MAJOR FINDINGS

Australia’s estimated population at December 31 was 24.4 million people.

ThereT were 23,717,421 people in AustraliaA on Census night, which included 23,401,892 people who usually live in Australia – an 8.8 per cent increase from 2011.

NSW remains our most populous state, with 7,480,228 people counted, ahead of Victoria (5,926,624) and Queensland (4,703,193).

The Australian Capital Territory experienced the largest population growth of any state or territory over the past five years, adding more than 40,000 new residents – an increase of 11 per cent.

GreaterG Sydney is Australia’s largestla population centre with 4,823,991 people, growing at 1656 every week since the previous Census.

1.31 million new migrants have comec to Australia since 2011, hailing from some of the 180 countries of birth recorded in the Census, with China (191,000) and India (163,000) being the most common countries of birth of new arrivals.

Of all Australian residents, just over a quarter of people (26 per cent) said they were born overseas, with England remaining the most common country of birth other than Australia. For the first time in our history, the majority of people born overseas are now from Asia, not Europe.

We remain a predominantly English speaking country, with 72.7 per cent of people reporting they speak only English at home. Tasmania had the highest rate of people speaking only English at home with 88 per cent, while the Northern Territory had the lowest rate at 58 per cent.

Australia also remains a predominantly religious country, with 60 per cent of people reporting a religious affiliation. However, the proportion of people reporting no religion increased to 30 per cent in 2016 – up from 22 per cent five years ago.

AustraliansA are getting older with 664,473 additional people aged 65 and over since 2011.