As of December 2023, the proportion of the Australian population that lived in New South Wales amounted to 31.3 percent. The Northern Territory had the least number of residents in the country, with less than one percent of the population residing there.
In June 2022, it was estimated that around 7.3 percent of Australians were aged between 25 and 29, and the same applied to people aged between 30 and 34. All in all, about 55 percent of Australia’s population was aged 35 years or older as of June 2022. At the same time, the age distribution of the country also shows that the share of children under 14 years old was still higher than that of people over 65 years old.
A breakdown of Australia’s population growth
Australia is the sixth-largest country in the world, yet with a population of around 26 million inhabitants, it is only sparsely populated. Since the 1970s, the population growth of Australia has remained fairly constant. While there was a slight rise in the Australian death rate in 2022, the birth rate of the country decreased after a slight rise in the previous year. The fact that the birth rate is almost double the size of its death rate gives the country one of the highest natural population growth rates of any high-income country.
National distribution of the population
Australia’s population is expected to surpass 28 million people by 2028. The majority of its inhabitants live in the major cities. The most populated states are New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland. Together, they account for over 75 percent of the population in Australia.
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The world's most accurate population datasets. Seven maps/datasets for the distribution of various populations in Australia: (1) Overall population density (2) Women (3) Men (4) Children (ages 0-5) (5) Youth (ages 15-24) (6) Elderly (ages 60+) (7) Women of reproductive age (ages 15-49).
Changelog Version 1.0.0 (2025-07-05)
ArcGIS Instant App (Atlas) created using the following:
Population distribution by local government area webmapBasemap widget showcasing the Basemap Gallery
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Map layer widget, configured to open on the initial App load
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Sketch widget used to add the drawing as an operational layer of the map
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Australia Population Density: People per Square Km data was reported at 3.382 Person/sq km in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 3.339 Person/sq km for 2021. Australia Population Density: People per Square Km data is updated yearly, averaging 2.263 Person/sq km from Dec 1961 (Median) to 2022, with 62 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3.382 Person/sq km in 2022 and a record low of 1.365 Person/sq km in 1961. Australia Population Density: People per Square Km data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Population density is midyear population divided by land area in square kilometers. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship--except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin. Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes.;Food and Agriculture Organization and World Bank population estimates.;Weighted average;
As of June 2023, in the state of Western Australia in Australia, about 7.7 percent of the population was between 35 and 39 years old. In comparison, just 1.9 percent of the population was over the age of 85.
At December 2023, it was estimated that 7.3 percent of New South Wales residents were between 25 and 29 years old. Australia, like most economically developed countries, is expected to have an ever-increasing older population into the future.
This data set contains the Australian Bureau of Statistics population data for Australian states and territories. Population data was collected as part of national census’ in 1991, 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011. Data presented is the total population for all collection districts by place of enumeration. District Boundaries differed for each census and therefore were re-projected onto the 2011 population mesh blocks to standardise the spatial extent of the reporting areas. Given the focus of this project, population data was clipped by a 50km coastal buffer.
Note: population data for census’ 1991 – 1996 - 2001 was purchased by NESP and is made publically available through by NESP
Note: population data for 2006 and 2011 was downloaded through the ABS webportal. http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/tablebuilder?opendocument&navpos=240
Note. 2006 Census district boundaries were downloaded from the ABS website http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/2919.0.55.001Main+Features1Aug%202006?OpenDocument and 2011 population mesh blocks http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/1270.0.55.001
This data contains geographical information in shape files that represent the population density in Australia, from 1991 to 2011. The data contains the summary polygon, state_code, cd_code19, 91_pop_dat (population count), area and density (in persons per km^2). For other data sets the count will be 96_pop_dat, 2001_pop_dat, 2006_pop_dat and 2011_pop_dat.
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Chart and table of Australia population density from 1950 to 2025. United Nations projections are also included through the year 2100.
Census data reveals that population density varies noticeably from area to area. Small area census data do a better job depicting where the crowded neighborhoods are. In this map, the yellow areas of highest density range from 30,000 to 150,000 persons per square kilometer. In those areas, if the people were spread out evenly across the area, there would be just 4 to 9 meters between them. Very high density areas exceed 7,000 persons per square kilometer. High density areas exceed 5,200 persons per square kilometer. The last categories break at 3,330 persons per square kilometer, and 1,500 persons per square kilometer.This dataset is comprised of multiple sources. All of the demographic data are from Michael Bauer Research with the exception of the following countries:Australia: Esri Australia and MapData ServicesCanada: Esri Canada and EnvironicsFrance: Esri FranceGermany: Esri Germany and NexigaIndia: Esri India and IndicusJapan: Esri JapanSouth Korea: Esri Korea and OPENmateSpain: Esri España and AISUnited States: Esri Demographics
As of 2021, Millennials and Baby Boomers made up an equal share of the Australian population at around 21.5 percent each, making them the largest generational groups at the time. Those aged 75 years and over made up the smallest portion of the population, followed by Gen Alpha, or those aged 0 to 9 years at the time.
WorldPop produces different types of gridded population count datasets, depending on the methods used and end application.
Please make sure you have read our Mapping Populations overview page before choosing and downloading a dataset.
Datasets are available to download in Geotiff and ASCII XYZ format at a resolution of 30 arc-seconds (approximately 1km at the equator)
-Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020: Population density datasets for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020 – derived from the corresponding
Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 population count datasets by dividing the number of people in each pixel by the pixel surface area.
These are produced using the unconstrained top-down modelling method.
-Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 UN adjusted: Population density datasets for all countries of the World for each year 2000-2020 – derived from the corresponding
Unconstrained individual countries 2000-2020 population UN adjusted count datasets by dividing the number of people in each pixel,
adjusted to match the country total from the official United Nations population estimates (UN 2019), by the pixel surface area.
