Rural health's demographic destiny

This article describes how current demographic trends will affect future health service delivery in rural areas of Australia. Age-sex pyramids in particular reveal the changing population distribution - whilst individual towns vary, there is a trend for increased numbers of older people, decreasing numbers of young adults dueto migration to urban areas, higher rates of fertility and at a younger age, and population decline. With less migration and higher fertility, the Indigenous population has a higher growth rate than the non-Indigenous population in rural and remotes areas, though they face higher mortality and morbidity rates. The author discusses these trends and the policy implications for health services.