Australian population to touch 25 million: ABS

ABS Director of Demography, Anthony Grubb, said: “From our average age, to how long people live and where we live, Australia’s population has experienced major changes."

“Australia’s population has increased more than sixfold since 1901 when it was 3.8 million," Grubb said.

“By 1918 it had grown to 5 million, it had doubled to 10 million by 1959 and reached 20 million in October 2004. It has been just over 2.5 years since we reached 24 million in January 2016," he said.

The overall total population increase is estimated to be one person every 1 minute and 23 seconds.

Within this there is estimated to be:

one birth every 1 minute and 42 seconds;
one death every 3 minutes and 16 seconds;
one person arriving to live in Australia every 1 minute and 1 second; and
one Australian resident leaving to live overseas every 1 minute and 51 seconds.

It is not possible to identify who the 25 millionth person will be. It could be a newborn baby, a new migrant to Australia, or an Australian citizen returning home after living overseas, read the statement issued by the ABS.

In 1901, 36 per cent of Australians lived in capital cities and 64 per cent in other urban and rural areas in Australia. In 2017, this has reversed with 67 per cent of us living in capital cities and 33 per cent in other urban and rural areas.

The world’s population is approximately 7.6 billion. Populations among some of Australia’s nearest neighbours include Indonesia’s 264 million and New Zealand 4.8 million. Meanwhile, 66 million people live in the UK, 36.7 million in Canada and 328 million live in the US.

As per the ABS statement, "Over the past three years, Australia’s population has grown by around 400,000 people per year. If this trend continues, the country’s population would be expected to reach 26 million in about three years’ time."