The McCrindle Blog

The McCrindle Research Consumer Trends Wheel is our proprietary device for assessing the impact of 6 key areas on existing or prospective consumers. Demographical, social, generational, financial, technological and attitudinal factors are analysed in this consumer trends scan process. Here is a general example with some of the key impacts transforming today's global consumers. For individualised or targeted consumer trends analysis, do not hesitate to get in contact.

Click here to download the McCrindle Consumer Trends Wheel:

Australia hit its population milestone of 23 million residents last week on the 23rd April. We kept a keen eye on the ABS' Population Clock in the lead-up, and have pulled together some stats and facts which contributed to this milestone. It has received a wide range of media coverage, listed below.

Read the full summary about Australia's population growth.
Take a look at our infographic on the Population of Australia.
Watch the video of Mark McCrindle explaining Australia at 23 million

For a more comprehensive look at McCrindle Research in the media, click here to go to our Media page.

7 NEWS	ABC NEWS
Financial Review	The Morning Show | Channel 7
Tony Eastley | ABC AM	The West Australian
ABC Radio Australia	ABC News 24

At McCrindle Research we are about conducting world class research and communicating the insights in innovative ways. Emerging generations of business leaders are digital, visual, and global in outlook, connecting with information that is presented in compelling ways.

While the last few years have introduced big data to business, the challenge is interpreting the data and communicating the trends and insights effectively so that leaders can make strategic decisions. An infographic can visualise large numbers of data points in an easily accessible format, in the way that a ‘picture tells a thousand words’.

As pioneers in this emerging data visualisation area, and as Australia’s leading research visualisation experts, at McCrindle Research we are able to interpret the key data and present the summarised insights in innovative and visually accessible ways.

Here are our top five keys to worlds-best research visualisation:

1. Creativity
2. Relatability
3. Complexity
4. Simplicity
5. Variety

1. Creativity of style: Clever metaphors, compelling visuals

Click here to download our Australia Street infographic.
Click here to read the Australia Street blog post.
And to watch the animation of Australia Street, click here.

2. Relatability of concept: Easily understood, clearly relevant

Click here to see the Happiness in Australia infographic.
Click here for the Big Australia infographic.

3. Complexity of data: Research rich, statistically robust

Click here to download the Income and Wealth Distribution in Australia infographic.
Click here to download the Australian Population Map.

4. Simplicity of design: Instantly understandable, compellingly readable

Click here to see the Mind the Gap infographic on the difference in salary between males and females.

5. Variety of output: Topically congruent, visual diversity

Click here to watch the Know the Times animation on YouTube.
Email us at info@mccrindle.com.au or give us a call on 1800 TRENDS [1800 873 637] to request some hard copies of our Australia Street A5.

With Australia’s population growth rate having just increased from 1.6% to 1.7%, the population milestone of 23 million will be reached this Tuesday, 23 April at 9.57pm Sydney time.

While this doesn’t sound like much in percentage terms, it is a population increase of 382,500 in the last year. Our current population increase is the equivalent of one new Coffs Harbour every 8 weeks, or one new Gold Coast every 19 months!

Twice the Size of 1966

In 1966 Australia’s population was 11.5 million and so it has taken just 47 years to double to 23 million. The global population doubled at a slightly faster rate, hitting 3.5 billion in 1968 and reaching 7 billion in late 2011, a period of just over 43 years.

World-Beating Growth Rate

The global population is increasing at 1.1% per annum, the fastest growing country in total numbers, India is growing at 1.4% while Australia’s growth is 1.7%.

But hitting 23,000,000 well after other nations

The population of the UK reached 23 million in 1830 and the USA got there in 1850!

Births Exceed 300,000

For the first time in Australia’s history, annual births have exceeded 300,000 in the last year. Keep in mind that the original Baby Boom which created Australia’s largest generation – the Baby Boomers, peaked out at 260,000 births in the early 1960’s.

