Home | Category: Education, Health, Transportation, Infrastructure
HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA
Health Expenditures: 10.7 percent of GDP (2020). [Source: CIA World Factbook 2023]
Number of Doctors: 4.13 physicians per 1,000 people (2020).
Number of Hospital Beds: 3.8 beds per 1,000 people (2016).
Sanitation Access: improved: urban: NA; rural: NA; total: 100 percent of population; unimproved: urban: NA; rural: NA; total: 0 percent of population (2020 estimate).
Education Expenditures: 6.1 percent of GDP (2020 estimate); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 38.
Literacy: total population
School Life Expectancy (Primary to Tertiary): total: 21 years; male: 20 years; female: 22 years (2020).
Energy and Electricity
Energy Consumption Per Capita: 241.004 million Btu/person (2019 estimate); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 16. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Pipelines: 637 kilometers condensate/gas, 30,054 kilometers gas, 240 kilometers liquid petroleum gas, 3,609 kilometers oil, 110 kilometers oil/gas/water, 72 kilometers refined products (2013). [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Access to Electricity: electrification: total population: 100 percent (2021). [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Electricity Consumption and Production: installed generating capacity: 82.517 million kW (2020 estimate)
consumption: 237,388,272,000 kWh (2019 estimate)
exports: 0 kWh (2020 estimate)
imports: 0 kWh (2020 estimate)
transmission/distribution losses: 12,607,778,000 kWh (2019 estimate)
comparison rankings: installed generating capacity 16; consumption 19; exports 139; imports 151; transmission/distribution losses 28. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Sources of Electricity Generation: fossil fuels: 75.4 percent of total installed capacity (2020 estimate)
nuclear: 0 percent of total installed capacity (2020 estimate)
solar: 8.6 percent of total installed capacity (2020 estimate)
wind: 8.4 percent of total installed capacity (2020 estimate)
hydroelectricity: 6.2 percent of total installed capacity (2020 estimate)
tide and wave: 0 percent of total installed capacity (2020 estimate)
geothermal: 0 percent of total installed capacity (2020 estimate)
biomass and waste: 1.4 percent of total installed capacity (2020 estimate).
[Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Oil, Coal and Natural Gas
Australia is the world's largest net exporter of coal accounting for 26.5 percent of global coal exports in 2021; coal is the country’s most abundant energy resource, and coal ranks as the second-largest export commodity from Australia in terms of revenue; in 2020, Australia held the third-largest recoverable coal reserves in the world behind the United States and Russia. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Coal: production: 504.051 million metric tons (2020 estimate)
consumption: 99.048 million metric tons (2020 estimate)
exports: 390.808 million metric tons (2020 estimate)
imports: 583,000 metric tons (2020 estimate)
proven reserves: 149.079 billion metric tons (2019 estimate).
Revenue from Coal: 0.78 percent of GDP (2018 estimate); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 7.
Petroleum: total petroleum production: 442,500 bbl/day (2021 estimate)
refined petroleum consumption: 1,174,100 bbl/day (2019 estimate)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 197,700 bbl/day (2018 estimate)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 356,900 bbl/day (2018 estimate)
crude oil estimated reserves: 2.446 billion barrels (2021 estimate)
Refined petroleum products: production
462,500 bbl/day (2017 estimate); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 35.
[Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Refined Petroleum Products: Exports: 64,120 bbl/day (2017 estimate); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 48. Imports: 619,600 bbl/day (2017 estimate); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 12. Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Natural Gas: production: 142,104,321,000 cubic meters (2020 estimate)
consumption: 41,905,381,000 cubic meters (2020 estimate)
exports: 101,766,728,000 cubic meters (2020 estimate)
imports: 6,295,646,000 cubic meters (2020 estimate)
proven reserves: 3,228,115,000,000 cubic meters (2021 estimate). note: Australia was the largest exporter of LNG in the world in 2020.
