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Southern Downs Regional CouncilPopulation forecast

Southern Downs Regional Council

Population and age structure

Between 2021 and 2031, the age structure forecasts for Southern Downs Regional Council indicate a 0.1% decrease in population under working age, a 16.0% increase in population of retirement age, and a 2.9% increase in population of working age.

Knowledge of how the age structure of the population is changing is essential for planning age-based facilities and services, such as child care, recreation and aged care.

The forecast age groups of the Southern Downs Regional Council is a function of the current age of the population (people aging each year, being born and dying) as well as the age of people migrating into and out of the area. This in turn is driven by location (fringe, city centre, regional or rural) the existing housing stock (separate dwellings, medium or high density), the amount and type of new residential development (same as existing stock, or diversifying) and where the area is in a cycle of change. We call this the area’s residential role and function. You can learn more about this in the section household and suburb life cycles.

Forecast age structure - 5 year age groups
Southern Downs Regional Council - Total persons202120312046Change between 2021 and 2046
Age group (years)Number%Number%Number%Number
0 to 41,7424.81,8904.91,9034.6+161
5 to 92,1425.82,1635.62,1555.2+13
10 to 142,5376.92,3636.12,3975.7-140
15 to 192,0675.62,1025.42,1045.0+37
20 to 241,6554.51,7944.61,8574.4+202
25 to 291,7874.91,8764.82,0584.9+271
30 to 341,7724.81,8764.82,0905.0+318
35 to 391,7134.71,8794.82,0324.9+319
40 to 441,8235.01,9415.02,0474.9+225
45 to 492,1365.82,1125.42,2345.4+98
50 to 542,3586.42,3086.02,4835.9+125
55 to 592,6067.12,6196.82,7886.7+182
60 to 642,8497.82,8577.43,0017.2+152
65 to 692,8097.72,9497.63,1157.5+306
70 to 742,6207.12,7707.12,9837.1+363
75 to 791,8325.02,2095.72,5446.1+712
80 to 841,2053.31,6344.21,9724.7+767
85 and over1,0042.71,4203.71,9834.8+980
Total persons36,656100.038,763100.041,747100.0+5,091
Source: Population and household forecasts, 2021 to 2046, prepared by .id (informed decisions), July 2023.

Key findings

In 2021, the dominant age structure for persons in Southern Downs Regional Council was ages 60 to 64, which accounted for 7.8% of the total persons.

The largest increase in persons between 2021 and 2031 is forecast to be in ages 80 to 84, which is expected to increase by 429 and account for 4.2% of the total persons.

The largest 5 year age group in 2031 is 65 to 69 years, with a total of 2,949 persons.

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