Demographics of Australia

Demographics of Australia
Indicator	Rank	Measure
Population
Population	50th	22,851,133
Economy
GDP (PPP) per capita	16th	$32,938
GNP	18th	$35,900
Unemployment rate	↓ 57th	4.30%
CO2 emissions	12th	18t†
Electricity consumption	16th	200.70TWh
Economic freedom	3rd	82.5
Politics
Human Development Index	2nd	0.937
Political freedom	1st (equal)*	1
Corruption (A higher score means less (perceived) corruption.)	↓ 8th	8.7
Press freedom	18th	5.38
Society
Literacy Rate	21st	99%
Broadband uptake	17th	13.8%
Beer consumption	5th	4.49 L†
Health
Life Expectancy	5th	81.2
Birth rate	148th	13.8‡
Fertility rate	137th	1.969††
Infant mortality	202nd	4.57‡‡
Death rate	122nd	7.56‡
Suicide Rate	33rd	♂ 20.1†‡ ♀ 5.3†‡
HIV/AIDS rate	108th	0.10%
Notes
↓ indicates rank is in reverse order    (e.g. 1st is lowest) † per capita ‡ per 1000 people †† per woman ‡‡ per 1000 live births †‡ 100,000 people per year ♂ indicates males, ♀ indicates females

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Australia, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religions, and other aspects of the population.

The demographics of Australia covers basic statistics, most populous cities, ethnicity and religion. The population of Australia is estimated to be 22,851,133 as of 16 February 2012.^[1] Australia is the 50th most populous country in the world. Its population is concentrated mainly in urban areas.

Australia's population has grown from an estimated population of about 350,000 at the time of British settlement in 1788 due to numerous waves of 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.

Australia has scarcely more than two persons per square kilometre of total land area. With 89% of its population living in urban areas, Australia is one of the world's most urbanised countries.^[2] The life expectancy of Australia in 1999–2001 was 79.7 years, among the highest in the world.

Contents 1 Indigenous population 2 General Demographic statistics 2.1 Population 2.2 States and territories 2.3 Age structure 2.4 Median age 2.5 Population growth rate 2.6 Urbanisation 2.7 Sex ratio 2.8 Infant mortality rate 2.9 Life expectancy at birth 2.10 Total fertility rate 2.11 HIV/AIDS 2.12 Country of birth 2.13 Ancestry of Australian population 2.14 Religion 2.15 Languages 2.16 Literacy 2.17 Education expenditure 2.18 Nationality 3 Historical population estimates 4 See also 4.1 General 4.2 Cities 4.3 Ethnicities 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links

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 Papua New Guinea.^[3]

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 35 square miles (91 km²) 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 1701, and Dutch navigators landed on the forbidding coast of modern Western Australia several times during the 17th century. Captain James Cook claimed the east coast for Great Britain in 1770, the west coast was later settled by Britain also. At that time, the indigenous population was estimated to have been between 315,000 and 750,000,^[4] 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.^[5] 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.^[4]

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

23,043,000 (16 February 2012)^[7]

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)

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)^[8]

States and territories

State/territory	Land area (km²)	Population (2006)	Population density (/km²)	% of population in capital
Australian Capital Territory	2,358	344,200	137.53	99.6%
New South Wales	800,642	6,967,200	8.44	63%
Victoria	227,416	5,297,600	23.87	71%
Queensland	1,730,648	4,279,400	2.26	46%
South Australia	983,482	1,601,800	1.56	73.5%
Western Australia	2,529,875	2,163,200	0.79	73.4%
Tasmania	68,401	498,200	7.08	41%
Northern Territory	1,349,129	219,900	0.15	54%

Age structure

0–14 years: 19.3%

15–64 years: 67.5%

65 years and over: 13.2% (2008 estimate)^[9]

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 2009 the population growth rate was 2.1%.^[10] This rate was based on estimates of:^[11]

• one birth every 1 minute and 45 seconds,
• one death every 3 minutes and 40 seconds,
• a net gain of one international migrant every 1 minutes and 51 seconds leading to
• an overall total population increase of one person every 1 minutes and 11 seconds.

In 2009 the estimated rates were:

• Birth rate – 12.47 births/1,000 population (Rank 164)
• Mortality rate – 6.68 deaths/1,000 population (Rank 146)
• Net migration rate – 6.23 migrant(s)/1,000 population. (Rank 15)

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.^[9] (ppt)

Urbanisation

Urbanisation population: 89% of total population (2008)

Rate of urbanisation: 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: 70

Male: 79.25 years

Female: 84.15 years

Total fertility rate

1.969 children born/woman (2008)^[12]

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.)

