This article is about the
demographic
features of the population of
Australia,
including
population density,
ethnicity, education level, health of
the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other
aspects of the population.
The
demographics of Australia covers basic
statistics, most populous cities, ethnicity and religious
affiliation. The population of Australia is growing at a rate of
1.7% per year, and, as of the end of 2008, was officially estimated
to be approximately 21.5 million. Australia is the 53rd most
populous country in the world and its population is concentrated in
urban areas.
Current Australia population trends
Australia's population has grown from an estimated population of
about 350,000 at the time of British Settlement in 1788 to a
current population of approximately 21,618,330, due to further
migration (see
Australian
Immigration) during the period since. Also due to immigration,
the European component of the population is declining as a
percentage, as it is in many other Western countries.
Although Australia has scarcely more than two persons per square
kilometre of total land area, this raw figure is highly misleading:
most of the continent is desert or semi-desert and of limited
agricultural value. In consequence, Australia is one of the world's
most urbanised countries.
Indigenous population
The earliest accepted timeline for the first arrivals of
indigenous Australians to the
continent of Australia places this
human
migration to at least 40,000 years ago most probably from the
islands of Indonesia and PNG.
These first inhabitants of Australia were originally
hunter-gatherer peoples, who over the course
of many succeeding generations diversified widely throughout the
continent and its nearby islands. Although their technical culture
remained static—depending on wood, bone, and stone tools and
weapons—their spiritual and social life was highly complex. Most
spoke several languages, and confederacies sometimes linked widely
scattered tribal groups. Aboriginal population density ranged from
one person per square mile along the coasts to one person per in
the arid interior. Food procurement was usually a matter for the
nuclear family, requiring an estimated 3 days of work per week.
There was little large game, and outside of some communities in the
more fertile south-east, they had no agriculture.
Australia
may have been sighted by Portuguese sailors in 1601, and Dutch
navigators landed on the forbidding coast of modern
Western
Australia
several
times during the 17th century. Captain James Cook claimed it for Great
Britain
in 1770. At that time, the indigenous
population was estimated to have been between 315,000 and 750,000,
divided into as many as 500 tribes speaking many different
languages. In the 2006 Census, 407,700 respondents declared they
were
Aboriginal, 29,512
declared they were
Torres Strait
Islander, and a further 17,811 declared they were both
Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders.
[10521]. After adjustments for undercount, the
indigenous population as of end June 2006 was estimated to be
517,200, representing about 2.5% of the population.
Since the end of
World War II, efforts
have been made both by the government and by the public to be more
responsive to Aboriginal rights and needs. Today, many tribal
Aborigines lead a settled traditional life in remote areas of
northern, central, and western Australia. In the south, where most
Aborigines are of mixed descent, most live in the cities.
General Demographic statistics
Much of the data that follows has been derived from the
CIA World Factbook and the
Australian Bureau of
Statistics, through
censuses.
Population
The following figures are ABS estimates for the resident population
of Australia, based on the 2001 and 2006 Censuses and other data.
- 21,262,641 (July 2009 - CIA World Factbook)
- country comparison to the world: 55
- 21,180,632 (end December 2007 - preliminary)
- 20,848,760 (end December 2006 - preliminary)
- 20,544,064 (end December 2005)
- 20,252,132 (end December 2004)
- 20,011,882 (end December 2003)
- 19,770,963 (end December 2002)
- 19,533,972 (end December 2001) [10522]
Age structure
- 0-14 years: 18.6%
- 15-64 years: 67.9%
- 65 years and over: 13.5% (2009 est.)
Median age
- Total: 37.3 years
- Male: 36.6 years
- Female: 38.1 years (2009 est.)
Population growth rate
As of the end of June 2008 the
population growth rate was 1.7%. This rate
was based on estimates of:
- one birth every 1 minute and 47 seconds,
- one death every 3 minutes and 47 seconds,
- a net gain of one international migrant every 2 minutes and 38
seconds leading to
- an overall total population increase of one person every 1
minutes and 31 seconds.
In 2009 the estimated rates were:
At the time of
Australian
Federation in 1901, the rate of
natural increase was 14.9 persons per
1,000 population. The rate increased to a peak of 17.4 per thousand
population in the years 1912, 1913 and 1914. During the
Great Depression, the rate
declined to a low of 7.1 per thousand population in 1934 and 1935.
Immediately after World War II the rate increased sharply as a
result of the beginning of the
Post-World War II baby boom and
the immigration of many young people who then had children in
Australia, with a plateau of rates of over 13.0 persons per 1,000
population for every year from 1946 to 1962.
There has been a fall in the rate of natural increase since 1962
due to falling
fertility. In 1971 the rate
of natural increase was 12.7 persons per 1,000 population; a decade
later it had fallen to 8.5. In 1996 the rate of natural increase
fell below seven for the first time, with the downward trend
continuing in the late 1990s. Population projections by the
Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate that continued low
fertility, combined with the increase in deaths from an ageing
population, will result in natural increase falling below zero
sometime in the mid 2030s. However in 2006 the
fertility rate rose to 1.81, one of the
highest rate in the
OECD,
arguably as a result of some pro-fertility state and federal
government campaigns, including the Federal Government's
baby bonus.