Half as many Deaths as Births

While the birth rate has been growing, the death rate has been declining. A factor of increasing longevity, and an ageing population, is that the Standardised Death Rate (deaths per 1,000 population) has fallen to 5.59 and total annual deaths in the last year were 149,100.

Population Growth from Migration Increases, Proportion from Natural Increase declines

The Net Overseas Migration figure of 228,000 is an increase of almost one-third (32.2%) on the previous year. The proportion of population growth contributed by migration is now 60%, and the proportion from natural increase is 40%. Permanent overseas arrivals are expected to break the half-million mark this year, falling just short of this at 488,100 in the last 12 months, or 9,387 per week.

Queensland is the most chosen state

Analysis of interstate migration data shows that Queensland continues to be Australia’s most loved state, with arrivals from other states and territories into Queensland exceeding 1,700 per week, a total of 88,866 last year.

When interstate departures are subtracted from the interstate arrivals, NSW performed the worst nationally with a net loss of 18,378 to other states, while Queensland performed best with a net gain of 11,796 from other states.

Queensland was the No. 1 destination of three states (NSW, WA and NT) and NSW was also top for three (Victoria, Qld and ACT) ahead of Victoria’s two (SA and Tas.).

40 Million in 40 Years

Australia has been growing by a million people roughly every two and a half years. Even if the population growth rate stays the same, the speed of adding each new million will accelerate as the population base increases (for example our current birth rate of 1.9 is producing record birth numbers, even though in 1961 we had a birth rate of 3.5- because our population today is more than twice as large as it was then.) Even allowing for a slight slowing of the population growth rate, Australia’s population will exceed 40 million in the late 2050’s although if the growth rate continues its current strength, this milestone could easily be reached by the mid 2050’s.

Sources: ABS Australian Demographic Statistics, ABS Population Clock, McCrindle Research.

Seven years ago McCrindle Research began in a spare room of Mark and Ruth McCrindle’s house. With a psychology background, market research experience, and a passion to conduct world class research, Mark began the McCrindle Research story. 

Since then we’ve been commissioned by scores of clients, completed hundreds of projects, interviewed thousands of people, analysed hundreds of thousands of online survey responses, and interpreted millions of data points for our demographic summaries. Our research has been disseminated through hundreds of media articles, more than 10,000 of Mark’s books, and more than 100,000 of our acclaimed A5 population maps.

As Australia’s leading data visualisation researchers, our infographics, slide decks, whitepapers and research summaries have been meeting quite a need for world class research and analysis communicated in relevant, innovative ways. Our analytics tells us that they’ve been getting thousands of views and downloads each day. 

So if you are looking to analyse your market, identify consumer segments, understand the demographics, engage with diverse generations, or respond to the emerging trends, then check out our research packs, Mark’s speaking pack or get in contact for a quote. Through commissioned research projects, focus groups and online surveys, demographic reports, strategic workshops, and keynote presentations, we help organisations know the times.

Australia has more churches (13,000) than schools (9,500), and more Australians attend a church service each week (1.8 million) than there are people in South Australia (1.6 million).

And while the latest Census results show that Christianity is the religion with which most Australians identify (61.1%), well above the second most popular religion in Australia, Buddhism (2.5%), less than one in seven of the Australians who ticked “Christianity” on their census form regularly attend a church.

Easter is a time of the year when church attendance increases, but what do the 92% of Australians who are not regular church attendees think of churches, and churchgoing in 2013? Here’s our latest infographic which shares the data. Oh, and Happy Easter!

Church Attendance in Australia Infographic

Easter, even more than Christmas, is the time when society reflects on things religious, and so it is timely for us to share a research snapshot of Christianity in Australia.

Christianity in Australia

Christianity is still the religion to which most Australians identify (61%), having declined only slightly since the 2006 Census (64%).

Growth in the “Spiritual but not Religious” Category

However because the Census question gives the options of traditional religions only, the proportion of Australians who consider themselves as “spiritual but not religious” are forced to choose either the option of no religion, or for many of them, Christianity. Therefore the Census figure for Christianity is higher than it would otherwise be, and is an over-representation of the proportion of Australians who are adherents to Christianity.

