Victorian population shrank after crushing pandemic shutdowns

Victoria is the only state or territory with a shrinking population, as pandemic shutdowns — including the world’s longest lockdown in Melbourne — sparked an exodus.

Victoria was the only state or territory to record a population decrease. Picture: Tony Gough

Victoria’s population fell by thousands in 2021, the only state or territory to record a decrease, says a new report.

Pandemic shutdowns led to an exodus of Victorians to other states, while the closure of international borders slashed the number of migrants coming here.

As of December 31, 2021, Victoria had 6.55 million people, 3500 fewer over a year, according to ABS report National, State and Territory Population.

By comparison, Queensland gained 73,700 residents, WA increased by 30,500, NSW by 11,200, SA by 9600, Tasmania by 4300, ACT by 1900 and NT by 200.

Victoria lost nearly 20,000 residents to other states, while there were 9500 more people leaving to live overseas than settling here.

Shadow Treasurer David Davis said people were leaving Victoria because of higher taxes and claimed waste and mismanagement played a role.

“Victorians are voting with their feet and seeking greener pastures elsewhere,” he said.

“A particularly troubling figure is the net interstate migration figure, with Victoria losing 19,386 people overall to other states and territories.”

“This is a not a one off but a clear trend, every other state is moving forward whilst Victoria continues to fall further behind.”

Mr Davis said Victoria would also be unable to fix its labour shortages without more people coming in.

“Victoria will never be number one again whilst our population is shrinking,” he said.

“Only a change in government will reverse this trend.”

The only measure positive for population growth was the 32,877 extra people due to natural increase, or the number of births minus deaths.

The report said that in 2021 Australia’s population grew by 128,000 to reach 25.76 million, comprising 138,500 natural increase and minus 3600 net overseas migration.

NSW’s population grew by 0.1 per cent to reach 8.09 million, Queensland grew 1.4 per cent to 5.26 million, WA by 1.1 per cent to 2.76 million, SA by 0.5 per cent to 1.8 million, and Tasmania by 0.8 per cent to 570,000.