NEW SOUTH WALES


TOTAL POPULATION

The estimated resident population of New South Wales (NSW) at 30 June 2007 was 6.89 million, an increase of 71,900 people (1.1%) since 30 June 2006.

At June 2007, the Sydney Statistical Division (SD) had the largest share of the state's population (62.9%). The remainder of NSW's population was concentrated in the surrounding coastal SDs of Hunter (9.1%) to the north, and Illawarra (6.1%) to the south.


AGE AND SEX DISTRIBUTION

There is a marked difference in the age structure of the Sydney SD compared with the remainder of NSW. At June 2007, the Sydney SD had higher proportions of people in the five-year age groups from 20-24 to 40-44 years. Together, people aged 20-44 years accounted for 38.5% of the Sydney SD population, compared with 30.2% of residents in the remainder of NSW. This lower representation of people aged 20-44 years may reflect young adults migrating out of regional areas to pursue work, education and other opportunities.

MEDIAN AGE

The median age of the NSW population was 36.9 years at June 2007. Reflecting their longer life expectancy, the median age for females (37.7 years) was higher than for males (36.2 years).

At June 2007, residents of the Sydney SD had a median age of 35.6 years, the lowest for all NSW SDs. The Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Auburn (A) (31.4 years), Campbelltown (C) (32.0 years), Blacktown (C) (32.1 years), and Liverpool (C) (32.3 years) in the city's west and south-west had the youngest median ages. The highest median ages were recorded in the northern LGAs of Ku-ring-gai (A) (41.6 years), Pittwater (A) and Hunters Hill (A) (both 41.0 years). Only 15 of the 43 LGAs in the Sydney SD had median ages above the state as a whole.

For SDs in the remainder of NSW, the Murrumbidgee SD (36.4 years) in the state's south-west had the lowest median age at June 2007 while the Mid-North Coast SD (43.9 years) recorded the highest median age. By LGA, the lowest median ages were recorded in the inland regional centres of Wagga Wagga (C) (33.2 years), Bourke (A) (33.5 years), and Armidale Dumaresq (A) (33.8 years). The highest median ages occurred in coastal and Hunter LGAs, including Great Lakes (A) (50.0 years), Eurobodalla (A) (47.9 years), Nambucca (A) (47.1 years) and Gloucester (A) (47.0 years). Most LGAs (90 of 110) in the remainder of NSW had median ages above the state as a whole.


CHILDREN (UNDER 15 YEARS OF AGE)

Nearly one in five NSW residents were under 15 years of age at June 2007, accounting for 19.4% (1.33 million people) of the state's population.

Within the Sydney SD, the highest proportions of children at June 2007 were recorded in LGAs in the city's west and south-west. Camden (A) had the highest proportion of children with nearly one-quarter (24.9%) of its population aged under 15 years. This was followed by Liverpool (C) (24.1%), Blacktown (C) (24.0%), Wollondilly (A) (23.6%), and Campbelltown (C) (23.0%). The lowest proportions of children were recorded in the LGAs of Sydney (C) (7.1%) and North Sydney (A) (9.6%), which include Sydney's central business districts.

For the remainder of NSW, the inland LGAs of Bourke (A) (25.5%), Hay (A) (24.4%), and Moree Plains (A) (24.1%) had the highest proportions of children at June 2007. In contrast, the lowest proportions of children were recorded in the coastal or Hunter LGAs of Great Lakes (A) (15.6%), Newcastle (C) (16.8%), Eurobodalla (A) (17.0%), Gloucester (A) (17.6%), and Port Macquarie-Hastings (A) (17.8%).

WORKING AGE POPULATION (AGED 15-64 YEARS)

At June 2007, over two-thirds of the NSW population (67.0% or 4.61 million people) were of working age (15-64 years). Only the Sydney SD had a higher proportion of its population of working age than the state as a whole (68.8% or 2.98 million people). The SD with the lowest proportion was the Mid-North Coast, with 61.4% (184,100 people) of residents in this age group.

Three out of four LGAs in the Sydney SD had a higher proportion of people aged 15-64 years than the state as a whole. The inner-city LGAs of Sydney (C) (85.1%), North Sydney (A) (78.5%) and Leichhardt (A) (76.5%) had the highest proportions of working-aged people in the Sydney SD. The lowest proportions were in the Central Coast LGAs of Wyong (A) (61.1%), Gosford (C) (63.0%) and Ku-ring-gai (A) (63.4%) in the north.

In the remainder of NSW, only ten of the 110 LGAs had higher proportions of working-aged people than the state as a whole, including Snowy River (A) (70.1%) in the south-east, Central Darling (A) (69.8%) in the far west, Queanbeyan (C) (69.7%) near the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Byron (A) (69.4%) on the far north coast. The LGAs with the lowest proportion of working-aged people at June 2007 were Great Lakes (A) (56.6%) in the Hunter, Wellington (A) (58.2%) in central NSW and Coolamon (A) (58.9%) in the south west.


PEOPLE AGED 65 YEARS AND OVER

At June 2007, 942,100 people or 13.7% of NSW residents were aged 65 years and over. The SD with the highest proportion of residents of this age was the Mid-North Coast (19.5% or 58,400 people). Only the Sydney SD had a proportion below the state level (12.1% or 524,100 people).

Within the Sydney SD, only 17 of the 43 LGAs recorded higher proportions people aged 65 years and over than the state as a whole. The LGAs with the highest proportions included Hunters Hill (A) (18.2%), Wyong (A) (18.0%) and Gosford (C) (17.9%). The lowest proportions were in the outer suburban LGAs of Campbelltown (C) (7.6%) and Blacktown (C) (8.1%), and Sydney (C) (7.9%) in the inner city.

In the remainder of NSW, over half (58.4%) of residents aged 65 years and over lived in coastal LGAs (those with a boundary adjoining the sea). At June 2007, LGAs with the highest proportions of older people included Great Lakes (A) (27.8%), Eurobodalla (A) (23.1%), Port Macquarie-Hastings (A) (22.7%) and Nambucca (A) (22.5%). LGAs with the lowest proportions were Queanbeyan (C) (9.1%) and Palerang (A) (9.7%), which both adjoin the ACT, and Singleton (A) (9.3%) in the Hunter region.

SEX RATIO

There were 98.1 males for every 100 females in NSW at June 2007. Males outnumbered females in all five-year age groups up to 25-29 years, with the highest sex ratio recorded for those aged 0-4 years (105.7 males per 100 females). For age groups between 30-34 years and 60-64 years the sex ratio ranged between 97.8 and 99.8. From 65-69 years onwards the sex ratio declined rapidly due to the longer life expectancy of females. People aged 85 years and over recorded the lowest sex ratio at 48.7 males for every 100 females.

At June 2007, there were more females than males in nearly all LGAs (38 of 43) in the Sydney SD. The highest sex ratios in the Sydney SD occurred in Sydney (C) (114.5) and Auburn (A) (108.5) while the lowest sex ratios were in Mosman (A) (85.1) and Woollahra (A) (88.5).

For the remainder of NSW, inland LGAs generally had higher sex ratios compared with those along the coast. The highest sex ratios occurred in Junee (A) (132.6) in the Murrumbidgee region and Walgett (A) (129.9) in north-western NSW. The lowest sex ratios were in Armidale Dumaresq (A) (93.6) in northern NSW and Wingecarribee (A) (93.8) in the Illawarra region.