Statistics New Zealand collects population numbers every year from 1st October to the end of September. The latest figures show that New Zealand’s population on September 30th was 4,414,400. This is equal to 0.06% of the world’s population. We have 33,500 more people than a year ago which is a growth rate of 0.8%. This is lower than usual, perhaps because more Christchurch people left New Zealand after the earthquakes.
Ten years ago our population was 3,895,400. The average growth for the last 10 years was 1.3% which is similar to the rest of the world. However, our median age is 36.8 whereas the median age for the rest of the world is 29.2 (UN figures).
Although there are slightly more males than females born in the rest of the world (102 males for every 100 females), in New Zealand 97 males are born for every 100 females. Nobody knows why. However, in the age range 20 to 24, there are 107 males for every 100 females. In the age range 25 to 29, the numbers of male and female are nearly the same. Females outnumber males in their 30s. There are only 92 males to every 100 females aged 30 to 39 living in New Zealand.
The reason for this could be the large numbers of New Zealanders who live overseas. There are possibly 1 million New Zealanders living overseas, in Australia, the UK, the US, Canada and some other countries. It is possible that more men than women have jobs overseas. It is very hard to collect figures on the numbers living overseas.
New Zealanders love to travel. About 80,000 New Zealanders travel overseas on short trips every year and another 45,000 stay overseas for a longer time.
Vocabulary
Some useful words when talking about statistics: population numbers, figures, growth rate, average, median, slightly more than, nearly the same, whereas, age range, outnumber
Listen
There are many numbers in this text. Write them down then check with the text.
Questions
1. Many women choose not to get married and have a family when they are in their 20s. What is the problem for them in their 30s?
2. Can you explain why there are more men in their early 20s but fewer men in their 30s?
3. What are some of the problems for a country with a high median age?
I think that the principal problem in a society that has a high median age will be the employment and the feeding because if the population grows, grows the demand of services. Government should take care of the welfare benefits, as:
– Social Security.
– Education.
When we obtained the median age of country is to know which is the representative age of a population.
I understand the “high median age” as: THE POPULATION INCREASED.
I recommend read this interesting article, is about that WORLD POPULATION TO 2300, edited by the United Nations. In this article consult the page 228, this shows the MEDIAN AGE BY COUNTRY.
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Here is the link to the article called: WORLD POPULATION TO 2300: http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/longrange2/WorldPop2300final.pdf
This material can help you to KNOW what is the MEDIAN AGE of population from 1950 to 2300.