Grey power is taking over! Census reveals big jump in 65-pluses

It’s official! Australians are getting older and living longer, healthier lives, according to the just-released 2016 Census data.

The data show that there were an additional 664,473 people aged 65 or over in 2016, compared to 2011.

That means that one in every six Aussies are now over 65, compared to one in seven in 2011 and just one in 25 back in 2011.

The number of Baby Boomers is currently about equal to the number of Gen-Xers and Millennials. 

As well as having an increasingly ‘grey’ population, we have an increasing number of people who’re living to the ripe old age of 85 and older.

The 2016 census showed that there were 84,000 more people in that group last year than there were at the 2011 census. They make up just over 2 percent of the country’s population.

And last year, there were 3,500 people aged 100 or more.  

One thing hasn’t changed, though. Women are still living longer than men; women make up 54 percent of Australia’s 65-and-overs and 63 percent of the 85-and-overs.

Tasmania is the ‘most experienced’ state, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, with almost 20 percent of the Apple Isle’s population aged 65 and above.

Tassie also recorded the highest median age of any state or territory, at 42 years, just ahead of South Australia’s 40 years.

Across Australia, the population is getting older, with the median age now 38, up from 27 in 2011 and a long way from just 23 in 2011.

Can you see these changes in our population? How do you feel to be part of a growing demographic group?