AUSTRALIA-BORN AND OVERSEAS-BORN

During the 10 years to June 2010, the number of Australia-born residents increased at an average rate of 1.0% per year, while the number of overseas-born residents increased at an average 3.1% per year. The age structures of the two groups are distinctive, as reflected in table 4.5 and figure 4.6.


Major age groups and the overseas-born

At 30 June 2010, the majority (76%) of all overseas-born Australian residents were of working age, 15-64 years (see table 4.5). In comparison, the proportions of overseas-born residents aged 65 years and older and 0-14 years were 18% and 6% respectively.

4.5 ESTIMATED RESIDENT POPULATION, Country of birth and age group - 30 June 2010(a)
	POPULATION			PROPORTION
	0-14	15-64	65 and over	0-14	15-64	65 and over
Region of birth	no.	no.	no.	%	%	%
Oceania and Antarctica (excl. Aust.)	63 397	565 813	52 593	9.3	83.0	7.7
North-West Europe	72 234	1 067 911	451 938	4.5	67.1	28.4
Southern and Eastern Europe	9 635	473 512	346 054	1.2	57.1	41.7
North Africa and the Middle East	26 301	272 873	41 761	7.7	80.0	12.2
South-East Asia	49 479	683 454	55 357	6.3	86.7	7.0
North-East Asia	32 097	583 938	48 037	4.8	87.9	7.2
Southern and Central Asia	41 057	478 315	35 454	7.4	86.2	6.4
Americas	21 274	206 213	22 072	8.5	82.6	8.8
Sub-Saharan Africa	36 019	234 962	22 195	12.3	80.1	7.6
Total overseas-born	351 493	4 566 991	1 075 461	5.9	76.2	17.9
Total Australia-born	3 878 712	10 523 584	1 932 606	23.7	64.4	11.8
Total	4 230 205	15 090 575	3 008 067	18.9	67.6	13.5
(a) Estimates for 2009-10 are preliminary - see paragraphs 9-10 of the Explanatory Notes.

The overseas-born population from Asia, America and Africa had proportionally larger young (0-14 years) and working age (15-64 years) populations compared to those from Europe. Among all the regions, Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest proportion aged 0-14 years (12%), followed by Oceania and Antarctica (excl. Aust.), and the Americas (9% each). The overseas-born population of Southern and Eastern Europe had the highest proportion (42%) of the resident population who were aged 65 years and over, followed by North-West Europe (28%) and North Africa and the Middle East (12%). European migration peaked in the years post World War II, with many of these migrants now being retired. The Asian and Sub-Saharan Africa groups are part of more recent migration streams, highly represented by younger working age people, their children and international students.

Of the top 50 countries of birth at 30 June 2010, Nepal-born, Taiwan-born and Bangladesh-born residents had the highest proportions (96%, 92% and 92% respectively) of all overseas-born residents aged 15-64 years. Following closely behind were those persons born in Hong Kong and Vietnam (90% each). The top five countries of birth with the highest proportion of their populations aged 65 years and older were Italy (56%), Greece (55%), Hungary (51%), the Netherlands (43%), and Malta (42%). Among the overseas-born residents, Sudan-born had the highest proportion (19%) of residents aged 0-14 years, followed by the United States of America (16%), Singapore, Afghanistan, South Africa and Pakistan (12% each), and Zimbabwe and Thailand (11% each).

Figure 4.6 shows a comparison between the age and sex structures associated with the Australia-born population and the Southern and Eastern Europe-born population. As demonstrated, the Southern and Eastern Europe-born population was considerably older than the Australia-born population, with the largest proportion of the population being in the 60-64 years age group with 6.2% for males and 6.1% for females. In comparison, the most populous age group for the Australia-born population was the 0-4 years age group with 4.4% for males and 4.2% for females. The inverted pyramid shape of the Southern and Eastern Europe-born age structure is due to a large number of Southern and Eastern Europeans migrating to Australia in the period post World War II (over 60 years ago) and declining numbers of migrants arriving from that region in subsequent years.

