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| align=left | {{PRC}} (Excluding [[Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China|SARs]] and [[Taiwan]] <!-- Note: I urge you kindly for the last time to cease using province when you refer to Taiwan especially under PRC. It is misleading albeit a known fact that Taiwan had never been a province of the PRC and there is NO reliable source that will support your claim. The Australian Government fully supports the 'One China Policy' but has never referred to Taiwan as a province of the PRC-->) ||203,143
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Revision as of 07:34, 3 June 2012

Demographics of Australia
Indicator Rank Measure
Population
Population 50th 27,080,210[1]
Economy
GDP (PPP) per capita 16th $40,680
GNP 18th $66,934
Unemployment rate ↓ 57th 4.30%
CO2 emissions 12th 18t†
Electricity consumption 16th 200.70TWh
Economic freedom 3rd 82.5
Politics
Human Development Index 2nd 0.937
Political freedom 1st (equal)* 1
Corruption (A higher score means less (perceived) corruption.) ↓ 8th 8.7
Press freedom 18th 5.38
Society
Literacy Rate 21st 99%
Broadband uptake 17th 13.8%
Beer consumption 5th 4.49 L†
Health
Life Expectancy 5th 81.2
Birth rate 148th 13.8‡
Fertility rate 137th 1.969††
Infant mortality 202nd 4.57‡‡
Death rate 122nd 7.56‡
Suicide Rate 33rd ♂ 20.1†‡
♀ 5.3†‡
HIV/AIDS rate 108th 0.10%
Notes
↓ indicates rank is in reverse order
   (e.g. 1st is lowest)
† per capita
‡ per 1000 people
†† per woman
‡‡ per 1000 live births
†‡ 100,000 people per year
♂ indicates males, ♀ indicates females

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Australia, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religions, and other aspects of the population.

The demographics of Australia covers basic statistics, most populous cities, ethnicity and religion. The population of Australia is estimated to be 27,080,210 as of 21 October 2024.[1] Australia is the 50th most populous country in the world. Its population is concentrated mainly in urban areas and is expected to exceed 28 million by 2030.[2]

Australia's population has grown from an estimated population of about 350,000 at the time of British settlement in 1788 due to numerous waves of immigration during the period since. Also due to immigration, the European component of the population is declining as a percentage, as it is in many other Western countries.

Australia has scarcely more than two persons per square kilometre of total land area. With 89% of its population living in urban areas, Australia is one of the world's most urbanised countries.[3] The life expectancy of Australia in 1999–2001 was 79.7 years, among the highest in the world.

Indigenous population

See also: Indigenous Australians

The earliest accepted timeline for the first arrivals of indigenous Australians to the continent of Australia places this human migration to at least 40,000 years ago most probably from the islands of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.[4]

These first inhabitants of Australia were originally hunter-gatherer peoples, who over the course of many succeeding generations diversified widely throughout the continent and its nearby islands. Although their technical culture remained static—depending on wood, bone, and stone tools and weapons—their spiritual and social life was highly complex. Most spoke several languages, and confederacies sometimes linked widely scattered tribal groups. Aboriginal population density ranged from one person per square mile along the coasts to one person per 35 square miles (91 km2) in the arid interior. Food procurement was usually a matter for the nuclear family, requiring an estimated 3 days of work per week. There was little large game, and outside of some communities in the more fertile south-east, they had no agriculture.

Australia may have been sighted by Portuguese sailors in 1701, and Dutch navigators landed on the forbidding coast of modern Western Australia several times during the 17th century. Captain James Cook claimed the east coast for Great Britain in 1770, the west coast was later settled by Britain also. At that time, the indigenous population was estimated to have been between 315,000 and 750,000,[5] divided into as many as 500 tribes[citation needed] speaking many different languages. In the 2006 Census, 407,700 respondents declared they were Aboriginal, 29,512 declared they were Torres Strait Islander, and a further 17,811 declared they were both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.[6] After adjustments for undercount, the indigenous population as of end June 2006 was estimated to be 517,200, representing about 2.5% of the population.[5]

Since the end of World War II, efforts have been made both by the government and by the public to be more responsive to Aboriginal rights and needs. Today, many tribal Aborigines lead a settled traditional life in remote areas of northern, central, and western Australia. In the south, where most Aborigines are of mixed descent, most live in the cities.

