At the 2021 Australian census, 278,043 people in New South Wales were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. New South Wales is Australia’s most populated state, also housing Australia’s largest city, Sydney. By comparison, Australia’s second largest state, Victoria, was home to around 66 thousand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

There are around 800,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia, which represents just over three percent of the Australian population. Indigenous people are often referred to as Australia's first people or the traditional custodians of the land in recognition of their ancestors inhabiting Australia more than 60,000 years ago. Australia's Indigenous peoples are represented by two distinct groups. Aboriginal people come from the Australian mainland. Torres Strait Islander people inhabit the group of Islands between the northern tip of Queensland and Papua New Guinea and represent less than 40,000 people.

Closing the gap

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience significantly poorer health and wellbeing outcomes when compared to their non-Indigenous Australian counterparts. The average life expectancy of Indigenous Australians is around eight years shorter than that of the non-Indigenous population. In education, Indigenous Australians are also underrepresented, but attendance rates are improving and in 2019, full-time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students numbered well over 200,000 people.

The share of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Australia in 2019 was highest in New South Wales with around 33 percent of the indigenous population in Australia living there. Comparatively, the Australian Capital Territory accounted for only one percent of the country's indigenous population in that year.

Canada's most populous province, Ontario, had 188 315 Aboriginal people in 2001, the highest absolute number. However, they accounted for less than 2% of its total population. Second was British Columbia with 170 025, or 4.4% of its population. As in previous censuses, the highest concentrations of Aboriginal population in 2001 were in the North and on the Prairies.

In 2021, the proportion of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people living in major cities in Australia amounted to 41.1 percent of the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander population. By comparison, 73.7 percent of the non-Indigenous population lived in major cities. Although the majority of the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander population lived in major cities and inner regional areas, almost one in ten lived in very remote communities.

This service shows the percentage of the population who reported an Aboriginal identity by census division. The data is from the Census Profile, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2016001. Aboriginal identity refers to whether the person identified with the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. This includes those who are First Nations (North American Indian), Métis or Inuk (Inuit) and/or those who are Registered or Treaty Indians (that is, registered under the Indian Act of Canada) and/or those who have membership in a First Nation or Indian band. Aboriginal peoples of Canada are defined in the Constitution Act, 1982, section 35 (2) as including the Indian, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada. Users should be aware that the estimates associated with this variable are more affected than most by the incomplete enumeration of certain Indian reserves and Indian settlements in the 2016 Census of Population. For additional information refer to the 2016 Census Dictionary for 'Aboriginal identity'. To have a cartographic representation of the ecumene with this socio-economic indicator, it is recommended to add as the first layer, the “NRCan - 2016 population ecumene by census division” web service, accessible in the data resources section below.

This dataset presents the estimates of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, non-Indigenous and total populations of Australia for the year ending at 30 June 2016, based on results of the 2016 Census of Population and Housing. The data is by Local Government Areas (LGA) following the 2016 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population of Australia comprises people who are of Aboriginal origin, Torres Strait Islander origin or both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin. The Commonwealth definition of an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person is: a person of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent who; identifies as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin and who is; accepted as such by the community with which the person associates. This data is Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data (catalogue number: 3238.0.55.001) used with permission from the ABS. For more information please visit the ABS Explanatory Notes. Please note: AURIN has spatially enabled the original data.

As of 2023, the region's average share of the indigenous population living under the poverty line was 42.3 percent. The most recent data for Colombia positions the country with 63.5 percent of the population, the highest in Latin America.

This dataset, released in June 2019, contains the Aboriginal population as a percentage of the total usual resident population, 2016. The data is by Local Government Area (LGA) 2016 geographic boundaries.

For more information please see the data source notes on the data.

Source: Compiled by PHIDU based on the ABS Census of Population and Housing, August 2016.

AURIN has spatially enabled the original data. Data that was not shown/not applicable/not published/not available for the specific area ('#', '..', '^', 'np, 'n.a.', 'n.y.a.' in original PHIDU data) was removed.It has been replaced by by Blank cells. For other keys and abbreviations refer to PHIDU Keys.

Among selected Latin American countries in 2021, Guatemala had the highest share of population that identify themselves as indigenous with over 43.5 percent. Bolivia followed with 41 percent of the total inhabitants. Colombia and Ecuador ranked as the Latin American countries with the highest share of indigenous people living in poverty.

Proportion of the school-age population (ages 5 to 24) with Indigenous identity, Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations.

This dataset, released in June 2019, contains the Aboriginal population as a percentage of the total usual resident population, 2016. The data is by Population Health Area (PHA) 2016 geographic boundaries based on the 2016 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). Population Health Areas, developed by PHIDU, are comprised of a combination of whole SA2s and multiple (aggregates of) SA2s, where the SA2 is an area in the ABS structure. For more information please see the data source notes on the data. Source: Compiled by PHIDU based on the ABS Census of Population and Housing, August 2016. AURIN has spatially enabled the original data. Data that was not shown/not applicable/not published/not available for the specific area ('#', '..', '^', 'np, 'n.a.', 'n.y.a.' in original PHIDU data) was removed.It has been replaced by by Blank cells. For other keys and abbreviations refer to PHIDU Keys.