We were commissioned by Olive Tree Media to conduct research in this area and when we asked a national sample of Australians (1,094 completed surveys) the same question but with the option of “spiritual but not religious” the proportion of Australians identifying with Christianity dropped from 61% to 40% as a result of 19% selecting this new option.

Religious Identity but less Activity

While 61% of the population (more than 14 million Australians) identify with Christianity, only about 1.8 million Australians regularly attend church (at least once per month, NCLS data ). Therefore for every Australian who nominates Christianity as their religious identity, just 1 in 8 of these participate in attendance activity.

Our research showed that of those who identify themselves as religious, just 13% are actively and regularly involved in the practicing of this through group gatherings or church attendance.

Outgrowing Religion

The decline in church attendance that has occurred in Australia over the past few decades is explained in the following chart which tracks the religious journeys of Australians. While around 1 in 4 were not raised as religious and still are not, and just over 1 in 4 were raised in a religious household and still are, the largest group of all (29%) are the “not now religious” category who were shaped in a religious household but are themselves not religious.

Significant Belief in Jesus

Australians are warm towards Christianity as demonstrated by the high identity with it, and similarly strong on belief in Christ. 4 in 5 Australians accept that Jesus was a real person from history, with almost half of these also accepting that he was the son of God (35%).

But Uncertain on the Details

When given multiple choice options, 2 in 5 Australians (42%) could correctly identify that Jesus lived in the first century AD, although more than 1 in 4 Australians (28%) have no idea in which century Jesus lived. Of particular interest were the 27% who stated that Jesus lived “in ancient times BC” (Before Christ)!

The full report is available here for purchase from Olive Tree Media

World Water Day is celebrated every year on 22 March to focus the world’s attention to issues surrounding freshwater and the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) recommended this international day in 1992, with the first ever World Water Day celebrated exactly two decades ago on 22 March 1993. This year’s theme for World Water Day is cooperation around water – using water as an instrument of peace by promoting an interdisciplinary approach to sharing this precious resource around the globe.

Here at McCrindle Research, we wondered what Australians had to say about water as a resource priority, water costs, and the use of water per Australian individual.

Water: Precious But Over-Priced

Our recent nationwide survey shows that 4 out of every 5 Australians say that the cost of water is too expensive. Australians value water provision, availability and affordability less than they value access to medical care, and more than they value electricity.

Water Views and Values

How does water consumption and cost compare per person across the Australian states and territories? South Australians pay the most for household water bills per person, while Victorians pay the least. In terms of water consumption, individuals in the Northern Territory use the most while individuals in Victoria use the least at just 55kL per person per year (ABS). In terms of water use in the home, Sydneysiders use 27 percent of water outdoors, 24 percent for showers, 20 percent in the laundry, 16 percent for flushing toilets, 10 percent on kitchen and bathroom taps and 3 percent on baths (Sydney Water).

Methodology

This research was conducted by McCrindle Research through a national study of Australians which received 540+ responses (detailed demographics below). Figures on consumption and price reflect household expenditures, not government expenditures, and reflect Urban Distributed water only. Sources: McCrindle Research, ABS Cat. 4610.0, Water Account, Australia, 2010-2011, and Sydney Water.

23,000,000 around ANZAC Day 2013

Australia’s population will reach 23 million in late April 2013. Currently the Australian Bureau of Statistics population clock shows that we have been growing our population by one person every 1 minute and 24 seconds, or about 1028 people per day. However, the rate of population increase has increased slightly over the last few months and the latest quarterly demographic statistics will show that this growth has accelerated, bringing forward the 23 millionth milestone originally from June, to May, and now into April.

Doubling the Population

Australia’s population reached 11.5 million in 1966 and so it has taken less than 47 years to double to 23 million. The global population doubled at a slightly faster rate, hitting 3.5 billion in 1968 and reaching 7 billion in late 2011, a period of just over 43 years.