General Demographic statistics

Australia's age and gender structure in 2005, illustrated in a population pyramid.[7]

Much of the data that follows has been derived from the CIA World Factbook and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, through censuses.

Population

The following figures are ABS estimates for the resident population of Australia, based on the 2001 and 2006 Censuses and other data.

27,080,210 (as of 21 October 2024)[1]
21,262,641 (July 2009 – CIA World Factbook)
21,180,632 (end December 2007 – preliminary)
20,848,760 (end December 2006 – preliminary)
20,544,064 (end December 2005)
20,252,132 (end December 2004)
20,011,882 (end December 2003)
19,770,963 (end December 2002)
19,533,972 (end December 2001)[8]

States and territories

See also: States and territories of Australia
State/territory Land area (km²) Population (2006) Population density (/km²) % of population in capital
 Australian Capital Territory 2,358 344,200 137.53 99.6%
 New South Wales 800,642 6,967,200 8.44 63%
 Victoria 227,416 5,297,600 23.87 71%
 Queensland 1,730,648 4,279,400 2.26 46%
 South Australia 983,482 1,601,800 1.56 73.5%
 Western Australia 2,529,875 2,163,200 0.79 73.4%
 Tasmania 68,401 498,200 7.08 41%
 Northern Territory 1,349,129 219,900 0.15 54%

Age structure

0–14 years: 19.3%
15–64 years: 67.5%
65 years and over: 13.2% (2008 estimate)[9]

Median age

Total: 37.3 years
Male: 36.6 years
Female: 38.1 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate

As of the end of June 2009 the population growth rate was 1.2%.[10] This rate was based on estimates of:[11]

  • one birth every 1 minute and 45 seconds,
  • one death every 3 minutes and 40 seconds,
  • a net gain of one international migrant every 1 minutes and 51 seconds leading to
  • an overall total population increase of one person every 1 minutes and 11 seconds.

In 2009 the estimated rates were:

At the time of Australian Federation in 1901, the rate of natural increase was 14.9 persons per 1,000 population. The rate increased to a peak of 17.4 per thousand population in the years 1912, 1913 and 1914. During the Great Depression, the rate declined to a low of 7.1 per thousand population in 1934 and 1935. Immediately after World War II the rate increased sharply as a result of the beginning of the post–World War II baby boom and the immigration of many young people who then had children in Australia, with a plateau of rates of over 13.0 persons per 1,000 population for every year from 1946 to 1962.

There has been a fall in the rate of natural increase since 1962 due to falling fertility. In 1971 the rate of natural increase was 12.7 persons per 1,000 population; a decade later it had fallen to 8.5. In 1996 the rate of natural increase fell below seven for the first time, with the downward trend continuing in the late 1990s. Population projections by the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate that continued low fertility, combined with the increase in deaths from an ageing population, will result in natural increase falling below zero sometime in the mid 2030s. However in 2006 the fertility rate rose to 1.81, one of the highest rate in the OECD, arguably as a result of some pro-fertility state and federal government campaigns, including the Federal Government's baby bonus.

Since 1901, the crude death rate has fallen from about 12.2 deaths per 1,000 population to 6.4 deaths per 1,000 population in 2006.[9] (ppt)[clarification needed]

Urbanisation

Urbanisation population: 89% of total population (2008)
Rate of urbanisation: 1.2% annual rate of change (2005–2010)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
Under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female
Total population: 1 male(s)/female (2009)

Infant mortality rate

Total: 4.75 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 196
Male: 5.08 deaths/1,000 live births
Female: 4.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total: 81.63 years
country comparison to the world: 70
Male: 79.25 years
Female: 84.15 years

Total fertility rate

1.969 children born/woman (2008)[12]

For more detailed regionwise TFR details see Birth rate and fertility rate in Australia.

country comparison to the world: 159

HIV/AIDS

Adult prevalence rate: 0.2% (2007 est.)
People living with HIV/AIDS: 18,000 (2007 est.)
Deaths: fewer than 200 (2003 est.)[13]

Country of birth

Countries of birth of Australian estimated resident population, 2006.
Source:Australian Bureau of Statistics[14]

