OTTAWA, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- Canada's population grew 1.1 percent in July 2012 from a year earlier to 34,880,500, Statistics Canada reported Thursday from Ottawa.
The gain represented 396,500 additional people, two-thirds of whom were immigrants, the agency said.
"Canada's annual growth rate in 2011/2012 was the highest among Group of Eight countries for the same period," StatsCan said. Among the other countries, the United States had the second highest rate with 0.7 percent population growth, while Japan's was the lowest, with a net 0.3 percent decline.
"Overall, demographic growth in 2011/2012 was lower in the Atlantic provinces and higher in the Prairie provinces," report said.
This segment of the census also examined the median age of Canadians, in which half of the population is older and the other half younger.
"As of July 1, 2012, the median age of the Canadian population was 40 years," the report said. "In the past 20 years ... the median age in Canada has increased by 6.4 years."
