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Population

Number of young people living in Australia, 2004

  • Number of young people living in Australia at June 2004:
    • young people aged 15–24: 2.8 million.
    • children aged 0–14: about 4 million
  • The proportion of children in the population has been gradually declining as the population ages, but the number of children has been increasing slowly over the last decade. The number of children in 2026 is projected to be about 3.9 million, much the same as in 2004.

Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, media release: Australia's Welfare 2005 highlights [viewed 18/01/2007].


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Melbourne City Suburbs Economic and Demographic Profile report, 2005

According to new Melbourne Council research, many young people, particularly young professionals and students, are now finding inner-city living more appealing and convenient for work and recreation.

The Melbourne City Suburbs Economic and Demographic Profile report shows that 52% of the City of Melbourne's residents are aged 18–34, compared to 26% in the wider metropolitan area.

Key findings from the report:

  • 23% of City of Melbourne residents are full-time students (compared to a metropolitan average of 9%).
  • 30% of City of Melbourne residents speak a language other than English at home (compared to 28% for metro-Melbourne): the most common being Mandarin (6%), Cantonese (6%) and Indonesian (4%).
  • Melbourne has 27 million m2 of built space and 15 million m2 of open space.
  • As of 2004 there were 12,000 businesses in Melbourne employing 328,000 people.
  • Between 2002–2004 more than 5,670 new jobs were created in Melbourne.

The Melbourne City Suburbs Economic and Demographic Profile is a biennial report, updating the previous November 2003 edition [viewed 18/01/2007].

Source: Herald-Sun, 7/9/2005, p.5.
City of Melbourne, Media release, 7/9/2005: 170 years old but Melbourne keeps growing younger [viewed 18/02/2007].

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Number of young people aged 6 to 16 in 2003

In 2003 an estimated 4.5 million Australians, (close to 23% of the total population), were aged 16 years and under.
Percentage aged 6 to 16: 15% (over 3 million)
Over 76,000 more males than females in this age group.

Geographical breakdown of Australia's 6- to 16-year-olds population in 2003:

Number of 6- to 16-year-olds % of Australia's 6- to 16-year-old
population*		 % of State/Territory
population*
New South Wales 980,553 33.3 15.4
Victoria 709,966 24.1 15.3
Queensland 572,718 19.5 15.7
Western
Australia		 299,832 10.2 16.2
South
Australia		 219,148 7.4 14.9
Tasmania 74,707 2.5 16.3
Australian
Capital Territory		 50,215 1.7 16.1
Northern
Territory		 34,963 1.2 16.6




*Figures rounded to one decimal point. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003b.

Source: Mission Australia Research and Social Policy, Developing resilience at every stage of a young person's life: Snapshot 2005 [viewed 18/01/2007].

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World Youth Population, 2003

Percentage of the world's population that is under 25 years: nearly 50%
...10-19 years: about 20%
Percentage of adolescents (10-19) who live in developing countries: 87%

Subtitled 'Making 1 billion count: investing in adolescents' health and rights', the report by the United Nations emphasises the health challenges facing the largest generation of adolescents in history.

Source: United Nations Population Fund, 2003, State of world population 2003, UNFPA, New York [viewed 18/01/2007].

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Australians in their 20s: Comparison between 1976 and 2001

Australian Bureau of Statistics article, Australian Social Trends, Population, People in their 20s: then and now, compares Australians in their 20s over the 25-year period between 1976 and 2001.
From the article:

  • In 2001, there were 2.6 million Australians aged 20–29 years (14% of the population).
  • In comparison, the 2.2 million people in this age group in 1976 made up 17% of the total Australian population.
'The lower proportion of people in this age group in 2001 reflects population ageing over the period, as fertility continued to decline and the large generation of people born between 1946 and 1965 (known as the baby boomers), continued to age'.

Immigration intake comparison:

  • In 2001, 19% of people aged 20–29 years had been born overseas. The main birthplaces for this group were Asia (42%), Oceania (18% – predominantly from New Zealand) and the United Kingdom and Ireland (14%).
  • In comparison, in 1976, a larger proportion of people in their 20s had been born overseas (22%), in keeping with larger migrant intakes in the 1960s and 1970s than in the 1980s and 1990s.
  • In 1976, 40% of people in their 20s who had been born overseas were born in European countries other than the United Kingdom and Ireland. This reflects the large numbers of displaced people from these countries who resettled in Australia in the two decades following the Second World War.

Source, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Social Trends Population, People in their 20s: then and now
[viewed 18/01/2007].

