NEW SOUTH WALES


Total population

Age and sex distribution

Median age

Children (under 15 years of age)

Working age population (aged 15-64 years)

People aged 65 years and over

Sex ratio


TOTAL POPULATION

At 30 June 2009, the estimated resident population of New South Wales (NSW) reached 7.13 million, an increase of 427,200 people (6.4%, or 1.2% per year on average) since 30 June 2004. Almost two-thirds (63.1%) of the state's population resided in the Sydney Statistical Division (SD), a proportion that has remained stable since June 1996. The remainder of NSW's population was concentrated in the coastal SDs of Hunter (9.0% of the state) to the north of Sydney and Illawarra (6.0%) to the south.

References to Local Government Areas (LGAs) in this commentary exclude those with populations of less than 2,000 at June 2009.

AGE AND SEX DISTRIBUTION

The age distribution of the Sydney SD is markedly different from that of the remainder of NSW, most notably in the age groups 20 to 24 years through to 40 to 44 years. This difference between the age distribution in the capital city SD and the remainder of NSW was evident for both males and females. At June 2009, people aged 20 to 44 years accounted for 38.7% of the total Sydney population, compared with 30.2% of residents in the remainder of NSW. This reflects a pattern of people in these age groups moving to Sydney to pursue education, work and other opportunities.

Conversely, 36.0% of the Sydney SD population were aged 45 years and over, compared with 43.6% of the population in the remainder of NSW.

MEDIAN AGE

Between June 2004 and June 2009, the median age of the NSW population increased from 36.5 years to 37.0 years. Reflecting their longer life expectancy, the median age for females (37.8 years) was 1.7 years higher than males (36.1) at June 2009.

Sydney SD had the lowest median age (35.5 years) of all NSW SDs while the Mid-North Coast (44.3) and Far West (42.5) SDs had the highest. Eight of the ten NSW LGAs with the youngest median ages were located within the Sydney SD. Auburn (A) had the lowest (30.9), followed by Blacktown (C) (32.0), Campbelltown (C) (32.1) and Liverpool (C) (32.2), all in western or south-western Sydney. The oldest median ages within the Sydney SD were in the northern LGAs of Ku-ring-gai (A) (41.0), Pittwater (A) (40.9) and Gosford (C) (40.9) on the Central Coast.

Within the remainder of NSW, LGAs with the lowest median age were the regional centres of Wagga Wagga (C) (32.7 years), Armidale Dumaresq (A) (33.5) and Bourke (A) (33.8). The coastal areas of Great Lakes (A) (50.6), Eurobodalla (A) (48.7) and Nambucca (A) (48.2) had the highest median ages of all NSW LGAs. The next highest median age in the remainder of NSW was recorded in Gloucester (A) (47.8) in the Hunter region, followed by Berrigan (A) (47.0) in the Riverina region.

CHILDREN (UNDER 15 YEARS OF AGE)

At June 2009, there were 1.35 million children under 15 years of age in NSW, with boys outnumbering girls by 33,400. From June 2004 to June 2009, all SDs in NSW experienced a decline in the proportion of their population aged less than 15 years. Overall, the proportion declined from 19.8% to 18.9% during this period. There was a higher proportion of children in regional NSW (19.2%) than in the Sydney SD (18.8%), with the highest proportion of children recorded for the North Western SD (21.6%).

Within the Sydney SD, the highest proportions of children were recorded in the outer south-west and western LGAs of Camden (A) (23.9%), Blacktown (C) (23.3%), Liverpool (C) (23.1%) and Wollondilly (A) (22.7%).

In the remainder of NSW, areas with the highest proportion of children were the inland LGAs of Bourke (A) (24.4%), Hay (A) (23.4%), Bogan (A) (23.3%) and Singleton (A) (23.1%).

