Queensland takes bronze in population growth race

Group of people from different age groups. | Newsreel
Growing strong - Queensland's population grew 2.7% in 12 months. | iStock

Queensland is in the bronze position on population growth despite the spike in infrastructure jobs and the lure of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures, released on March 21, show Queensland’s population grew by 143,600 in the year to September 2023.

This represented a 2.7 percent increase, well below the 3.3% percent for Western Australia and 2.9% for Victoria.

Over the same period, the national population grew by 2.5% to 26.8 million.

The 659,800 increase was primarily fuelled by overseas migration, as the mass distortions of the COVID-19 period continued to work through the system.

“Net overseas migration drove 83 percent of the annual population growth, while natural increase accounted for the remaining 17 percent,” ABS head of demography Beidar Cho said.

“Net overseas migration grew by 60 per cent compared with the previous year, driven by an increase in overseas migration arrivals (up 34 per cent), predominantly on a temporary visa for work or study.”

In the year to September, there were 295,000 births and 183,900 deaths registered in Australia. This represented a 111,000 net increase, still 3.9 percent less than the previous year.

More details are on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website