. For June 2017, the most notable feature was the higher proportions of females than males in the older age groups. This was evident in both capital cities and in the rest of Australia. The difference was most marked among the population aged 85 years and over, and is attributable to the longer life expectancy of female Australians.

AGE AND SEX DISTRIBUTION (%), Greater capital cities and rest of Australia - 30 June 2017

• In 2017, 16.55 million people (two thirds of the population) resided in greater capital cities and 8.05 million (one third) resided in the rest of Australia. Females outnumbered males in both capital cities (8.35 million females to 8.21 million males) and the rest of the country (4.05 million females to 4.00 million males).

AGE AND SEX DISTRIBUTION ('000), Greater capital cities and rest of Australia - 30 June 2017