Australia, A Fast Changing Nation.
The Census has helped update Australia’s estimated resident population, which has grown to 24.4 million people by December 31, 2016.
The first snapshot results of the 2016 Census released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, paint a picture of a rapidly changing nation and marketplace.
The 2016 Census counted 23,717,421 people in Australia on Census night, which included 23,401,892 people who usually live in Australia – an 8.8 per cent increase from 2011. On Census night, over 600,000 Australians were travelling overseas.
Population growth is increasing. In the 40 years between 1966 and 2006 Australia’s population grew 1.4% each year, but in the last decade this growth rate jumped by 20% to 1.7% each year.
This population growth is driven by fertility, longevity and immigration – and it is resulting in a nation that is ageing as Australia’s median age has jumped from 36 to 38 years.
Reflecting this change, the proportion of people aged 65 or older has increased from 14% to 16% of the population. The 2016 Census found that there are 664,473 additional people aged 65 and over since 2011. Tasmania is our most experienced state, with nearly one in five people aged 65 and over. The Apple Isle also recorded Australia’s highest median age (42 years), ahead of South Australia (40 years).
More older Australians also means more older women. Across the population, 51% are female, and among Australians aged 65 plus the proportion of women jumps to 54%. Among Australians aged 85 plus the proportion of women rockets to 63%.
The implications for aged care planning, household structures and retirement income product designs will be significant.
Australia’s population doubled in the past 50 years, and is likely to double again in the next 50 years, to about 50 million, 80% of whom will probably live in urban and capital cities. This also comes with huge infrastructure development needs – and investment opportunities.
It is predicted that Australia’s centre of gravity will shift south towards Melbourne, away from Sydney. Greater Melbourne with a population of 4,485,211 is growing 12% faster than Greater Sydney with a population of 4,823,991, with Melbourne gaining 1,859 people every week compared to Sydney’s 1,656 since the 2011 Census.
Yet it’s the home of the nation’s capital – the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) – that experienced the largest population growth of any state or territory over the past five years, adding more than 40,000 new residents – an increase of 11 per cent.
But while the population is going up and concentrating in Capital cities, the proportion of households in Australia renting their accommodation has climbed from 27% in 2011 to 31% in 2016, a change that will only exacerbate concerns about Australia’s residential property market and housing affordability.
However, this may explain why apartments, flats and townhouses have increased as a share of all housing dwellings from 24% to 27% over the past decade.
The Australians who will live in these dwelling will be more culturally diverse. Fifty years ago in 1966 just 18% of Australians were overseas-born, today this ratio is 26%. In 1966 one third of these people were born in England but today this share has plummeted to 15%. The proportion from New Zealand also decreased over the same period from 9.1% to 8.4%.
The proportion of overseas-born Australians born in China has meanwhile jumped from 6% to 8.3% and the proportion from India has jumped from 5.6% to 7.4%. The Philippines accounts for 3.8% of overseas-born Australia, up from 2.7% at the 2011 census.
This pace of change in Australia’s cultural diversity is dwarfed by Australia’s changing religious affiliations. In 1966 almost nine in10 Australians reported a Christian faith but in 2016 this ratio has plummeted to just one in two. The 36 percentage point change was mostly offset by the 30 percentage point increase in the number reporting no religious affiliation.
As reported in the Financial Standard and ABS Media Release from 2016 Census
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