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in mid-2006 there were 4,956,863 residents who were born outside Australia, representing 24% of the total population.[14] The Australian-resident population comprises people born in these countries:

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics[14]
Country of Birth Estimated Resident Population
 United Kingdom 1,153,264
 New Zealand 476,719
 Italy 220,469
 People's Republic of China (Excluding SARs and Taiwan ) 203,143
 Vietnam 180,352
 India 153,579
 Philippines 135,619
 Greece 125,849
 South Africa 118,816
 Germany 114,921
 Malaysia 103,947
 Netherlands 86,950
 Lebanon 86,599
 Hong Kong (SAR of China) 76,303
 Sri Lanka 70,908
 Serbia and Montenegro 68,879
 Indonesia 67,952
 United States 64,832
 Poland 59,221
 Fiji 58,815
 Ireland 57,338
 Croatia 56,540
 Singapore 49,819
 South Korea 49,141
 Malta 48,978
 North Macedonia 48,577
 Iraq 40,400
 Egypt 38,782
 Turkey 37,556
 Canada 33,198
 Thailand 32,747
 Taiwan 31,258
 Japan 29,469
 Sudan 29,282
 Cambodia 28,175
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 27,328
 Papua New Guinea 26,302
 Chile 26,204
 Iran 25,659
 Hungary 23,065
 Russia 21,436
 Cyprus 21,149
 Zimbabwe 21,142
 Afghanistan 21,140
 Austria 20,214
 France 20,054
 Pakistan 19,768
 Mauritius 19,375
 Samoa 17,822
 Portugal 17,382

For more information about immigration see Immigration to Australia.

Ancestry of Australian population

"Aussie" redirects here. For other uses, see Aussie (disambiguation).
This article is about the peoples of Australia. For Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, see Indigenous Australians. For other uses, see Australian (disambiguation).

Australians
Total population
26,518,400 in Australia (2023)[15]
Map of the Australian diaspora
Map of the Australian diaspora

Common ancestries: English, Aboriginal Australian, Irish, New Zealander, German, Italian, Chinese, and Indian.
Regions with significant populations
Australian diaspora: 577,255 (2019)[16]
 United Kingdom165,000 (2021)[17]
 United States98,969 (2019)[18]
 New Zealand75,696 (2018)[19]
 Vietnam22,000 (2013)[20]
 Canada21,115 (2016)[21]
 South Korea15,222 (2019)[22]
 Hong Kong14,669 (2016)[23]
 Germany13,600 (2020)[24]
 Mainland China13,286 (2010)[25]
 Japan12,024 (2019)[26]
 Turkey13,286 (2010)[27]
 Portugal1,400 (2020)[28]
Languages
English;[29]
Religion
Christianity (Catholicism, Anglicanism and other denominations), various non-Christian religions and irreligion[A][32]

Australians, colloquially known as Aussies,[33] are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural.[34] For most Australians, these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being Australian. Australian law does not provide for a racial or ethnic component of nationality, instead relying on citizenship as a legal status, though the Constitutional framers considered the Commonwealth to be "a home for Australians and the British race alone",[35] as well as a "Christian Commonwealth".[36] Since the postwar period, Australia has pursued an official policy of multiculturalism and has the world's eighth-largest immigrant population, with immigrants accounting for 30 percent of the population in 2019.[37][38]

Between European colonisation in 1788 and the Second World War, the vast majority of settlers and immigrants came from the British Isles (principally England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland), although there was significant immigration from China and Germany during the 19th century. Many early settlements were initially penal colonies to house transported convicts. Immigration increased steadily, with an explosion of population in the 1850s following a series of gold rushes.

In the decades immediately following the Second World War, Australia received a large wave of immigration from across Europe, with many more immigrants arriving from Southern and Eastern Europe than in previous decades. Since the late 1970s, following the end of the White Australia policy in 1973, a large and continuing wave of immigration to Australia from around the world has continued into the 21st century, with Asia now being the largest source of immigrants.[39] A smaller proportion of Australians are descended from indigenous people, comprising Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders.

