Qld population nearly 5.5m, highest interstate migration

Queensland boasts the biggest interstate migration, with the equivalent of more than two Suncorp Stadiums moving to the Sunshine State in a year.

The equivalent of more than two capacity footy crowds at Suncorp Stadium have migrated to Queensland in the past year, new population data has revealed.

Queensland has the third-fastest-growing population in the country, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, with more than 138,000 additions to the Sunshine State.

Almost five and a half million people now call Queensland home, with 83,995 people migrating to the state from overseas, 32,255 from interstate and a natural increase of 22,222 in the year to June.

Queensland also had the highest interstate migration in the nation, as people fled NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and the NT in droves leaving those states and territories with a negative net interstate migration. A total of 38,283 people also died in Queensland in the year to June.

It comes as the federal government slashes the number of migrants allowed into the country by 185,000, under sweeping reforms announced earlier this week.

The reforms will include measures to attract and keep highly skilled workers where they are needed – giving priority to regional Australia – as well as closing loopholes that allow some visa holders to remain on a “permanently temporary” basis.

Brisbane and Queensland have benefited from interstate migration.

Australia’s total population ballooned to 26.6 million people, growing by 2.4 per cent, an increase of 624,100.

ABS head of demography Beidar Cho said the large up tick in the country’s population growth was down to temporary visas.

“There were 737,200 overseas migration arrivals and 219,100 departures, adding 518,100 people to our population from overseas migration,” Ms Cho said.

“People arriving on temporary visas, such as international students were the main contributor to the arrivals, with the number of departures remaining low as the cycle of arrivals and departures have not yet returned to typical pre-pandemic patterns.”

The ABS also revealed across the country – “natural increase was 106,100 people, a decrease of 15.4 per cent from the previous year, while there were 295,900 births and 189,900 deaths registered in this time, with deaths increasing 3.6 per cent and births decreasing 4.1 per cent.”

Ms Cho said Queensland was the third fastest growing state in the country.

“Western Australia had the fastest rise in population, growing 3.1 per cent over the previous year. This was followed by Victoria, which grew by 2.7 per cent, and Queensland which saw a 2.6 per cent rise,” Ms Cho said.

Tasmania saw the least amount of growth in the year, with just a 0.3 per cent increase in population.