Originally Posted by Matt Wade, Sydney Morning Herald
When the Bureau of Statistics' population clock reaches 24 million at 12.51am on Tuesday the nation will have added its latest million in record time – it is just 2 years, 9 months and 2 days since 23 million ticked over. During the second half of last century it took around four-and-a-half years to add each million people.
Australia will reach the milestone 17 years earlier than had been predicted by demographers back in late 1999.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt Wade, Sydney Morning Herald
In late 1999 – when the population reached 19 million - the Bureau of Statistics projected the national population would reach 24 million in 2033. Trends at the time suggested the each new million people would be added in 7 to 9 years but instead Australia has been adding an extra million every 3-4 years.
I can still clearly remember at school in the late 1960's when we were taught
the population of Australia is 12 million, half of what it is today.
like the old joke in the UK re. population growth....
"In (the UK) Australia a woman gives birth to a child every 91 seconds.........and we've got to find her...and STOP her!!"
Interesting that back in the 1880s, Australia population growth was so rapid that it was predicted by the Vic government statistician that by 1981 the population would be over 90 million and would be larger than the US!
But then the White Australia policy kicked in, we went all protectionist and here we are.
About 45 years ago when I was in Primary School I learned that India had 800 million people. Now India has 1.252 billion! Now that's scary increase of 450 million people in 45 years!
That's about combined population of today's Russia 143.5 million and USA 316.5 million together in less than 45 years just from India.
China in other hand had 1.3 billion then and about 1.357 now thanks to one child policy. One child policy ended in 2015.