The development of a distinctive Australian identity and national character began in the 19th century. The primary language is Australian English. Australia is home to a diversity of cultures, a result of its history of immigration.[40] Since 1788, Australian culture has primarily been a Western culture strongly influenced by early Anglo-Celtic settlers.[41][42] The cultural divergence and evolution that has occurred over the centuries since European settlement has resulted in a distinctive Australian culture.[43][44]

As the Asian Australian population continues to expand and flourish as a result of changes in the demographic makeup of immigrants and as there has been increased economic and cultural intercourse with Asian nations, Australia has observed the gradual emergence of a "Eurasian society" within its major urban hubs, blending both European and Asian material and popular culture within a distinctly Australian context. Other influences include Australian Aboriginal culture, the traditions brought to the country by waves of immigration from around the world,[45] and the culture of the United States.[46]

History

Main articles: History of Australia and Immigration history of Australia

The Colony of New South Wales was established by the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1788, with the arrival of the First Fleet, and five other colonies were established in the 19th century, now forming the six present-day Australian states. Large-scale immigration occurred following a series of gold rushes in the 1850s and after the First and Second World Wars, with many post-World War II migrants coming from Southern Europe, Eastern Europe and The Middle East. Since the end of the White Australia policy in 1973, immigrants to Australia have come from around the world, and from Asia in particular.[39]

The predominance of the English language, the existence of a parliamentary system of government drawing upon the Westminster system, constitutional monarchy, American constitutionalist and federalist traditions, Christianity as the dominant religion, and the popularity of sports including cricket, rugby football and tennis are evidence of a significant Anglo-Celtic heritage derived from the descendants of early settlers who form an ancestral group known as Anglo-Celtic Australians. As a result of many shared linguistic, historical, cultural and geographic characteristics, Australians have often identified closely with New Zealanders in particular. Australian citizenship prior to 1949 was a social, moral, and political concept.[47] Prior to the introduction of Australian citizenship, Australians had the status of "British subjects".[48] The High Court of Australia in Potter v Minahan (1908) stated that "Although there is no Australian nationality as distinguished from British nationality, there is an Australian species of British nationality."[49]

Ancestries

The Australian Bureau of Statistics does not collect data on race, but asks each Australian resident to nominate up to two ancestries each census.[50] These ancestry responses are classified into broad standardised ancestry groups.[51] At the 2021 census, the number of ancestry responses within each standardised group as a proportion of the total population was as follows:[52] 57.2% European (including 46% North-West European and 11.2% Southern and Eastern European), 33.8% (including 29.9% Australian) Oceanian[N 1], 17.4% Asian (including 6.5% Southern and Central Asian, 6.4% North-East Asian, and 4.5% South-East Asian), 3.2% North African and Middle Eastern, 1.4% Peoples of the Americas, and 1.3% Sub-Saharan African. At the 2021 census, the most commonly nominated individual ancestries as a proportion of the total population were:[54]

European Australians

Main articles: European Australians and Anglo-Celtic Australians

European Australians are Australians of whose descent is wholly or partially European. Australians of European descent are the majority in Australia, with the number of ancestry responses categorised within the European groups as a proportion of the total population amounting to 57.2% (including 46% North-West European and 11.2% Southern and Eastern European).[52][51] The proportion of Australians with European ancestry is thought to be higher than the numbers captured in the census as those nominating their ancestry as "Australian" are classified within the Oceanian group, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics has stated that most who nominate "Australian" as their ancestry are Anglo-Celtic Australians.[53] Since soon after the beginning of British settlement in 1788, people of European descent have formed the majority of the population in Australia.[55]

The largest statistical grouping of European Australians are Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians whose ancestors originate wholly or partially in the British Isles. This includes English Australians, Irish Australians, Scottish Australians and Welsh Australians.[56] Anglo-Celtic Australians have been highly influential in shaping the nation's character. By the mid-1840s, the numbers of freeborn settlers had overtaken the convict population. Although some observers stress Australia's convict history, the vast majority of early settlers came of their own free will.[57] Far more Australians are descended from assisted immigrants than from convicts, the majority of Colonial Era settlers being British and Irish.[58] About 20 percent of Australians are descendants of convicts.[59] Most of the first Australian settlers came from London, the Midlands and the North of England, and Ireland.[60][61][62]

Settlers that arrived throughout the 19th century were from all parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland, a significant proportion of settlers came from the Southwest and Southeast of England, from Ireland and from Scotland.[63] In 1888, 60 percent of the Australian population had been born in Australia, and almost all had British ancestral origins. Out of the remaining 40 percent, 34 percent had been born in the British Isles, and 6 percent were of European origin, mainly from Germany and Scandinavia.[64] The census of 1901 showed that 98 percent of Australians had Anglo-Celtic ancestral origins.[65] In 1939 and 1945, still 98 percent of Australians had Anglo-Celtic ancestral origins.[66] Until 1947, the vast majority of the population were of British origin.[67]

Germans formed the largest non-British Isles ancestry for most of the 19th century.[68] Between 1901 and 1940, 140,000 non-British European immigrants arrived in Australia (about 16 percent of the total intake).[69] Before World War II, 13.6 percent were born overseas, and 80 percent of those were British.[70] Following the Second World War, large numbers of continental Europeans immigrated to Australia, with Italian Australians and Greek Australians being among the largest immigrant groups during the post-war era. During the 1950s, Australia was the destination of 30 per cent of Dutch emigrants and the Netherlands-born became numerically the second largest non-British group in Australia.[71] In 1971, 70 percent of the foreign born were of European origin.

Italian Australians are Australians of Italian ancestry, and comprise the largest non Anglo-Celtic European ethnic group in Australia, with the 2021 census finding 4.4% of the population claiming ancestry from Italy be they migrants to Australia or their descendants born in Australia of Italian heritage.[72][54] Australia's long-history of Italian immigration has given rise to an Italo-Australian dialect of the Italian language. German Australians are Australians of German ancestry. The German community constitutes the second largest non-Anglo Celtic European ethnic group in Australia, amounting to 4% of respondents in the 2021 Census.[54] Germans formed the largest non-English-speaking group in Australia up to the 20th century.[73] Although a few individuals had emigrated earlier,[74] the first large group of Germans arrived in South Australia 1838, not long after the British colonisation of South Australia.

Asian Australians

Main article: Asian Australians

Asian Australians are Australians with ancestry wholly or partially from the continent of Asia. At the 2021 census, the number of ancestry responses categorised within the Asian groups as a proportion of the total population amounted to 17.4% (including 6.5% Southern and Central Asian, 6.4% North-East Asian, and 4.5% South-East Asian).[52][51] This figure excludes Australians of Middle Eastern ancestry, who are separately categorised within the North African and Middle Eastern group.

Chinese Australians are Australians of Chinese ancestry, forming the single largest non Anglo-Celtic ancestry in the country, constituting 5.5% of those nominating their ancestry at the 2021 census.[54] Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups of Overseas Chinese people, forming the largest Overseas Chinese community in Oceania, and are the largest Asian-Australian community. Per capita, Australia has more people of Chinese ancestry than any country outside Asia. Many Chinese Australians have immigrated from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan as well as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, while many are descendants of such immigrants. The very early history of Chinese Australians involved significant immigration from villages of the Pearl River Delta in Southern China.

More recent Chinese migrants include those from Mandarin and other Chinese dialects or forms. Less well-known are the kinds of society Chinese Australians came from, the families they left behind and what their intentions were in migrating. Gold rushes lured many Chinese to the Australian colonies. From the mid-19th century, Chinese dubbed Australia the New Gold Mountain after the Gold Mountain of California in North America. They typically sent money to their families in the villages, regularly visited their families, and retired to their home villages after many years working as market gardeners, shopkeepers or cabinet-makers. As with many overseas Chinese groups the world over, early Chinese immigrants to Australia established several Chinatowns in major cities, such as Sydney (Chinatown, Sydney), Melbourne (Chinatown, Melbourne, since the 1850s) and Brisbane (Chinatown, Brisbane), Perth (Chinatown, Perth), as well as in regional towns associated with the goldfields such as Cairns (Cairns Chinatown).[75]

Indian Australians are Australians of Indian ancestry, and are the second-largest Asian Australian ancestry, comprising 3.1% of the total population.[54] Indian Australians are one of the largest groups within the Indian diaspora. Indians are the youngest average age (34 years) and the fastest growing community both in terms of absolute numbers and percentages in Australia.[37] Migration of Indians to Australia followed the pattern of "from 18th-century sepoys and lascars (soldiers and sailors) aboard visiting European ships, through 19th-century migrant labourers and the 20th century's hostile policies to the new generation of skilled professional migrants of the 21st century... India became the largest source of skilled migrants in the 21st century."[76]

