Briefly:
Australia’s population in 2021 was about seven times larger than it was in 1901.
Life expectancy at birth has increased by 26 years since the early 20th century, while fertility rates in Australia have fallen from 3.1 births per woman in 1921 to 1.7 in 2021.
About nine out of ten Australians live in urban areas, compared with 58% in 1911.
Australia has changed dramatically over the past 120 years – it has become older, more diverse and increasingly urbanised.
People are also having fewer children. Since 1901, the age group that has seen the largest decline as a share of the total population has been children aged five to nine.
The age group that saw the largest increase was the 60-64 age group.
This is according to the new Demographic data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (stomach muscles).
So what are some of the changes in how Australia looks today compared to about 120 years ago?
Australia’s population has increased almost every year since 1901.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has identified some major world events that have impacted the population both positively and negatively since the formation of the Federation.
The only time the population has not grown over the past 120 years was after World War I.
The Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II also negatively affected population growth.
The global financial crisis in 2008 was followed by the highest net population growth in the country’s history.
But unlike that crisis, Australia has seen its smallest population growth in more than a century due to the pandemic, as the impact of the global lockdown became apparent in 2021.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the number of elderly people in Australia has been varying at different rates since 1901.
The government agency explained that there were two distinct periods when the country’s population was aging; the first period was between 1901 and 1944, while the second period was between 1971 and 2021.
For example, the average lifespan has increased from about 22.5 years in 1901 to about 38.4 years in 2021.
Nine out of ten Australians live in urban areas.
The bulk of Australia’s population already lived in urban areas in 1901, but this number continued to grow.
At the beginning of the union, more than half of the population lived in urban areas, but this proportion has now risen to about 90%.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the urbanisation rate increased three-fold during the first half of the 20th century compared to the second half.
In terms of interstate migration, there was a clear winner: Queensland. The sunshine state saw the biggest net gain, while New South Wales saw the biggest loss.
States that have experienced losses due to internal migration over the past 40 years include New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.
While Queensland and Western Australia saw gains in population due to interstate migration.
Migration patterns in Australia since federation
Australia’s population has become more diverse over time with overseas migration – with the exception of 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic – contributing more than natural population growth since 2006.
The proportion of people born overseas in Australia’s population has risen from about 23 per cent in 1901 to about 29 per cent in 2021.
In 1901, the vast majority of overseas-born Australian residents came from north-western Europe, especially Ireland and the United Kingdom.
This has changed dramatically with migration patterns from the rest of the world, particularly from Asia, which have increased rapidly. After the end of the White Australia Policywhich was replaced by a policy of multiculturalism in 1973.
What is the demographic composition of the foreign-born population?
- People born in Italy and Greece make up between 40 and 60 per cent of Australian residents from Southern and Eastern Europe.
- Chinese-born Australians make up between 38 and 87 per cent of the North Asian-born population.
- Indian-born Australian residents represent between 49 and over 90 per cent of the population born in South and Central Asia.
Australians are living longer, having fewer children
Australia’s fertility rate has fallen from around 3.1 births per woman in 1921 to around 1.7 in 2021.
This can be seen in the average age of a first-time mother, which has risen from about 23.6 years in 1975 to about 30.5 years in 2020.
The baby boom between 1946 and 1961 resulted in the nation’s highest fertility rate in 1961 at about 3.5 births per woman.
This period also saw an increase in births to mothers under 30. But there has been a decline in fertility rates for women under 30 in most years since the 1970s.
Between 1979 and 2008, fertility rates for women over age 30 rose sharply before beginning to slow.
The infant mortality rate has fallen from about 10.4% of children dying in their first year in 1901 to about 0.3% in 2021.
Despite the decline in Australia Life expectancy falls for first time in nearly 30 years, People live on average about 26 years longer than they did in 1901.
Life expectancy for men rose from 55.2 to 81.3 years, while for women it was 58.8 to 85.4 years.
The likelihood of a person reaching their 100th birthday in 2021 has increased dramatically compared to 1901.
Men are about 143 times more likely to reach this goal, while women are about 82 times more likely.
First Nations communities were not included in the census until 1971.
In a referendum in 1967, nearly 91 per cent of Australians voted to change the way Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were referred to in the Constitution.
As a result, First Nations peoples were counted. First time in 1971 census.
Figures prior to this date include both official censuses and estimates of the indigenous population.
The office added that this data varies in accuracy, and “does not necessarily represent the true number of the population.”