4.7 AUSTRALIA'S TOP 50 COUNTRIES OF BIRTH(a), Median age, sex ratio and estimated resident population - 30 June 2010(b)
	MEDIAN AGE
Selected countries of birth	Persons	Males	Females	Sex ratio(c)	ERP
Nepal	25.9	26.1	25.6	171.0	29 589
Sudan	26.7	26.5	26.8	115.0	26 199
Korea, Republic of (South)	29.0	28.3	29.8	91.9	100 255
Afghanistan	29.1	28.8	29.4	117.4	26 527
Thailand	30.1	27.1	32.2	53.3	53 393
India	30.3	29.6	31.5	140.8	340 604
Pakistan	30.5	30.3	30.9	155.9	31 277
Taiwan	30.6	30.1	30.9	72.9	38 025
Bangladesh	31.0	31.3	30.5	146.6	28 179
Japan	31.9	30.1	32.7	56.3	52 111
Indonesia	32.4	31.3	33.2	79.6	73 527
China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)	33.5	32.6	34.2	84.2	379 776
Singapore	34.2	33.5	34.8	82.7	58 903
Hong Kong (SAR of China)	36.1	34.2	38.1	93.5	90 295
Iraq	36.3	37.6	35.0	107.8	48 348
Zimbabwe	36.8	37.4	36.2	100.1	31 779
Malaysia	36.9	35.4	38.4	87.0	135 607
United States of America	37.4	38.5	36.2	102.4	83 996
Iran	37.8	37.8	37.8	113.3	33 696
Canada	38.3	38.9	37.6	90.0	44 118
South Africa	38.6	38.3	38.8	99.5	155 692
France	38.7	37.5	40.0	109.2	30 631
New Zealand	39.2	39.1	39.3	105.5	544 171
Philippines	39.5	35.4	42.1	58.9	177 389
Papua New Guinea	39.6	39.2	40.1	84.5	31 225
Russian Federation	40.6	38.8	41.6	63.1	22 804
Fiji	40.9	40.7	41.0	88.5	62 778
Burma (Myanmar)	41.1	40.6	41.6	96.0	22 173
Sri Lanka	41.1	40.5	41.8	106.5	92 243
Cambodia	41.8	42.3	41.4	85.8	31 397
Vietnam	42.1	42.9	41.4	88.3	210 803
Turkey	44.7	44.8	44.5	108.0	39 989
Ireland	45.2	43.6	46.8	116.5	72 378
Mauritius	45.8	44.7	46.7	100.5	27 026
Chile	47.0	46.1	47.8	93.8	28 574
Lebanon	47.0	46.9	47.1	111.0	90 395
Bosnia and Herzegovina	47.1	47.2	47.0	100.9	37 470
UK, CIs & IOM	53.5	52.9	54.1	103.4	1 192 878
Serbia (includes Kosovo)	53.7	54.0	53.5	101.2	42 064
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)	54.6	55.1	54.1	103.0	49 704
Egypt	55.6	54.4	56.8	113.0	41 163
Poland	57.0	56.6	57.4	80.1	58 447
Cyprus	59.4	59.4	59.4	98.2	20 910
Croatia	59.5	60.3	58.8	104.0	68 319
Germany	61.3	61.3	61.3	92.2	128 558
Netherlands	63.1	63.0	63.2	104.6	88 609
Malta	63.2	63.2	63.1	104.9	48 870
Hungary	65.5	66.7	64.4	102.6	22 660
Greece	66.4	66.5	66.4	97.5	127 195
Italy	67.5	66.8	68.3	106.8	216 303
Total overseas-born	44.7	44.3	45.1	98.8	5 993 945
Total Australia-born	33.4	32.4	34.4	99.3	16 334 902
Total	36.9	36.0	37.8	99.2	22 328 847
(a) Top 50 countries of birth (excluding Australia). Sorted by median age (persons) lowest to highest.
(b) Estimates for 2009-10 are preliminary - see paragraph 9-10 of the Explanatory Notes.
(c) Males per 100 females

Median age of persons born overseas

The median age of all Australian residents born overseas at 30 June 2010 was 44.7 years, compared to 33.4 years for those born in Australia (see table 4.7). Migrants who were part of the major post-second World War migration streams of the late 1940s and 1950s are now in the older age groups. Of the top 50 countries of birth at 30 June 2010, Italy had the oldest median age at 67.5 years, followed by Greece (66.4) and Hungary (65.5). The youngest median ages were for persons born in Nepal (25.9 years), Sudan (26.7), the Republic of South Korea (29.0) and Afghanistan (29.1), the more recent migrant groups.

A comparison of the median age for each of the top 50 countries of birth by sex at 30 June 2010 (see table 4.7), reveals that women had a much older median age than men for the Philippines (42.1 and 35.4 years respectively), Thailand (32.2 and 27.1 years respectively) and Hong Kong (38.1 and 34.2 years respectively).


Sex ratio

At 30 June 2010, the sex ratio (males per 100 females) of the overseas-born population was the same as the Australia-born population (99 males per 100 females), see table 4.7. The sex ratio varied for different countries of birth, with Nepal (171 males per 100 females), Pakistan (156), Bangladesh (147), and India (141) having the highest sex ratios of males to females. The lowest sex ratios were recorded for persons born in Thailand (53 males per 100 females), Japan (56) and the Philippines (59).

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