Indigenous Australians

Aboriginal Australians, 1981
Australian Aboriginal flag
Main articles: Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal Australians, and Torres Strait Islanders

Indigenous Australians are descendants of the original inhabitants of the Australian continent.[77] Their ancestors are believed to have migrated from Africa to Asia around 70,000 years ago[78] and arrived in Australia around 50,000 years ago.[79][80] The Torres Strait Islanders are a distinct people of Melanesian ancestry, indigenous to the Torres Strait Islands, which are at the northernmost tip of Queensland near Papua New Guinea, and some nearby settlements on the mainland. The term "Aboriginal" is traditionally applied to only the indigenous inhabitants of mainland Australia and Tasmania, along with some of the adjacent islands. Indigenous Australians is an inclusive term used when referring to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders (the "first peoples").

Dispersing across the Australian continent over time, the population expanded and differentiated into hundreds of distinct groups, each with its own language and culture.[81] More than 400 distinct Australian Aboriginal peoples have been identified across the continent, distinguished by unique names designating their ancestral languages, dialects, or distinctive speech patterns.[82]

In 1770, fearing he had been pre-empted by the French, James Cook changed a hilltop signal-drill on Possession Island in Torres Strait, into a possession ceremony, fabricating Britain's claim of Australia's east coast.[83] Eighteen years later, the east coast was occupied by Britain and later the west coast was also settled by Britain. At that time, the indigenous population was estimated to have been between 315,000 and 750,000.[5]

At the 2021 census, 3.2% of the Australian population identified as being Indigenous — Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders.[N 4][84] Indigenous Australians experience higher than average rates of imprisonment and unemployment, lower levels of education, and life expectancies for males and females that are, respectively, 11 and 17 years lower than those of non-indigenous Australians.[85][86] Some remote Indigenous communities have been described as having "failed state"-like conditions.[87]

Country of birth

In 2019, 30% of the Australian resident population, or 7,529,570 people, were born overseas.[37] The following table shows Australia's population by country of birth as estimated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2021. It shows only countries or regions or birth with a population of over 100,000 residing in Australia (for more information about immigration see Immigration to Australia and Foreign-born population of Australia):

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021)[88]
Place of birth Estimated resident population[B]
Total Australian-born 18,235,690
Total foreign-born 7,502,450
United Kingdom England, Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland[C] 		967,390
India India 710,380
China China[D] 595,630
New Zealand New Zealand 559,980
Philippines Philippines 310,620
Vietnam Vietnam 268,170
South Africa South Africa 201,930
Malaysia Malaysia 172,250
Italy Italy 171,520
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka 145,790
Scotland Scotland[E] 130,060
Nepal Nepal 129,870
United States United States 109,450
Germany Germany 107,940
South Korea South Korea 106,560
Hong Kong Hong Kong[F] 104,990
Greece Greece 100,650

Language

Main article: Languages of Australia

Although Australia has no official language, English has always been entrenched as the de facto national language.[89] Australian English is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon,[90] and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling.[91] General Australian serves as the standard dialect.

At the 2021 census, English was the only language spoken in the home for 72% of the population. The next most common languages spoken at home are Mandarin (2.7%), Arabic (1.4%), Vietnamese (1.3%), Cantonese (1.2%) and Punjabi (0.9%).[84] Over 250 Indigenous Australian languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact,[92] of which fewer than twenty are still in daily use by all age groups.[93][94] About 110 others are spoken exclusively by older people.[94] At the time of the 2006 census, 52,000 Indigenous Australians, representing 12% of the Indigenous population, reported that they spoke an Indigenous language at home.[95] Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 10,112 deaf people who reported that they use Auslan language at home in the 2016 census.[96]

