Population is a term that describes the number of people within an area. The population size affects such things as your community’s economy and environment. In this article lets see about the facts of Australian population.

The 4 April 2016 population of Australia is estimated at approximately 24,035,626 people. Most of the population (83% in 1996) live within 50 km of the coast and concentrated mainly in the large coastal cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

In 2015 the overall population estimated growth comes from . . .

• 1 birth every 1 minute 46 seconds
• 1 death every 3 minutes 27 seconds
• a net gain of one international migration every 2 minutes 39 seconds
• overall total population increase of one person every 1 minute 32 seconds

See also Comparing Populations of Countries
(includes Australian population totals over the last 50 years)

Note: all population totals on this website are estimates gathered from a variety of sources. Because the different sources don’t always agree, please use our figures as a guide and not as exact amounts.

Population By Age (estimate)

Age Groups	2011 % of Total	2011 Females	2011 Males		2006 Females	2006 Males
0 – 14 years	18.3%	1,937,544	2,040,848	1,923,828	2,026,975
15 – 64 years	67.7%	7,266,143	7,469,092	7,121,613	7,318,743
65 + years	14.0%	1,654,508	1,398,576	1,565,153	1,306,329

Top 40 cities by population (2006)

The capital cities are in bold.

1	Sydney	NSW	4,293,105		21	Burnie-Devonport	TAS	79,954
2	Melbourne	VIC	3,684,461		22	Mandurah	WA	77,619
3	Brisbane	QLD	1,820,375		23	Latrobe Valley	VIC	75,553
4	Perth	WA	1,507,949		24	Mackay	QLD	73,091
5	Adelaide	SA	1,138,833		25	Rockhampton	QLD	70,128
6	Gold Coast-Tweed	QLD / NSW	554,628		26	Bundaberg	QLD	62,457
7	Newcastle	NSW	512,131		27	Bunbury	WA	59,033
8	Canberra	ACT	328,441		28	Wagga Wagga	NSW	54,191
9	Wollongong	NSW	276,155		29	Coffs Harbour	NSW	50,368
10	Sunshine Coast	QLD	220,199		30	Hervey Bay	QLD	50,293
11	Hobart	TAS	205,510		31	Mildura	VIC	48,836
12	Geelong	VIC	167,781		32	Shepparton	VIC	48,063
13	Townsville	QLD	153,631		33	Tamworth	NSW	43,774
14	Cairns	QLD	127,856		34	Gladstone	QLD	43,507
15	Toowoomba	QLD	121,612		35	Port Macquarie	NSW	41,332
16	Darwin	NT	113,955		36	Orange	NSW	37,982
17	Launceston	TAS	103,835		37	Dubbo	NSW	35,972
18	Albury-Wodonga	NSW / VIC	101,273		38	Nowra-Bomaderry	NSW	33,364
19	Ballarat	VIC	90,303		39	Bathurst	NSW	32,398
20	Bendigo	VIC	85,978		40	Lismore	NSW	31,626

Number of people living in each state (in thousands)

	pop in capital	2004	1996	1991	1986	1981	1976
NSW	63.0%	6,760.0	6,204.7	5,898.7	5,531.5	5,234.9	4,960.8
VIC	71.0%	5,002.3	4,560.2	4,420.4	4,160.9	3,946.9	3,811.4
QLD	46.0%	3,919.3	3,338.7	2,961.0	2,624.6	2,245.2	2,091.7
SA	73.5%	1,537.9	1,474.3	1,446.6	1,382.6	1,318.8	1,274.6
WA	73.4%	1,998.4	1,765.3	1,636.1	1,459.0	1,300.1	1,178.9
TAS	41.0%	484.0	474.4	466.8	446.5	427.2	412.4
ACT	99.6%	324.3	308.3	289.3	258.9	227.6	207.4
NT	54.0%	200.8	181.8	165.5	154.4	122.6	98.3

Origin of immigrants to Australia

Although Australia had its beginnings as a British penal colony, it was gradually phased out by 1868.
The late 19th century saw hundreds of thousands of immigrants arrive from a variety of countries to make Australia their home.

Australia is a culturally diverse country. At the 1996 Census:

• 3.9 million people had been born overseas
• 3.8 million had one or both parents born overseas
• 2.6 million people spoke a language other than English at home
• 92 religious denominations
• 282 major languages (includes 170 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander)

	2006	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000
United Kingdom	23,290	18,220	18,272	12,508	8,749	9,037	9,201
New Zealand	19,033	17,345	14,418	12,368	15,663	25,165	21,889
India	11,286	9,414	8,135	5,783	5,091	6,336	4,631
Malaysia	2,967	3,936	3,718	2,686	1,939	2,222	1,771
Philippines	4,871	4,239	4,111	3,190	2,837	3,123	3,186
China*	10,581	11,095	8,784	6,664	6,708	8,762	6,809
South Africa	3,953	4,594	5,849	4,603	5,714	5,754	5,691
Sudan	3,783	5,654	4,591	2,775	…	…	…
Singapore	2,685	3,036	2,224	…	…	…	…
Viet Nam	2,661	…	…	…	…	…	…
Sri Lanka	…	3,212	…	…	2,011	…	…
Indonesia	…	…	2,584	3,026	4,221	3,921	2,943
Yugoslavia	…	…	…	…	2,082	2,343	2,356
Taiwan	…	…	…	…	…	2,599	…
Fiji	…	…	…	…	…	…	1,856
All other countries	46,483	44,579	38,904	37,492	33,885	38,104	31,939

* excluding Taiwan

	1993  – 1997	1983 – 1987	1973  – 1977	1963 – 1967		1993 – 1997	1983 – 1987	1973 – 1977	1963   – 1967
UK	53,200	88,900	156,200	339,500	Poland	…	8,100	…	…
NZ	53,600	53,000	20,200	…	China	28,900	…	…	…
Viet Nam	21,000	40,100	…	…	Greece	…	…	11,200	67,400
Philippines	17,200	22,300	…	…	Lebanon	…	…	21,900	…
Hong Kong	19,500	…	…	…	USA	…	…	10,900	…
S Africa	…	14,100	…	…	Italy	…	…	…	61,300
Yugoslavia	…	…	18,100	33,600	Malta	…	…	…	19,400
					Germany	…	…	…	17,700

Updated August 2011. You may notice that we show information from a variety of dates. We are unable to find the same type of information for more recent dates than what we show here. Note: This information is for entertainment purposes. We assume no liability resulting from any errors or omissions. Translation . . . we’ve done our best to bring you accurate information. For official facts and figures, please visit any of the many Australian government websites available such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics.