An ageing workforce means Australia will suffer skills shortages in the education, engineering and healthcare industries over the next 15 years, new research has indicated.

The latest Clarius Skills Index, using analysis from KPMG Econtech, indicates there will not be sufficient numbers of workers to replace older staff as they retire.

For every 110 health professionals who step down there will be only 84 qualified replacements, the report showed, while the education sector will have just 73 new staff for every 107 who retire.

Almost one in five (18 per cent) people in engineering jobs in Australia are also due to retire in a few years and chief executive officer of the Clarius Group Kym Quick said there is a lack of " real measures to address the problem of structural shortages".

The index showed the skills gap is currently closing, but Ms Quick warned this is a "false comfort" as it can be attributed to the weak economy.

As of September 2011, Australia's unemployment rate stood at 5.2 per cent, with then number of unemployed workers falling by 3,800 people to 634,200.

Posted by Sarah Dixon