Religion

Main article: Religion in Australia

Australia has no official religion; its Constitution prohibits the Commonwealth government, but not the states, from establishing one, or interfering with the freedom of religion.[97] At the 2021 Census, 38.9% of the population identified as having "no religion",[98] up from 15.5% in 2001.[99] The largest religion is Christianity (43.9% of the population).[98] The largest Christian denominations are the Roman Catholic Church (20% of the population) and the Anglican Church of Australia (9.8%). Multicultural immigration since the Second World War has led to the growth of non-Christian religions, the largest of which are Islam (3.2%), Hinduism (2.7%), Buddhism (2.4%), Sikhism (0.8%), and Judaism (0.4%).[98]

In 2021, just under 8,000 people declared an affiliation with traditional Aboriginal religions.[98] According to Australian Aboriginal mythology and the animist framework developed in Aboriginal Australia, the Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral totemic spirit beings formed The Creation. The Dreaming established the laws and structures of society and the ceremonies performed to ensure continuity of life and land.[100]

Population

The current Australian resident population is estimated at 27,791,000 (21 October 2024).[101] This does not include Australians living overseas. In 2015, 2.15% of the Australian population lived overseas, one of the lowest proportions worldwide.[102] This ratio is much lower than many other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (an intergovernmental organisation with 38 member developed countries).

Historical population

The data in the table is sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.[103][104] The population estimates do not include the Aboriginal population before 1961. Estimates of Aboriginal population prior to European settlement range from 300,000 to one million, with archaeological finds indicating a sustainable population of around 750,000.[105]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The ABS gives the following "Explanatory Information" regarding census interpretation of irreligion: "'No religion' is equivalent to 'Secular Beliefs and Other Spiritual Beliefs and No Religious Affiliation'. For further details, see the Census of Population and Housing: Census Dictionary (cat. no. 2901.0)"[31]
  2. ^ Only countries with 100,000 or more are listed here.
  3. ^ The Australian Bureau of Statistics source lists England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland separately although they are all part of the United Kingdom. They are not combined because they are not combined in the source.
  4. ^ In accordance with the Australian Bureau of Statistics source, Mainland China, Taiwan and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau are listed separately.
  5. ^ The Australian Bureau of Statistics source lists England and Scotland separately although they are both part of the United Kingdom. These should not be combined as they are not combined in the source.
  6. ^ In accordance with the Australian Bureau of Statistics source, Mainland China, Taiwan and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau are listed separately.
  1. ^ Includes those who nominate "Australian" as their ancestry. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stated that most who nominate "Australian" as their ancestry have at least partial Anglo-Celtic European ancestry.[53]
  2. ^ The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stated that most who nominate "Australian" as their ancestry have at least partial Anglo-Celtic ancestry.[53]
  3. ^ Those who nominated their ancestry as "Australian Aboriginal". Does not include Torres Strait Islanders. This relates to nomination of ancestry and is distinct from persons who identify as Indigenous (Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander) which is a separate question.
  4. ^ Indigenous identification is separate to the ancestry question on the Australian Census and persons identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander may identify any ancestry.

References

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Citation

Religion

Main article: Religion in Australia

Australia is a religiously diverse country and has no official religion.

Christianity is the predominant faith of Australia. According to the 2006 census, the largest religious denomination is Roman Catholicism, of which 25.8% of the population claimed affiliation. The next largest is the Anglican faith, at 18.7%. Members of other Christian denominations accounted for 19.4% of the population.

Minority religions practiced in Australia include Buddhism (2.1% of the population), Islam (1.7%), Hinduism (0.7%) and Judaism (0.4%). Two percent of the population stated a different religion, which includes Sikhism and Indigenous beliefs, and 18.7% claimed no religion, while 11.2% did not respond.[1]

The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001 Census Dictionary statement on religious affiliation states the purpose for gathering such information:

Data on religious affiliation are used for such purposes as planning educational facilities, aged persons' care and other social services provided by religion-based organisations; the location of church buildings; the assigning of chaplains to hospitals, prisons, armed services and universities; the allocation of time on public radio and other media; and sociological research.

As in many Western countries, the level of active participation in church worship is lower than would be indicated by the proportion of the population identifying themselves as Christian; weekly attendance at church services is about 1.5 million, or about 7.5% of the population.[2] Christian charitable organisations, hospitals and schools play a prominent role in welfare and education services. The Catholic education system is the second biggest sector after government schools, with more than 650 000 students (and around 21 per cent of all secondary school enrolments). The Anglican Church educates around 105,000 students and the Uniting Church has around 48 schools.[3]

Languages

English is the de facto national language of Australia and is spoken by the vast majority of the population.

