The latest data from Roy Morgan has shown that a greater proportion of Australians (aged 14+) are now using Uber (22.9%) compared with taxis (21.8%). This is the first data to reveal that taxis are no longer the preferred private transport service of Australians.
Over the past three years, Uber has experienced a dramatic rise in popularity. The proportion of Australians utilising the service in an average three-month period has increased from 6.6% (1.3 million) of the population, to 22.9% (4.7 million), an increase of 16.3% points (+ 3.4 million).
Although Uber is now the preferred service, the proportion of Australians using taxis has remained relatively steady in recent years, dropping only slightly from 24.4% (4.8 million) to 21.8% (4.5 million).
When we look at customers by age group, we see the rising popularity of Uber being driven by younger Australians. A total of 42.6% (1 million) of those aged 18-24, and 35.7% (1.3 million) of those aged 25-34, used Uber in an average three-month period. These two age groups account for 2.3 million out of the 4.7 million Australians who use Uber in an average three-month period.
However, the usage of Uber differs markedly across age groups. While younger Australians are Uber’s best customers, Australians aged 65+ had the lowest proportion (6.6%) of Uber usage among them. Taxi usage, however, is far more consistent across age groups. Those aged 35-49 had the highest proportion of taxi usage (25.3%), with 14-17 years old’s recording the lowest (14.8%).
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
