8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Oceania / Australia/New Zealand

Born in Australia

About 1 in 434 people born in 2023 started life in Australia. A boy can expect to live 82 years and a girl 86, up from 67 and 72 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 434
odds of being born here
304,300 births · Ranked 72nd of 230
82 / 86
years of life, boys / girls
Was 67 / 72 in 1950
$28,127
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 32nd of 203 · extrapolated
87%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 15 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 31 in every 1,000 births to 3.8.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
010203040195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth82.1 years for boys, 85.7 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 53.8 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year184,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people4.1World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles91%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year6 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 3.1 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.6, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
01234195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.64UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth31.4 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 41 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2020
7%Poorest fifth
12%Second
17%Middle
23%Fourth
41%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $28,127 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth41% / 7% (2020)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.7% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises5.6% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person1.1% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming2% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed16% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment134% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Sydney, with 5.6 million people.

87%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Sydney5.6 million
Melbourne5.4 million
Brisbane2.8 million
Perth2.4 million
Adelaide1.5 million
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English96%
Chinese2%
Italian2%
English is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

New South Wales7.5 million
Victoria6.4 million
Queensland5.2 million
Western Australia2.8 million
South Australia1.6 million
Australian Capital Territory457,213
Tasmania392,450
Northern Territory199,509

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

People on the move

About 1.6% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United Kingdom124,319
New Zealand89,129
Canada26,777
Residents born abroad30.4% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 1.6% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited Kingdom (124,319), New Zealand (89,129), Canada (26,777)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $2.0 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

74% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 100%.

74%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
100%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202425,312Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19501; the deadliest, in 1989, killed about 12 people (magnitude 5.4)NOAA NCEI
Hurricane-strength storms since 198017NOAA IBTrACS

Now live it.

Born in Australia, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Australia

Elsewhere in Oceania

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences