Rural Health - Demographics of Rural Populations

Demographics of Rural Populations

Rural population trends are particularly subject to change due to their migration patterns. reported a 64% drop in Canada’s rural population between 1851 and 1986. As of 2001, despite the steady decline, 30.4% of Canada’s population still lived in predominantly rural regions. Similarly, in Australia, urban areas experienced the largest growth rates between 1991 and 1996, while its remote locations experienced the lowest. Despite this pattern, 29% of Australia’s population still lived in rural or remote areas. In the UK, out-migration amongst the younger age group seeking education and employment is prevalent, although their rural areas also experience high rates of in-migration, particularly amongst the elderly and retired. Therefore, rural populations appear to be very dynamic in nature. Generally, socio-demographic statistics confirm that the rural population is primarily composed of persons under the age of 14 and over the age of 60, while urban areas are in large part composed of the working age group (30–59 years of age).

In addition to differing age groups, racial and ethnic populations in rural areas also appear to be quite diverse. For example, Non-Hispanic whites are the most widespread population sub-group (82%) in non-metropolitan areas of the United-States (66% in metropolitan areas), while African Americans constitute the largest minority group (8.4%). Interestingly, Hispanics comprise 5.4% of the rural population in America, a contrast from metropolitan areas where Hispanics have surpassed African Americans in becoming the largest minority population. The remaining 4% is largely represented by Native Americans. A noted characteristic of Canada’s rural dwellers is that nearly 50% of its Aboriginal population lives in rural and remote areas, while immigrants and other visible minorities live primarily in urban regions (88%). In Australia, nearly 40% of its Indigenous population lives in the remote hinterland. It is therefore apparent that persons who live in rural areas are not a homogenous group.

According to Xie Fuzhan, director of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) China's rural population stood at 737 million, 56 percent of the total population of more than 1.3 billion at the end of 2006, and has seen its rural population shrink in recent years as the country's urbanization has gathered momentum. This may also be due to the fact that 90% of rural residents do not have any type of health insurance and are experiencing very limited access to health care and are seeking better paying jobs in urban areas to be able to get coverage and also where they can have better access to care. The rural population in China was recorded at 64 percent of the total 1.3 billion in 2001 and 74 percent in 1990.