Population estimates as at 30 June each year. Where a bar does not have a segment for 2025, the number of people in that category is predicted to decrease by 2025. The predicted number is shown as a lighter coloured line on the overlying 2005 bar. Population components may not add exactly due to rounding.
Source:
ABS estimated residential populations based on 2001 Census counts and population projections from the Transport and Population Data Centre, Department of Planning (HOIST).
In NSW the estimated residential population in 2005 (based on data collected in the 2001 Census) was 6,804,522. This represents an average annual growth rate of approximately 0.96% in the years 2000 to 2005, compared to an average annual growth rate of 1.15% in the years 1995 to 2000 (ABS, 2005). By 2025 it is projected that the population of NSW will be just over 7,960,000, which represents an average annual increase of 0.79% on the 2005 population.
In 2005 approximately half the NSW population was aged 36 years or more. The median age was 36 years for males and 37 years for females. In 2000 the median age was 35 years (34 years for males and 36 years for females) while in 1995 it was 34 years (33 and 34 years for males and females respectively). The median age projected for 2025 is 41 years (40 years for males and 42 years for females).
The female population slightly outnumbered the male population in 2005, a situation that is projected to reverse by 2025. Several factors determine the balance of the sexes, but higher birthrates for males and lower death rates in females are the most important. The proportion of females in the population increases with age. In 2005 females made up 55% of the NSW population aged 65 years or more, and 64% of the population aged 80 years or more. By 2025 these proportions will be 53% and 58% respectively, as male life expectancies are increasing faster than those of females (see Life Expectancy at Birth).
In 2001 approximately 71% of the NSW population lived in metropolitan areas, 21% lived in inner regional areas, and 8% in outer regional and remote areas.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. Population projections, Australia 2004 to 2101 . ABS Catalogue No. 3222.0. Canberra: ABS, 2005. Available at www.abs.gov.au/ausstats
Although this page can be printed directly from your Web browser,
a higher quality version of this entire page (graph, table and text)
is available as an Acrobat PDF file which can be printed or viewed on screen
using free software.
The data contained in the table on this page are available for download as a CSV file which can be
imported into many software packages. The graph is available for download as an EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) file
and as an EMF (Enhanced Metafile Format) file. Files in these formats can be imported into most word processing,
presentation and graphics software packages.
Copyright notice:
This work is copyright NSW Department of Health, 2006. It may be reproduced
in whole or in part, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source. Commercial usage or sale is prohibited.
Population Health Division. The health of the people of New South Wales -
Report of the Chief Health Officer. Sydney: NSW Department of Health. Available at:
http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/chorep/dem/dem_pop_age.htm. Accessed (insert date of access).
Top of page
Table of contents
