Future Gold Coast: Northern suburbs population to increase 75 per cent by 2043

The population of the northern Gold Coast will increase by 75 per cent within 20 years, with new data revealing the suburbs which will see the biggest growth.

The population of the northern Gold Coast will increase by 75 per cent within 20 years, a leading social researcher has tipped.

The city will become home to more than 1 million people by the 2040s on the back of surging domestic and international migration.

Mark McCrindle said his research had shown that the vast bulk of new residents will be living in northern suburbs, requiring a dramatic increase in housing.

“The total Gold Coast population is just approaching 650,000 and if we forecast forward to 2046, a decade and a bit past the Olympics of 2032, we are looking at the Gold Coast having a population of 1 million people,” he said.

Demographer Mark McCrindle.

“But what’s most remarkable is the growth of the northern part of the Gold Coast which has a current population of just under 300,000 but in 2046, it will have a population of 500,000 in its own right.

“This is just the northern part of the Gold Coast, being the three statistical areas that the Australian Bureau of Statistics uses of Ormeau/Oxenford, Gold Coast North, and Southport.

“So this means massive growth – The Gold Coast itself to 2047 is going to grow by 54 per cent while the northern part of the Gold Coast will grow by 67 per cent and indeed Ormeau/Oxenford area growing by 75 per cent.”

Northern Gold Coast greenfield sites are in high demand, with few undeveloped sites still available.

Artist impression of the proposed Pacific City development in the Norwell Valley on the Gold Coast. Picture: Supplied.

Developer Bob Ell recently snapped up a giant Coomera block which will be able to house 4000 homes for nearly $200 million in what is understood to be the Gold Coast’s biggest ever land deal.

The site, known as Coomera Quarter, sits between the Coomera Rivers State School and the heavy rail line, south of Pimpama State Secondary College.

Developers and city leaders are now pushing for more land to be opened up for development, particularly the cane fields of Norwell Valley.

Mr McCrindle said it was critical for more housing to be developed in available locations,

Bob Ell

“The Gold Coast has had an older median age but that is now changing with more students and families coming in and more workers who are here for business and employment reasons,” he said.

“There is a rising employment class so the population growth is driving economic growth which itself is driving more population and economic expansion.

“However, all of this growth does come with the ­requirement for infrastructure and housing to meet the ­demand.

“Otherwise, what you end up wit his the infrastructure bottlenecks but also the cost of living and housing at prices elements of our community cannot afford.”