WORKING AGE POPULATION (AGED 15-64 YEARS)

At June 2009, over two-thirds (67.2%) of the NSW population were of working age (15 to 64 years), a slight increase since June 2004 (66.8%). Only the Sydney SD had a higher proportion of working aged people (69.1%) than the state as a whole.

Within the Sydney SD, approximately three out of every four LGAs had a higher proportion of people aged 15 to 64 years than NSW as a whole. The twelve NSW LGAs with the highest proportion of working aged people were all in the Sydney SD, including the inner-city LGA of Sydney (C) (84.8%), and nearby North Sydney (A) (77.7%) and Leichhardt (A) (76.1%).

In the remainder of NSW, only ten of the 110 LGAs had higher proportions of working-aged people than the state total, including Queanbeyan (C) (70.2%) near the Australian Capital Territory, Byron (A) (70.1%) on the far north coast, and Cental Darling (A) (70.0%) in far west NSW.

PEOPLE AGED 65 YEARS AND OVER

At June 2009, there were 988,400 people aged 65 years and older living in NSW. They represented 13.9% of the total NSW population, an increase of 94,500 people since June 2004. The SD with the highest proportion of residents aged 65 years and over was the Mid-North Coast (20.0%). Only the Sydney SD (12.2%) had proportionally fewer people aged 65 years and over than NSW as a whole.

Just over a third of the 43 LGAs in the Sydney SD exceeded the statewide proportion of people aged 65 years and over. Hunters Hill (A) (18.1%) in lower northern Sydney, and Gosford (C) (18.1%) and Wyong (A) (18.0%) on the Central Coast, had the highest proportions of people aged 65 years and over.

Reflecting the older age profile of the remainder of NSW, more than three-quarters of its 110 LGAs had proportions of older people above that of the state as a whole. Over half (58.2%) of the residents aged 65 years and over in the remainder of NSW lived in 21 coastal LGAs (those with a boundary adjoining the sea). At June 2009, as in the previous three years, the coastal LGAs of Great Lakes (A) (28.6%) in the Hunter region and Eurobodalla (A) (23.8%) in south-eastern NSW had the highest proportion of residents aged 65 and over in the state. Berrigan (A) (23.2%), an inland LGA in the Riverina region, also had a high proportion as did Port Macquarie-Hastings (A) (23.2%) and Nambucca (23.1%) on the NSW north coast.

SEX RATIO

At June 2009, there were 98.3 males for every 100 females in NSW, a ratio which has remained relatively steady since 2004. Males outnumbered females in each of the five-year age groups up to and including 25 to 29 years, with the highest sex ratio at 15 to 19 years (106.4 males for every 100 females). Females outnumbered males in all remaining five-year age groups. Due to the longer life expectancy of females, there was a rapid decrease in the sex ratios for age groups from 65 to 69 years onwards.

There were more females than males in 37 of the 43 LGAs in the Sydney SD. The four LGAs with the lowest sex ratios in NSW were Mosman (A) (85.2), Woollahra (A) (89.4), Leichhardt (A) (91.0) and Wyong (A) (92.8), all of which are in the Sydney SD. Of the small number of LGAs in the Sydney SD with more males than females, Sydney (C) had one of the ten highest sex ratios in the state, with 114.1 males for every 100 females. The next largest sex ratio was in Auburn (A) (108.2) in central western Sydney.

In the remainder of NSW, nine of the ten LGAs with the highest sex ratios in NSW were all inland LGAs. Almost three quarters of inland LGAs had more males than females, led by Walgett (A) (131.3) in north western NSW, and Junee (A) (128.5) and Carrathool (A) (123.7) both in the Murrumbidgee region. In contrast, only two coastal LGAs had a sex ratio over 100: Kempsey (A) (102.8) and Wollongong (C) (100.4). The LGAs with the lowest sex ratios in the remainder of NSW were in Wingecarribee (A) (92.9) in the Illawarra region and the neighbouring LGAs of Bellingen (A) (93.7) and Armidale Dumaresq (A) (93.8) in northern NSW.