Deaths: less than 200 (2003 est.)^[13]

Country of birth

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.^[14] The Australian-resident population comprises people born in these countries:

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics[14]
Country of Birth	Estimated Resident Population
United Kingdom	1,153,264
New Zealand	476,719
Italy	220,469
People's Republic of China (Excluding SARs and Taiwan Province)	203,143
Vietnam	180,352
India	153,579
Philippines	135,619
Greece	125,849
South Africa	118,816
Germany	114,921
Malaysia	103,947
Netherlands	86,950
Lebanon	86,599
Hong Kong (SAR of China)	76,303
Sri Lanka	70,908
Serbia and Montenegro	68,879
Indonesia	67,952
United States	64,832
Poland	59,221
Fiji	58,815
Ireland	57,338
Croatia	56,540
Singapore	49,819
South Korea	49,141
Malta	48,978
Macedonia	48,577
Iraq	40,400
Egypt	38,782
Turkey	37,556
Canada	33,198
Thailand	32,747
Taiwan	31,258
Japan	29,469
Sudan	29,282
Cambodia	28,175
Bosnia and Herzegovina	27,328
Papua New Guinea	26,302
Chile	26,204
Iran	25,659
Hungary	23,065
Russia	21,436
Cyprus	21,149
Zimbabwe	21,142
Afghanistan	21,140
Austria	20,214
France	20,054
Pakistan	19,768
Mauritius	19,375
Samoa	17,822
Portugal	17,382

For more information about immigration see Immigration to Australia.

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).^[15] The total indigenous population is estimated to be about 520,000 individuals, including people of mixed descent.^[4] 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 residents were asked to describe their ancestry, in which up to two could be nominated. Proportionate to the Australian resident population, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:^[15]

At the 2006 Census 455,026 people (or 2.3% of the total Australian population) reported they were of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin.^[5]

Religion

Australia is a religiously diverse country and has no official religion.

Christianity is the predominant faith of Australia. According to the 2006 census, the largest religious denomination is Roman Catholicism, of which 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%), Hinduism (0.7%) 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.^[16]

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.^[17] Christian charitable organisations, hospitals and schools play a prominent role in welfare and education services. The Catholic education system is the second biggest sector after government schools, with more than 650 000 students (and around 21 per cent of all secondary school enrolments). The Anglican Church educates around 105,000 students and the Uniting Church has around 48 schools.^[18]

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, Spanish, Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese languages, Indian languages, Arabic and Croatian, as well as numerous Australian Aboriginal languages.^[19] 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	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 (Aramaic)	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.^[20]

Historic population (Estimated) [21][22]
Year	Indigenous population
pre 1788	750,000 to 1,000,000 [23]
Year	Non Indigenous population
1788	8590
1798	4,5880
1808	10,2630
1818	25,8590
1828	58,1970
1838	151,8680
1848	332,3280
1858	1,050,8280
1868	1,539,5520
1878	2,092,1640
1888	2,981,6770
1898	3,664,7150
Year	Total population
1901	3,788,1230
1906	4,059,0830
1911	4,489,5450
1916	4,943,1730
1921	5,455,1360
1926	6,056,3600
1931	6,526,4850
1936	6,778,3720
1941	7,109,8980
1946	7,465,1570
1951	8,421,7750
1956	9,425,5630
1961	10,548,2670
1966	11,599,4980
1971	13,067,2650
1976	14,033,0830
1981	14,923,2600
1986	16,018,3500
1991	17,284,0360
1996	18,310,7140
2001	19,413,2400
2006	20,848,7600

See also

General

• Health care in Australia
• Immigration to Australia
• List of most common surnames in Oceania
• List of cities in Australia by population
• Homelessness in Australia
• Census in Australia

Cities

• Demographics of Sydney
• Demographics of Melbourne

Ethnicities

• African Australian
• Albanian Australian
• American Australian
• Anglo-Celtic Australian
• Asian Australian
• Assyrian Australian
• Bosnian Australian
• Chinese Australian
• Cornish Australian
• English Australian
• European Australian
• Filipino Australian
• Greek Australian
• Indian Australian
• Indigenous Australian (including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander)
• Irish Australian
• Italian Australian
• Korean Australian
• Latin American Australian
• Lebanese Australian
• Macedonian Australian
• Scottish Australian
• Serbian Australian
• South African Australian
• Sudanese Australian
• Welsh Australian

References

Further reading

• Jupp, James. The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, its People and their Origins (2002)
• O'Farrell, Patrick. The Irish in Australia: 1798 to the Present Day (3rd ed. Cork University Press, 2001)
• Wells, Andrew, and Theresa Martinez, eds. Australia's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook (ABC-CLIO, 2004)

External links

• Australian population: ethnic origins
• Stock of foreign-born population by country of birth, by year
• Current estimated resident population of Australia Australian Bureau of Statistics

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