THE number of Australians is projected to double within the next 50 years - and one in four people will be older than 65 by 2056.

The populations of every state and territory are projected to continuously increase over the next 50 years - except Tasmania's, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

According to projections, Tasmania's population will increase each year before it plateaus at about 2040.

It will then begin to fall in 2056.

By 2050, Queensland’s population is predicted to overtake Victoria’s to become the nation’s second most populous state.

"Queensland is projected to experience the largest percentage increase in population between 30 June 2007 and 2056 - more than doubling the 2007 population of 4.2 million to 8.7 million people," the ABS said.

Western Australia's population is likely to double by 2056, while the Northern Territory's is projected to jump by 87 per cent.

The ABS projections also revealed that Australians in the oldest age category measured could account for 5 per cent of the population within 50 years.

The number of people aged over 85 is likely to jump from 344,000 in 2007 up to 3.1 million in 2056.

"This is the result of sustained low levels of fertility combined with increasing life expectancy at birth," the ABS said.

"The median age of Australia's population is projected to increase to between 38.7 years and 40.7 years in 2026, and to between 41.9 years and 45.2 years in 2056."

Those over the age of 65 are expected to account for about 25 per cent of the population in 50 years time.

The ABS projections are based on current fertility, mortality and migration rates.

The ABS says the projections are "illustrations of the growth and change in population which would occur if certain assumptions… were to prevail over the projection period"......
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