Australia was the largest exporter of LNG in the world in 2020. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Communications in Australia
Telephones: Fixed Lines: total subscriptions: 4.6 million (2021 estimate); subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 18 (2021 estimate); ranking compared to other countries in the world: subscriptions 30. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Mobile Telephones: total subscriptions: 27.09 million (2021 estimate); subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 105 (2021 estimate); ranking compared to other countries in the world: subscriptions 48. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Telecommunication Systems: general assessment: the Australian telecom market since 2020 has been impacted by the pandemic, which forced many people to school and work from home and thus adopt fixed-line broadband services; internet traffic, both fixed and mobile, increased substantially as a result; in the fixed sector, there is an ongoing migration from copper-based platforms to fiber; the extension of fixed wireless access will mean that up to 120,000 premises currently dependent on satellite broadband will be able to access 5G-based fixed services; the fixed-line market has been falling steadily over the past five years; in the Australian fixed broadband market, there is a dynamic shift among customers to fiber networks; the DSL sector is steadily shrinking while subscribers on HFC infrastructure will continue to be provided by existing cable, with a steady migration to full fiber connectivity (2022). Domestic: 18 per 100 fixed-line telephone subscriptions and 105 per 100 mobile-cellular; more subscribers to mobile services than there are people; 90 percent of all mobile device sales are now smartphones, growth in mobile traffic brisk (2021). International: country code: 61; landing points for more than 20 submarine cables including: the SeaMeWe-3 optical telecommunications submarine cable with links to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe; the INDIGO-Central, INDIGO West and ASC, North West Cable System, Australia-Papua New Guinea cable, CSCS, PPC-1, Gondwana-1, SCCN, Hawaiki, TGA, Basslink, Bass Strait-1, Bass Strait-2, JGA-S, with links to other Australian cities, New Zealand and many countries in southeast Asia, US and Europe; the H2 Cable, AJC, Telstra Endeavor, Southern Cross NEXT with links to Japan, Hong Kong, and other Pacific Ocean countries as well as the US; satellite earth stations: 10 Intelsat (4 Indian Ocean and 6 Pacific Ocean), 2 Inmarsat, 2 Globalstar, 5 other (2019). [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Broadcast Media: the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) runs multiple national and local radio networks and TV stations, as well as ABC Australia, a TV service that broadcasts in the Asia-Pacific region and is the main public broadcaster; Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), a second large public broadcaster, operates radio and TV networks broadcasting in multiple languages; several large national commercial TV networks, a large number of local commercial TV stations, and hundreds of commercial radio stations are accessible; cable and satellite systems are available (2022). [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Internet Users: total: 24.96 million (2021 estimate); Percent of the Population: 96 percent (2021 estimate); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 34; Broadband: Fixed Subscriptions: total: 9,099,619 (2020 estimate); subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 36 (2020 estimate); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 23. Internet Country Code: .au [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Transportation in Australia
Railways: total: 36,064 kilometers (2022) 3,448 kilometers electrified; standard gauge: 18,007 kilometers (2022) 1.435 mm; narrow gauge: 11,914 kilometers (2022) 1.067 mm; broad gauge: 2,685 kilometers (2022) 1.600 mm; other: 35 kilometers (2015); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 7. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Roads: total: 873,573 kilometers (2015); urban: 145,928 kilometers (2015); non-urban: 727,645 kilometers (2015); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 9. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Waterways: 2,000 kilometers (2011) (mainly used for recreation on Murray and Murray-Darling River systems); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 44. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Water Transport: Merchant Marine: total: 587; By Type: bulk carrier 2, general cargo 77, oil tanker 6, other 502 (2022); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 39; Ports and Terminals: major seaport(s): A) Indian Ocean: Adelaide, Darwin, Fremantle, Geelong, Melbourne; B) Pacific Ocean: Brisbane, Cairns, Gladstone, Hobart, Newcastle, Port Port Kembla, Sydney; C) container port(s) (TEUs): Melbourne (2,909,288), Sydney (2,761,648) (2021); D) LNG terminal(s) (export): Australia Pacific, Barrow Island, Burrup (Pluto), Curtis Island, Darwin, Karratha, Bladin Point (Ichthys), Gladstone, Prelude (offshore FLNG), Wheatstone; E) dry bulk cargo port(s): Dampier (iron ore), Dalrymple Bay (coal), Hay Point (coal), Port Hedland (iron ore), Port Walcott (iron ore)
Australia operates one PC 3 or 4 class medium icebreaker based in Tasmania in support of operations in Antarctica. PC indicates a Polar Class vessel: PC 3: year-round operation in second-year ice which may include multi-year ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 2.5 meters); PC 4: year-round operation in thick first-year ice which may include old ice inclusions (ice thickness up to 120 centimeters)
Air Transportation in Australia
National Air Transport System: number of registered air carriers: 25 (2020); inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 583; annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 75,667,645 (2018); annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 2,027,640,000 (2018) mt-km; Civil aircraft registration country code prefix: VH. [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Airports: 418 (2021); ranking compared to other countries in the world: 19; Airports: with paved runways: 349; civil airports: 29; military airports: 17; joint use (civil-military) airports: 2; other airports: 301. note: paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 meters (16,000 feet), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 meters (8,000-13,000 feet);
Airports with Unpaved Runways: 131. note: unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control. Heliports: 1 (2021). [Source: CIA World Factbook, 2023]
Image Sources:
Text Sources: CIA World Factbook, 2023; “Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Volume 2: Oceania,” edited by Terence E. Hays, 1991, Wikipedia, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, BBC, CNN, and various books, websites and other publications.
Last updated August 2023