This Alberta Official Statistic describes the proportions of Aboriginal Identity population by Mother Tongue (English, French, Aboriginal Languages and Other Languages) for Canada, Provinces and Territories based on the 2011 National Household Survey. Between May and August 2011, Statistics Canada conducted the National Household Survey (NHS) for the first time. This voluntary, self-administered survey was introduced as a replacement for the long census questionnaire, also known as Census Form 2B. The NHS is designed to collect social and economic data about the Canadian population.

This Alberta Official Statistic describes the percentage of the population that reported having an Aboriginal identity in 2011. The population is divided into larger urban centres and rural and small town areas. Within the larger urban centres, the population is divided between Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) and two different sizes of Census Agglomerations (CA). Within rural and small town Alberta, the population is divided into four categories with each category consecutively representing less integration with urban economies. The four categories are called Metropolitan Influence Zones (MIZ) and capture urban integration by measuring the percentage of the working population commuting to urban centers. The categories are: Strong MIZ (where 30% to 49% of the workforce commutes to an urban core) Moderate MIZ (where 5% to 29% commute to an urban core) Weak MIZ (where 1% to 4% commute to an urban core) No MIZ (where there are no residents commuting to an urban core)

The provide detailed statistical tables for 18 scenarios by single year of the projection period (2001 to 2017). For each of the scenarios, data are available for persons who identify with each of the following three groups: the North American Indian population, the Métis or the Inuit. All three groups were projected separately for each of the ten provinces and three territories. However, the subprovincial and subterritorial level shown for the three groups varies as it depends on the groups' size. For the North American Indians, future numbers were calculated for the urban parts of all census metropolitan areas (CMAs), urban areas outside CMAs, rural areas and reserves. For the Métis, places of residence were grouped into urban parts of CMAs, urban areas outside CMAs and rural areas, which also include reserves. Because of their relatively small size, the Inuit population was projected separately for urban and rural locations only. This information is further broken down by age and sex. The 18 scenarios, as well as scenario-specific assumptions on the future trend in fertility and internal migration, are presented in the table below. In addition to these two components of population growth, all scenarios assumed declining mortality and negligible importance of international migration to the change of the size of three Aboriginal groups. The statistical tables of this CD-ROM are organized into three sections: 1 - Aboriginal groups - The projected population by Aboriginal group, type of residence, province/territory and sex for the 18 scenarios by single year from 2001 to 2017; 2 - Age and sex - The projected population by Aboriginal group, type of residence, age group and sex for the 18 scenarios by single year from 2001 to 2017; and 3 - Province/territory - The projected total Aboriginal population by province/territory, age group, sex and type of residence for the 18 scenarios for 2001 and 2017. The statistical tables are supplementary to the publication Projections of the Aboriginal populations, Canada, provinces and territories: 2001 to 2017 (catalogue no. 91-547). For current population projections for Canada, provinces, and territories data refer to Statistics Canada Access data by All-Aboriginal Groups here Access data by Age and Sex here Access data by Provinces and Territories here

According to the 2006 Census, the number of people who identified themselves as an Aboriginal person has surpassed the one-million mark, reaching 1 172 790 persons. In 2006, Aboriginal people accounted for 3.8% of the total population of Canada as enumerated in the census, up from 3.3% in 2001. This map shows the Aboriginal population as the percentage of the total population, by census subdivision.

Number and percentage of the general population who identify as Aboriginal, by municipality and census year.

The number of Aboriginal people and their proportion of the total Aboriginal population for 5 year age groups to 65+, 2015. Aboriginal as used in this workbook refers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (all entries that were classified as not shown, not published or not applicable were assigned a null value; no data was provided for Maralinga Tjarutja LGA, in South Australia). The data is by LGA 2015 profile (based on the LGA 2011 geographic boundaries). For more information on Indigenous population estimates refer to: http://phidu.torrens.edu.au/. Source: Compiled by PHIDU based on data developed by Prometheus Information Pty Ltd, under a contract with the Australian Government Department of Health.

Number of persons in the labour force (employment and unemployment) and not in the labour force, unemployment rate, participation rate and employment rate by Atlantic region, Central provinces, Western provinces, Indigenous population (First Nations or Métis) and Non-Indigenous population, sex, and age group, last 5 years.

Overview of educational characteristics of Indigenous populations in Canada, provinces, territories and cities, with percent distribution of highest certificate, diploma or degree.

The Indigenous Populations of Canada map is derived from the CanEcumene 2.0 Geodatabase using custom tabulations of census-based population data. Indigenous communities within the level of the census sub-division (CSD) were identified using a combination of sources from census field data (see Eddy et. al. 2020 for more details). This map shows the percent of Indigenous population in CanEcumene 2.0 communities using graduated symbols, overlaid upon a population density raster. The larger the symbol, the higher the percentage of Indigenous population in that area. The darker the colour in the underlying raster, the denser is the general population. This map illustrates how the majority of Indigenous populations reside in locations outside of the denser populated areas of Canada.