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Proportion of Australians aged 65 and over continues to grow

Xinhua, December 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

The proportion of Australians aged 65 and over has increased yet again in 2016, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistic (ABS) on Thursday.

ABS Demography Director Beidar Cho said the latest figures continue a trend from the last twenty years, with the percentage of Australians considered "elderly" now at 15.3 percent, up from 12 percent in 1996.

"(As a result), over the last 20 years, there was a decrease in both the traditional working age population (from 66.6 to 65.9 percent) and the proportion of children (21.4 to 18.8 percent)," Cho said in a statement on Thursday.

She added that the proportion differs state to state, as a result of migration for economic, lifestyle and family reasons.

"In 2016, Tasmania is our oldest state or territory with a median age of 42 years, while the Northern Territory is the youngest with a median age of 33 years," Cho said.

"Tasmania and South Australia have the highest proportions of older people and the lowest proportions of both children and working age population.

"The Territories have the lowest proportions of older people and the highest proportions of working age population. The Northern Territory also has the highest proportion of children, followed by Queensland."

Overall, Cho said Australia's population grew by 337,800 people (1.4 percent) in 2015-16, to reach 24.1 million by the end of June 2016.

Net overseas migration added 182,200 people to the population and accounted for just more than half of Australia's total population growth, while net natural increase contributed 155,700 people to the Australian population - made up of 315,500 births and 159,900 deaths. Endit