These are produced using the unconstrained top-down modelling method.
Data for earlier dates is available directly from WorldPop.
WorldPop (www.worldpop.org - School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton; Department of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville; Departement de Geographie, Universite de Namur) and Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University (2018). Global High Resolution Population Denominators Project - Funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1134076). https://dx.doi.org/10.5258/SOTON/WP00674
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License information was derived automatically
This dataset presents data on population and people available from the ABS Data by Region statistics. This release of Data by Region presents various data for 2011-2019 and Census of Population and Housing data for 2011 and 2016 and is based on the Statistical Area 4 (SA4) 2016 boundaries. The dataset includes information in the following specified areas of population and people: Estimated Resident Population, Working Age Population, Median Age, Births and Deaths, Population Density, Internal and Overseas Migration, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Overseas Born Proportion, Religious Affiliation and Speaks language other than English.
Data by Region contains a standard set of data for each region type, depending on the availability of statistics for particular geographies. Data are sourced from a wide variety of collections, both ABS and non-ABS. When analysing these statistics, care needs to be taken as time periods, definitions, methodologies, scope and coverage can differ across collections. Where available, data have been presented as a time series - to enable users to assess changes over time. However, when looked at on a period to period basis, some series may sometimes appear volatile. When analysing the data, users are encouraged to consider the longer term behaviour of the series, where this extra information is available.
For more information please visit the Explanatory Notes.
AURIN has made the following changes to the original data:
Spatially enabled the original data with the ABS Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) SA4 2016 dataset.
Some data values in Data by Region have been randomly adjusted or suppressed to avoid the release of confidential details.
Where data was not available, not available for publication, nil or rounded to zero in the original data, it has been set to null.
Columns and rows that did not contain any values in the original data have been removed.
Constrained estimates, total number of people per grid-cell. The dataset is available to download in Geotiff format at a resolution of 3 arc (approximately 100m at the equator). The projection is Geographic Coordinate System, WGS84. The units are number of people per pixel. The mapping approach is Random Forest-based dasymetric redistribution.
The difference between constrained and unconstrained you can read on this page: https://www.worldpop.org/methods/top_down_constrained_vs_unconstrained
In 2023, about 7.8 percent of the population of the Australian state of Victoria was between 30 and 34 years old. Approximately 2.1 percent of the population of Victoria was over 85 years of age.
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Australia Population: Female data was reported at 13,409,588.000 Person in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 13,096,996.000 Person for 2022. Australia Population: Female data is updated yearly, averaging 8,720,430.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2023, with 64 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 13,409,588.000 Person in 2023 and a record low of 5,084,739.000 Person in 1960. Australia Population: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Female population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all female residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.;World Bank staff estimates using the World Bank's total population and age/sex distributions of the United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2022 Revision.;Sum;
The Census 2021 Usual Residents Population Density for SA1 data, sourced from: https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/socio-economic-indexes-areas-seifa-australia/latest-release
Census data reveals that population density varies noticeably from area to area. Small area census data do a better job depicting where the crowded neighborhoods are. In this map, the yellow areas of highest density range from 30,000 to 150,000 persons per square kilometer. In those areas, if the people were spread out evenly across the area, there would be just 4 to 9 meters between them. Very high density areas exceed 7,000 persons per square kilometer. High density areas exceed 5,200 persons per square kilometer. The last categories break at 3,330 persons per square kilometer, and 1,500 persons per square kilometer.This dataset is comprised of multiple sources. All of the demographic data are from Michael Bauer Research with the exception of the following countries:Australia: Esri Australia and MapData ServicesCanada: Esri Canada and EnvironicsFrance: Esri FranceGermany: Esri Germany and NexigaIndia: Esri India and IndicusJapan: Esri JapanSouth Korea: Esri Korea and OPENmateSpain: Esri España and AISUnited States: Esri Demographics
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License information was derived automatically
NEXIS (National Exposure Information System) Residential Population Density web service is a set of five raster layers, representing the density of people across Australia at different scales and resolution.
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License information was derived automatically
This dataset presents data on population and people available from the ABS Data by Region statistics. This release of Data by Region presents various data for 2011-2019 and Census of Population and Housing data for 2011 and 2016 and is based on the Statistical Area 2 (SA2) 2016 boundaries. The dataset includes information in the following specified areas of population and people: Estimated Resident Population, Working Age Population, Median Age, Births and Deaths, Population Density, Internal and Overseas Migration, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Overseas Born Proportion, Religious Affiliation and Speaks language other than English.
Data by Region contains a standard set of data for each region type, depending on the availability of statistics for particular geographies. Data are sourced from a wide variety of collections, both ABS and non-ABS. When analysing these statistics, care needs to be taken as time periods, definitions, methodologies, scope and coverage can differ across collections. Where available, data have been presented as a time series - to enable users to assess changes over time. However, when looked at on a period to period basis, some series may sometimes appear volatile. When analysing the data, users are encouraged to consider the longer term behaviour of the series, where this extra information is available.
For more information please visit the Explanatory Notes.
AURIN has made the following changes to the original data:
Spatially enabled the original data with the ABS Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) SA2 2016 dataset.
Some data values in Data by Region have been randomly adjusted or suppressed to avoid the release of confidential details.
Where data was not available, not available for publication, nil or rounded to zero in the original data, it has been set to null.
Columns and rows that did not contain any values in the original data have been removed.
As of December 2023, the proportion of the Australian population that lived in New South Wales amounted to 31.3 percent. The Northern Territory had the least number of residents in the country, with less than one percent of the population residing there.