The most commonly spoken languages other than English in Australia are Italian, Greek, German, Spanish, Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese languages, Indian languages, Arabic and Croatian, as well as numerous Australian Aboriginal languages.[4] Australia's hearing-impaired community uses Australian Deaf Sign Language.

Language Speakers
Only English 15,581,333
Italian 316,895
Greek 252,226
Cantonese 244,553
Arabic 243,662
Mandarin 220,600
Vietnamese 194,863
Spanish 98,001
Filipino 92,331
German 75,634
Hindi 70,011
Macedonian 67,835
Croatian 63,612
Australian Aboriginal Languages 55,705
Korean 54,623
Turkish 53,857
Polish 53,389
Serbian 52,534
French 43,216
Indonesian 42,036
Maltese 36,514
Russian 36,502
Dutch 36,183
Japanese 35,111
Tamil 32,700
Sinhalese 29,055
Samoan 28,525
Portuguese 25,779
Khmer 24,715
Assyrian (Aramaic) 23,526
Punjabi 23,164
Persian 22,841
Hungarian 21,565
Bengali 20,223
Urdu 19,288
Afrikaans 16,806
Bosnian 15,743

Literacy

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 99%
Male: 99%
Female: 99% (2003 est.)

Education expenditure

4.5% of GDP (2005)
country comparison to the world: 55

Nationality

Main article: Australian nationality law
  • noun: Australian(s)
  • adjective: Australian

Historical population estimates

Note that population estimates in the table below do not include the Aboriginal population before 1961. Estimates of Aboriginal population prior to European settlement range from 300,000 to one million, with archaeological finds indicating a sustainable population of around 750,000.[5]

Historic population (Estimated) [6][7]
Year Indigenous population
pre 1788 750,000 to 1,000,000 [8]
Year Non Indigenous population
1788 8590
1798 4,5880
1808 10,2630
1818 25,8590
1828 58,1970
1838 151,8680
1848 332,3280
1858 1,050,8280
1868 1,539,5520
1878 2,092,1640
1888 2,981,6770
1898 3,664,7150
Year Total population
1901 3,788,1230
1906 4,059,0830
1911 4,489,5450
1916 4,943,1730
1921 5,455,1360
1926 6,056,3600
1931 6,526,4850
1936 6,778,3720
1941 7,109,8980
1946 7,465,1570
1951 8,421,7750
1956 9,425,5630
1961 10,548,2670
1966 11,599,4980
1971 13,067,2650
1976 14,033,0830
1981 14,923,2600
1986 16,018,3500
1991 17,284,0360
1996 18,310,7140
2001 19,413,2400
2006 20,848,7600

See also

General

Cities

Ethnicities

References

  1. ^ "2914.0.55.002 – 2006 Census of Population and Housing: Media Releases and Fact Sheets, 2006". Abs.gov.au. 27 June 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
  2. ^ NCLS releases latest estimates of church attendance, National Church Life Survey, Media release, 28 February 2004
  3. ^ http://www.dfat.gov.au/facts/religion.html
  4. ^ "Ethnologue report for Australia". Ethnologue.com. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
  5. ^ "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population". 1301.0 – Year Book Australia, 2002. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 20 August 2007. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
  6. ^ TABLE 2. Population by sex, states and territories, 30 June 1901 onwards. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 23 May 2006. Retrieved 8 March 2008.
  7. ^ TABLE 1.1. Population by sex, states and territories, 31 December 1788 onwards. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 5 August 2008.
  8. ^ Briscoe, Gordon (2002). The Aboriginal Population Revisited: 70,000 years to the present. Canberra, Australia: Aboriginal History Inc. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-9585637-6-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
General References

Further reading

  • Jupp, James. The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, its People and their Origins (2002)
  • O'Farrell, Patrick. The Irish in Australia: 1798 to the Present Day (3rd ed. Cork University Press, 2001)
  • Wells, Andrew, and Theresa Martinez, eds. Australia's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook (ABC-CLIO, 2004)
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