SA records highest level of population growth in five years – but still lags behind every other state

South Australia has a population paradox – we’re growing faster than at any time since 2014 but being eclipsed by Tasmania. What does this mean for our economy?

• Migrants of SA: Incredible stories of journeys to our state
• See the latest list of rewards for Advertiser subscribers

South Australia population growth rate has risen to the highest level in five years, but remains the lowest of all states, as Tasmania steals a march in the race for new residents.

Latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show SA recorded 0.9 per cent population growth in 2019 – compared to a national average of 1.5 per cent – rising to 1.75 million people.

It is the best result since 2014, and marks a fourth successive year of increased growth.

However, Tasmania’s tourism-driven rebirth has led to it going from a population laggard for much of the past decade to eclipsing SA performance in each of the past two years.

The increase follows Premier Steven Marshall’s signature election commitment of increasing the state’s population growth to around the national average, as a key driver for the economy.

Business SA chief executive Martin Haese said Tasmania’s tourism sector had swelled in the wake of major investments, like the Museum of Old and New Art, which created positive experiences and word of mouth that led to people making the move for good.

He said there were promising projects on the horizon for SA, including the $90 billion defence program and Lot Fourteen, but the state must be “more ambitious” in the short-term.

Mr Haese said that included a strong focus on both leisure and business tourism.

“There are two things happening in Tasmania. They have actually got very strong tourism growth, and population,” he said.

“Tourism is a showcase. “You are exposing that place to many more people from many more countries. “You hear a lot of anecdotal evidence of people saying ‘I visited X, Y, Z five years ago and loved it so we’ve now moved there.”

Mr Haese said immigration deals which made Adelaide more appealing had worked before and were essential to combating a natural draw of new arrivals settling in bigger cities.

Innovation and Skills Minister David Pisoni said recent improvements were encouraging, but “we know there’s a lot more work to be done to continue to strengthen our economy”.

“We have a strong focus on growing the regions, and with almost half the jobs advertised in regional SA remaining unfilled, it makes sense to bolster skilled migration in the regions to help train more South Australians and fill skills gaps,” he said.

“We’ve focused on attracting the skilled workers needed to grow and transition the state’s economy in areas such as space, cyber security and defence, as well as more established sectors like health, aged care and tourism.”

He said regulatory changes including an increase to SA’s quota of state nominated skilled migration places, two regional agreements and an entrepreneur visa were key steps.

Opposition treasury spokesman Stephen Mullighan said expert analysis had indicated SA was unlikely to achieve a massive increase in population growth in the next few years.

“Steven Marshall and the Liberals promised to increase our population growth, yet it continues to be sluggish in SA,” he said. “We need thousands of families moving to SA each year.

“Our economy is crying out for skilled workers, particularly for new defence projects.”