Nunavut’s ratio of men to women the highest in Canada

Nunavut’s population is the youngest in Canada, according to data from the 2001 census released by Statistics Canada this week.

As of May 15, 2001, Nunavut’s median age was 22.1 years, compared with the national average of 37.6. (Median age is the point where exactly half the population is older and half is younger.)

Iqaluit’s median population was 28.3 years.

In addition, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon were the only jurisdictions in the country where men outnumbered women. In Nunavut, there were 13,840 men and 12,910 women, for a ratio of 107.2 men for every 100 women — the highest in Canada.

Nunavut’s low median age is explained, for the most part, by its high fertility rate, Statistics Canada said in a report.

“Because of high fertility, the age distribution is completely different in Nunavut than in the rest of Canada,” the report said.

People 19 and under made up 47 per cent of the territory’s population in 2001, the year the census was taken. People between the ages of 20 and 64 made up 51 per cent of the population.

People 65 and over accounted for only two per cent.

Nationally, the 19-and-under age group makes up 26 per cent of the population, people aged 20 to 64 make up 61 per cent and people 65 and over make up 13 per cent of the population.

In the next 10 years, Nunavut’s population is expected to increase by 17 per cent, to 31,300.

During this period of growth, the population of children aged five to 12 is expected to decline by 22 per cent. The number of people aged 45 to 64 is expected to soar by 68 per cent.

In addition, the population of senior citizens is expected to double from 600 last year to 1,150 in 2011. Still, they will represent only four per cent of the population.