Lake Macquarie - Demographics

Demographics

The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated in 2009 that the City of Lake Macquarie had a population of 199,277 and is the fourth largest local government area in New South Wales by population (the two largest, Blacktown and Sutherland, are within metropolitan Sydney while the third largest is Wollongong). Its population is much larger than that of the City of Newcastle (pop. 152,659 ABS 2009) and similar to that of the City of Wollongong.

The area is a set of contiguous towns that surround a coastal saltwater lake. These towns merge with the suburbs of Newcastle to the north. Some suburbs, such as Adamstown Heights are partly in the City of Newcastle and partly within the City of Lake Macquarie. There are 92 identified settlements ranging from small rural style communities through to larger and higher density areas such as Toronto, Warners Bay, Belmont, Charlestown and Morisset.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there:

• were 189,596 people as at 30 June 2006, the 4th largest Local Government Area in New South Wales. It was equal to 2.8% of the New South Wales population of 6,827,694
• was, in percentage terms, an increase of 0.2% in the number of people over the year to 30 June 2006, the 126th fastest growth in population of a Local Government Area in New South Wales.
• was an increase in population over the 10 years to 30 June 2006 of 12,846 people or 7.3% (0.7% in annual average terms).