Since 1901, the crude death rate has fallen from about 12.2 deaths
per 1,000 population to 6.4 deaths per 1,000 population in
2006.
International comparison
For the year ended 30 June 2008, Australia's population growth rate
was 1.7 percent per year, almost 50 percent higher than the world
average of 1.2 percent per year.
- 0.1% Japan
- 0.3% Greece and Sweden
- 0.6% China, Thailand and France
- 0.8% Canada
- 0.9% United States
- 1.0% New Zealand
- 1.2% World Average
- 1.6% India
- 1.7% Australia
- 2.2% Papua New Guinea
Urbanization
- Urbanization population: 89% of total population (2008)
- Rate of urbanization: 1.2% annual rate of change
(2005-2010)
Sex ratio
- At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
- Under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
- 65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female
- Total population: 1 male(s)/female (2009)
Infant mortality rate
- Total: 4.75 deaths/1,000 live births
- country comparison to the world: 196
- Male: 5.08 deaths/1,000 live births
- Female: 4.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
- Total: 81.63 years
- country comparison to the world: 7
- Male: 79.25 years
- Female: 84.14 years
Total fertility rate
- 1.969 children born/woman (2008)
For more detailed regionwise TFR details see
Birth rate and
fertility rate in Australia.
- country comparison to the world: 159
HIV/AIDS
- Adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2007 est.)
- People living with HIV/AIDS: 18,000 (2007 est.)-majority in
NSW.
- Deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.) [10523]
Country of birth
Countries of birth of Australian estimated resident population,
2006.
Source:Australian Bureau of Statistics
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in mid-2006 there
were 4,956,863 residents who were born outside Australia,
representing 24% of the total population. (table 6.6) The
Australian-resident population comprises people born in these
countries:
| Country of Birth |
Estimated Resident Population |
|
1,153,264 |
|
476,719 |
|
220,469 |
| (Excluding SARs) |
203,143 |
|
180,352 |
|
153,579 |
|
135,619 |
|
125,849 |
|
118,816 |
|
114,921 |
|
103,947 |
|
86,950 |
|
86,599 |
|
76,303 |
|
70,908 |
| and |
68,879 |
|
67,952 |
|
64,832 |
|
59,221 |
|
58,815 |
|
57,338 |
|
56,540 |
|
49,819 |
|
49,141 |
|
48,978 |
|
48,577 |
|
40,400 |
|
38,782 |
|
37,556 |
|
33,198 |
|
32,747 |
|
31,258 |
|
29,469 |
|
29,282 |
|
28,175 |
|
27,328 |
|
26,302 |
|
26,204 |
|
25,659 |
|
23,065 |
|
21,436 |
|
21,149 |
|
21,142 |
|
21,140 |
|
20,214 |
|
20,054 |
|
19,768 |
|
19,375 |
|
17,822 |
|
17,382 |
For more information about immigration see
Australian Immigration.
Ancestry of Australian population
For
generations, the vast majority of both colonial-era settlers and
post-Federation immigrants came from the United Kingdom
and Ireland
, although
the gold rushes
also drew migrants from other countries. Since the end of
World War II, Australia's population
more than doubled, spurred by large-scale European immigration
during the immediate post-war decades. At this time, the
White Australia Policy discouraged
non-European immigration.
Abolition of the White Australia Policy in the mid-1970s led to a
significant increase in non-European immigration, mostly from Asia
and the Middle East. About 90% of Australia's population is of
European descent. Over 8% of
the population is of
Asian descent
(predominantly Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino and Indian). The total
indigenous population is estimated to be about 520,000 individuals,
including people of mixed descent.. The population of Queensland
also includes descendants of South Sea Islanders brought over for
indentured servitude in the 19th
century.
In the 2006 Australian Census participants were asked "what is the
person's ancestry?" and were able to give up to two answers.
Proportionate to the Australian resident population, the most
commonly nominated ancestries were:
Although only 0.58% of respondents indicated Aboriginal ancestry in
response to the 'ancestry' question, an earlier question on the
same 2006 Census form specifically asked about Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander origins. 2.3% of respondents indicated
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origins, most of these
Aboriginal
[10524]. After adjustments for undercount, the
indigenous population as of end June 2006 was estimated to be
517,200, representing about 2.5% of the population.
Religion and belief
Christianity is the predominant faith
of Australia. According to the 2006 census, the largest religious
denomination is the
Roman Catholic; 25.8% of
the population claimed affiliation. The next largest is the
Anglican faith, at
18.7%. Members of other Christian denominations accounted for 19.4%
of the population.
Minority religions practiced in Australia include
Buddhism (2.1% of the population),
Islam (1.7%), and
Judaism (0.4%). Two percent of the population stated
a different religion, which includes
Sikhism and Indigenous beliefs, and
18.7% claimed
no religion,
while 11.2% did not respond.
