CANBERRA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Australia's elderly population has increased by almost 20 percent over the last five years, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed on Thursday.
A sign that Australians are living longer than their predecessors, there are now 2.2 million people aged 65 years and above in major Australian cities, up from just 1.8 million aged 65 and above in 2010.
In addition, the ABS also revealed that 1.4 million elderly Australians live in rural areas, compared with 1.2 million in 2010.
ABS Director of Demography, Beidar Cho said the high proportion of elderly Australians living in rural areas was a reflection of the "sea change" retirement philosophy, in which older Australians move to smaller towns to relax in retirement.
"The older populations in these areas reflect a preference among many Australians to retire to coastal and rural parts of the country," Cho said in a statement on Thursday.
"People aged 65 years and over contributed to more than 60 percent of population growth in areas outside of capital cities between 2010 and 2015."
According to the ABS, residents of Tea GardensHawks Nest on the New South Wales (NSW) coast were "officially" Australia's oldest, with a median age of 61.0 years in 2015.
People living in Tuncurry in NSW were the next oldest (59.7 years), followed by those living in Bribie Island, Queensland (59.3), two ideal, coastal destinations for retirees and older Australians.
Meanwhile Hobart was the "oldest" major Australian city with a median age of 39.8 years, followed by Adelaide (38.8 years), Sydney (36.1) and Melbourne (36.0). Darwin is the youngest major city in Australia, with a median age of (33.3 years).
