Paging Doogie Howser, stat!

Australia’s population is slowly ageing, not only individually, but as a group.  However, some groups are ageing faster than others, and our GPs (Medical practitioners) appear to be on a downhill race to retirement.

Back in the mid to late 80s, 2 out of every 3 GPs in Australia were under 45 years of age (64%).  In 2014, the same age group contributed just over 1 out of every 3 GPs (or 37%).

Meanwhile, those over 65, for whom retirement bells toll loudly, now account for 13.4% of all GPs. This is almost double the 6.9% they made up thirty years ago.

After 30 years in decline however, it seems GPs have solved the ageing dilemma.  Since around 2010 there are signs that the younger cohort is increasing faster than those who’ve come before.

Let’s hope these same GPs can solve all our ageing issues, because this getting older business is not for me.

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Source: http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/general+practice+statistics-1