Big Numbers

While an annual population growth rate of 1.6% doesn’t sound huge, it is well above the forecast of a decade ago (around 1%) and equates to a population increase equivalent to one new Canberra or three new Darwin’s per year.

40 Million in the 2050’s

Australia has been growing by a million people roughly every two and a half years. Even if the population growth rate stays the same, the speed of adding each new million will accelerate as the population base increases (for example our current birth rate of 1.8 is producing record birth numbers, exceeding 300,000 per year, even though in 1961 we had a birth rate of 3.5- because our population today is more than twice as large as it was then.) Even allowing for a slight slowing of the population growth rate, Australia’s population will exceed 40 million in the late 2050’s although if the growth rate continues its current strength, this milestone could easily be reached by the mid 2050’s.

23 Million of 7 Billion

With the current world population at 7 billion, Australia’s population represents just 0.33% of the global population.

Two-speed demography

Australia is not only experiencing a two-speed economy, with solid economic growth in Western Australia, but also two-speed demography. The population growth rate of WA at 3.3% makes it our fastest growing state, more than double the national average, and more than twice that of most of the eastern states.

Will our 23,000,000th be Worker Chris or Baby Jack?

More of our growth currently is coming from net overseas migration (58%) compared to natural increase (42%). The number one source country for permanent arrivals into Australia currently is the United Kingdom, accounting for 1 in 5 arrivals. Almost two thirds of permanent arrivals (63%) come under work visa categories, compared to just under a third (30%) on family visas, and 7% on humanitarian visas. And of the working arrivals, they are more likely to be male, and aged in their 20’s and 30’s.

Therefore, based on the current demographic probabilities, our 23 millionth is most likely to be a young male Pom named Chris (the UK’s most popular boys name in the early 1980’s)!

If the 23 millionth was a baby, then it is more likely to be a boy (there are 105 males born for every 100 females) named Jack (the current most popular baby boy’s name) born to a 31 year old mother and a 33 year old father (the median age of all parents has been rising) in Western Sydney (the fastest growing area of our largest city).

Big Australia and Australia at 23 Million infographics

To mark the inaugural UN-declared International Day of Happiness on March 20, 2013 we’ve put together the National Happiness Barometer.

This research shows that as a nation, we don’t feel as happy as we did 5 years ago. For every person who feels that we are happier than we were in 2008, 11 people say we’re not as happy.

More than half of the population state that they are about average in happiness, 29% say they are happier than average, and 17% are less happy than average.

Income levels significantly influence the perceptions of happiness. Those in households in the lowest earning category ($15,000 below average) are far more likely to believe that as a nation we are not as happy as we were 5 years ago (65%) compared to those in the top earning quintile of which just 44% say we’re less happy than we were.

Similarly the lowest earning quintile are almost four times as likely to say that they are less happy than average (30%) compared to the top quintile of earners (8%).

And while 44% of the highest earners believe that they are above average in happiness, more than 1 in 5 (21%) of the lowest earners also believe that they are above average in happiness.

This research indicates that an awareness of where one’s income sits compared to average influences one’s perception of happiness. Simply put, people who know they earn more than average feel that they must be happier than average as well.

However this changes when we look at non-comparative measures of happiness. If people are asked to rate their happiness subjectively, rather than comparably (that is, a self-rating from “very happy” to “not at all happy”), and on a broader measure (so not “compared to average” but as defined by “life satisfaction, well-being and fulfilment”) then the results are quite different. The largest group turns out to be those who earn significantly less than average but are significantly happier than average (20%). Those who earn significantly more than average and are significantly happier than average come next, at just 16%. Those who earn significantly less than average and are similarly less happier than average (11%) are only slightly more than those who earn significantly more than average but are similarly less happy than average (8%).

Therefore linking happiness to income, or comparing one’s own happiness to the average person, lowers the happiness measures for most. And while it increases the perception of happiness for high earners, it does not enhance their intrinsic sense of happiness.

So the take away: true happiness is not related to earnings, not based on how others compare, and while it can be influenced by, it is not determined by our external environment.