The category of "no religion" includes non-theistic beliefs such as
humanism,
atheism,
agnosticism and
rationalism. A fifth sub-category is "No
Religion - nfd" ("nfd" = no further definition). The Australian
Bureau of Statistics does not provide statistics on how many people
belong in each sub-category on "No Religion".
The
Australian Bureau of
Statistics 2001 Census Dictionary statement on religious
affiliation states the purpose for gathering such
information:
Data on religious affiliation are used for such purposes as
planning educational facilities, aged persons' care and other
social services provided by religion-based organisations; the
location of church buildings; the assigning of chaplains to
hospitals, prisons, armed services and universities; the allocation
of time on public radio and other media; and sociological
research.
As in many Western countries, the level of active participation in
church worship is lower than would be indicated by the proportion
of the population identifying themselves as Christian; weekly
attendance at church services is about 1.5 million, or about 7.5%
of the population.
Languages
English is the
de facto national language of Australia and is
spoken by the vast majority of the population.
The most commonly spoken languages other than English in Australia
are
Italian,
Greek,
German,
Vietnamese,
Tagalog,
Chinese languages,
Indian languages,
Arabic,
Macedonian and
Croatian, as well as numerous
Australian Aboriginal
languages. Australia's hearing-impaired community uses
Australian Deaf Sign Language.
| Language |
Speakers |
| Only English |
15,581,333 |
| Italian |
316,895 |
| Greek |
252,226 |
| Cantonese |
244,553 |
| Arabic |
243,662 |
| Mandarin |
220,600 |
| Vietnamese |
194,863 |
| Spanish |
98,001 |
| Filipino + Tagalog |
92,331 |
| German |
75,634 |
| Hindi |
70,011 |
| Macedonian |
67,835 |
| Croatian |
63,612 |
| Australian Aboriginal Languages |
55,705 |
| Korean |
54,623 |
| Turkish |
53,857 |
| Polish |
53,389 |
| Serbian |
52,534 |
| French |
43,216 |
| Indonesian |
42,036 |
| Maltese |
36,514 |
| Russian |
36,502 |
| Dutch |
36,183 |
| Japanese |
35,111 |
| Tamil |
32,700 |
| Sinhalese |
29,055 |
| Samoan |
28,525 |
| Portuguese |
25,779 |
| Khmer |
24,715 |
| Assyrian |
23,526 |
| Punjabi |
23,164 |
| Persian |
22,841 |
| Hungarian |
21,565 |
| Bengali |
20,223 |
| Urdu |
19,288 |
| Afrikaans |
16,806 |
| Bosnian |
15,743 |
|
Literacy
- Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
- Total population: 99%
- Male: 99%
- Female: 99% (2003 est.)
Education expenditure
- 4.5% of GDP (2005)
- country comparison to the world: 55
Nationality
- noun: Australian(s)
- adjective: Australian
Historical population estimates
Note that population estimates in the table below do not include
the Aboriginal population before 1961. Estimates of Aboriginal
population prior to European settlement range from 300,000 to one
million, with archaeological finds indicating a sustainable
population of around 750,000.
| Year |
Population |
Five Year
% change |
| 1788 |
859 |
- |
| 1798 |
4,588 |
- |
| 1808 |
10,263 |
- |
| 1818 |
25,859 |
- |
| 1828 |
58,197 |
- |
| 1838 |
151,868 |
- |
| 1848 |
332,328 |
- |
| 1858 |
1,050,828 |
- |
| 1868 |
1,539,552 |
- |
| 1878 |
2,092,164 |
- |
| 1888 |
2,981,677 |
- |
| 1898 |
3,664,715 |
- |
| 1901 |
3,788,123 |
- |
| 1906 |
4,059,083 |
7.2 |
| 1911 |
4,489,545 |
10.6 |
| 1916 |
4,943,173 |
10.1 |
| 1921 |
5,455,136 |
10.4 |
| 1926 |
6,056,360 |
11.0 |
| 1931 |
6,526,485 |
7.8 |
| 1936 |
6,778,372 |
3.4 |
| 1941 |
7,109,898 |
4.9 |
| 1946 |
7,465,157 |
5.0 |
| 1951 |
8,421,775 |
12.8 |
| 1956 |
9,425,563 |
11.9 |
| 1961 |
10,548,267 |
11.9 |
| 1966 |
11,599,498 |
10.0 |
| 1971 |
13,067,265 |
12.7 |
| 1976 |
14,033,083 |
7.4 |
| 1981 |
14,923,260 |
6.3 |
| 1986 |
16,018,350 |
7.3 |
| 1991 |
17,284,036 |
12.8 |
| 1996 |
18,310,714 |
5.9 |
| 2001 |
19,413,240 |
6.0 |
| 2006 |
20,848,760 |
7.4 |
See also
General
Cities
Ethnicities
Notes
References
- Australian Bureau of Statistics, 3101.0 Australian Demographic Statistics
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