Australia’s population officially topped 27 million in March this year, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), raising questions about how we handle our increasing population.
There was a ‘natural increase’ of 105,500 for the 12 months to March, which is the net result of 289,700 births and 184,200 deaths registered.
Annual net overseas migration for the year was 509,800 people, down from a peak of 559,900 in September 2023.
Beidar Cho, ABS head of demography, says immigration outstripped natural increase by almost five to one.
“Our population at 31 March 2024 was 27.1 million people, having grown by 615,300 people over the previous year,” she says.
“Net overseas migration drove 83 per cent of this population growth, while births and deaths, known as natural increase, made up the other 17 per cent.”
Breaking it down by area, WA had the fastest growing population, up 3.1 per cent, followed by Victoria, which grew by 2.7 per cent, and Queensland at 2.5 per cent. Tasmania saw the lowest growth, at 0.4 per cent.
We’re already in the midst of a housing crisis for the people here now, what kind of pressure will these numbers put on our infrastructure?
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