Census 2021: Australians fleeing Victoria, moving to Queensland

Australians continue to abandon the southern states in droves, and Queensland is one of the main beneficiaries.

Australians have continued to abandon New South Wales and Victoria in droves, new data has revealed.

In the shadow of the 2021 Census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the population estimates for December 2021.

More than 14,500 NSW residents fled the state in the final months of 2021, while interstate migration to Queensland grew by 19,247.

Australia’s second most populous state, Victoria, also continued to lose residents during the final quarter of 2021, down 8779.

New population data has revealed people continue to leave NSW and Victoria.

Migration to Western Australia also grew, with 4970 people choosing to make the switch to the west.

Tasmania and South Australia’s migration also grew slightly.

For the year to December, both Queensland and the Northern Territory’s populations received a boost from Australians looking for a tree change.

Overall, most states and territories received a positive population growth rate.

Victoria, the most heavily impacted by Covid-19 lockdowns, had the only negative growth rate.

But the data is only part of the story.

Census data, also released on Tuesday, revealed Australia’s population had risen to more than 25 million people, an increase of 8.6 per cent since 2016.

The greatest population rise was in the ACT, where the number of people living in the territory increased by 14.4 per cent.

Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania all recorded a population rise of between 9 and 10 per cent, while NSW saw a jump of 7.9 per cent.

The Northern Territory experienced the smallest population growth of just 1.6 per cent.

All up, almost 80 per cent of all Australian residents on the east coast.

Originally published as Census 2021: Australians fleeing Victoria, moving to Queensland