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Population characteristics, 2001

Number of young people at 30 June 2001 whose usual residence is Australia:

3.5 million aged 12–24 years (1.8 million males and 1.7 million females)

Area of residence:

Residence area of Australian young people aged 12–24 years, 2001:

 

State/territory Population
aged 12–24
years		 Total
population		 % of
state/territory
population
aged 12–24		 % distribution
of Australian
population
aged 12–24		 % distribution
of Australian
population
(all ages)
New South Wales 1,147,846 6,575,217 17.5 33.2 33.9
Victoria 845,751 4,804,726 17.6 24.4 24.7
Queensland 665,124 3,628,946 18.3 19.2 18.7
Western Australia 354,399 1,901,159 18.6 10.2 9.8
South Australia 258,866 1,511,728 17.1 7.5 7.8
Tasmania 82,658 471,795 17.5 2.4 2.4
Australian Capital Territory 64,597 319,317 20.2 1.9 1.6
Northern Territory 40,228 197,768 20.3 1.2 1.0
Australia(a) 3,459,918 19,413,240 17.8 100.0 100.0

(a) Australian total includes 'other Australian territories'.
Source: ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2003a, Australian Demographic Statistics, Cat No. 3101.0. Canberra: ABS

Rural, remote and metropolitan areas:

Percentage of young people aged 15–24 years who lived in major cities of Australia in 2001: 70%
Regional areas: 19%
Outer regional and more remote areas of Australia: 12%

Estimated number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people aged 12–24 years as a proportion of the total Australian population at 30 June 2001:

  • Number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people aged 12–24 years was estimated to be 116,698 – about 3% of the total number of young peopole in Australia.
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people made up 26% of the total estimated Indigenous population of 458,520. The proportion of young people in the other Australian population was 18%.
  • Of indigenous young people aged 12–24 years, 47% were aged 18–24 years.

Distribution of the Indigenous Australian population aged 12–24 years, by state and territory, 2001:

 

State Indigenous
population
aged 12–24
years		 Proportion of
Indigenous
population
aged 12–24
years		 Indigenous
population aged
12–24 years as a
proportion of youth
population of
state or territory		 Other
Australian
population
aged 12–24
years		 Proportion
of other
Australian
population
aged 12–24
years		 Other Australian
population aged 12–24 years as a proportion of total population of state or territory
NSW 33,499 28.7 2.9 1,114,347 33.3 17.1
Vic 6,954 6.0 0.8 838,797 25.1 17.5
Qld 31,685 27.2 4.8 633,439 18.9 17.7
WA 16,966 14.5 4.8 337,433 10.1 18.0
SA 6,536 5.6 2.5 252,330 7.5 16.8
Tas 4,743 4.1 5.7 77,915 2.3 16.8
ACT 1,023 0.9 1.6 63,574 1.9 20.0
NT 15,237 13.1 37.9 24,991 0.7 14.4
Australia 116,698 100.0 3.4 3,343,220 100.0 17.







Source: ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2003a, Australian Demographic Statistics, Cat No. 3101.0. Canberra; ABS.


Approximately 56% of the Indigenous population aged 12–24 lived in NSW and Queensland, compared with 52% of the other Australian population in the same age group.

In all states and territories except the Northern Territory, Indigenous young people constitute less than 6% of the total youth population. In the Northern Territory, over a third of young people were Indigenous.

Source: AIHW Australia's young people: their health and well being, 2003. AIHW Cat. No. PHE 50. Canberra: AIHW, [viewed 18/01/2007].

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Number of young people in Australia, 2001 Census

Percentage of Australia's total population at 2001 constituted by young people (15-24) : 14%
Number of young people in Australia at 2001 Census: 2.7 million

Comparison 1992 & 2001, and % change:

Total population: 17,494,664; 19,386,663; 11%
15-19 years: 1,308300; 1,362,106; 4%
20-24 years: 1,427,300; 1,382,408; -3%

Source: Mission Australia 2003, Enriching lives: Young people, poverty and social exclusion [viewed 18/01/2007].

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World Youth Population, 2003

Percentage of the world's population that is under 25 years: nearly 50%
...10-19 years: about 20%
Percentage of adolescents (10-19) who live in developing countries: 87%

Subtitled 'Making 1 billion count: investing in adolescents' health and rights', the report by the United Nations emphasises the health challenges facing the largest generation of adolescents in history.

Source: United Nations Population Fund, 2003, State of world population 2003, UNFPA, New York [viewed 18/01/2007].