Recently the Australia Bureau of Statistics released the latest update on Australia’s population statistics for the end of June 2018.
Over the previous year we added 390,500 people meaning our growth over the previous year was 1.6%.
That’s just a touch slower than the 1.7% growth or 411,000 new people in the previous year, but it’s still high.
Some highlights:
- Australia's population grew by 1.6% during the year ended 30 June 2018.
- Natural increase and Net Overseas Migration contributed 39.4% and 60.6% respectively to total population growth for the year ended 30 June 2018.
- Net overseas migration is still very high, but came back down to 236,700; about 27,000 less than the previous year.
- All states and territories, except the Northern Territory, recorded positive population growth in the year ended 30 June 2018.
- Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory recorded the highest growth rates of all states and territories at 2.2%.
- Queensland’s population grew 1.7% gaining 24,700 net interstate migrants – mainly from NSW.
- Tasmania’spopulation is growing at an increasing rate. Its growth rate of 1.1% or 5,600 people is the highest seen there in 10 years.
- Western Australia’spopulation grew by 21,600, which is about 3,000 more than the previous year.
PRELIMINARY DATA | Population at end Jun qtr 2018 '000 | Change over previous year '000 | Change over previous year % |
New South Wales | 7 987.3 | 119.3 | 1.5 |
Victoria | 6 459.8 | 138.2 | 2.2 |
Queensland | 5 012.2 | 84.5 | 1.7 |
South Australia | 1 736.4 | 12.5 | 0.7 |
Western Australia | 2 595.9 | 21.7 | 0.8 |
Tasmania | 528.1 | 5.7 | 1.1 |
Northern Territory | 247.3 | -0.2 | -0.1 |
Australian Capital Territory | 420.9 | 8.9 | 2.2 |
Australia(a) | 24 992.4 | 390.5 | 1.6 |
(a) Includes Other Territories comprising Jervis Bay Territory, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Norfolk Island. |
Of Australia's new immigrants 73.1% of those new people settled in NSW or Victoria.
If you add the 12.5% who go to Queensland, that means 85.6% of them went to the eastern states.