3101.0 - Australian Demographic Statistics, Jun 2015 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 17/12/2015   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All
MEDIA RELEASE
17 December 2015
Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
147/2015
More Australians reaching 100

More Australians than ever before are qualifying for birthday wishes from the Queen, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

The number of centenarians increased by 550 to 4,440 over the year ending June 2015, with almost four times more females than males. This reflects the higher life expectancy for females.

Australia’s population continues to age as the year ending June 2015 saw the fourth year of baby boomers* reaching 65. Those aged 65 and over increased by 3.4 per cent, compared to an overall population increase of 1.4 per cent.

“Over the year to June 2015 the working-age population – traditionally considered those aged 15 to 64 – grew at 1.0 per cent whilst the non-working-age population (aged 0-14 and 65+), grew at 2.1 per cent. This follows a pattern that has been evident since 2010 and is mostly related to the growth in the 65 and over population,” said Beidar Cho, Director of Demography at the ABS.

“Over the last 20 years, the proportion of the 65 and over population has increased from 12 per cent to 15 per cent.

"This trend is expected to continue as increasing numbers of baby boomers reach 65. In contrast, the last 20 years have seen the proportion of children aged 0-14 decrease from 22 per cent to 19 per cent as our fertility rate drops.

"The working aged population has hardly changed, having moved from 67 per cent to 66 per cent of the population over 20 years,” said Ms Cho.

Australia’s median age remained unchanged between 2014 and 2015 at 37, but has increased by 3 years since 1995.

Australia's population grew by 317,100 people (1.4 per cent) to reach 23.8 million by the end of June 2015. If this growth continues, it is projected that Australia will reach a population of 24 million in mid February 2016.

Net overseas migration contributed 168,200 people to the population (11.4 per cent lower than the previous year), and accounted for 53 per cent of Australia's total population growth.

Victoria continues to have the fastest population growth rate in the country, growing by 1.7 per cent (99,400 people).

Over the year, natural increase contributed 148,900 people to Australia's population, made up of 304,000 births (1 per cent lower than the previous year) and 155,100 deaths (3.4 per cent higher than the previous year).


    * Baby boomers refer to people born between 1946 and 1964.

Further information is available in Australian Demographic Statistics, June Quarter 2015 (cat. no. 3101.0).

For population estimates at the regional level, please see Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2013-14 (cat. no. 3218.0) and Population by Age and Sex, Regions of Australia, 2014 (cat. no. 3235.0), available for free download from www.abs.gov.au.


Population at end June Qtr 2015
Change over previous year
Change over previous year
PRELIMINARY DATA
'000
'000
%

New South Wales
7 618.2
104.3
1.4
Victoria
5 938.1
99.4
1.7
Queensland
4 779.4
58.9
1.2
South Australia
1 698.6
13.1
0.8
Western Australia
2 591.6
33.2
1.3
Tasmania
516.6
1.9
0.4
Northern Territory
244.6
0.9
0.4
Australian Capital Territory
390.8
5.4
1.4
Australia (a)
23 781.2
317.1
1.4

(a) Includes Other Territories comprising Jervis Bay Territory, Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

Media note:

  • Please ensure when reporting on ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
  • Media requests and interviews - contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070.