Gold Coast City has been and remains one of the fastest growing regions in Australia with an annual growth rate of 3.5% for the five years to 2002 (ABS 2003a). The resident population is projected to increase from an estimate of 438,473 in 2002 to 700,404 by 2021 (ABS 2003a; QDLGP 2003a). At the 2001 Census, in Gold Coast City, there were 134,892 young people aged from birth to 24 years, representing 33.1% of usual residents in the City. The overall number of young people on the Gold Coast City, increased by 40% over the decade to 2001. At the 2001 Census, higher proportions of young people (birth to 24 years) in Gold Coast City, lived in one parent families (22.1%) and group households (5.6%),than for young people in Queensland and Australia. The proportion of 15-24 year olds in Gold Coast City who were in a registered marriage decreased from 10.4% in 1991 to 3.4% in 2001.

In Gold Coast City, there were almost equal numbers of young people in the 5-9, 10-14, 15-19 and 20-24 year age groups (approximately 27,500) with slightly fewer, aged 0-4 years (25,252 people). Nerang (7,644 people) and Southport (6,766) had the largest populations of young people in Gold Coast City in 2001.