Victorians fleeing in record numbers

Victoria has suffered its biggest migration drop in more than 25 years as migrants pack up and move to the sunshine state.

VICTORIA has suffered its biggest migration drop since 1994 as 6500 people fled to other states in the three months to December 2020.

Australia Bureau of Statistics figures reveal thousands of Victorians made the move interstate last year leading to the state’s biggest net migration loss since March 1994 when 8500 people left.

The figures also show 4200 people moved out of Melbourne to other parts of Victoria.

At least 4300 residents moved to Queensland in that period.

The figures also show interstate arrivals into Victoria increased late last year as 18,500 people arrived in the state.

But, departures simultaneously jumped to 25,000, causing Victoria to experience its highest number of departures since March 1993 and the largest change in net migration out of any other state.

Victorian departures jumped to 25,000 in the three months to December 2020. Picture: Ian Currie

While Victoria lost the most people to interstate migration, Queensland gained the most, with almost 10,000 people travelling north.

The migration shift meant Victoria did not gain people from any state or territory, and also lost 4300 people, most of the state’s movers, to Queensland.

The metropolitan area also felt a record migration drop as the city saw a net loss of 8500 people from the Greater Melbourne area in December 2020 compared to the previous quarter.

Melbourne’s December 2020 net loss was the highest recorded since the ABS began recording its net migration in 2001.

In the previous quarter before December, The ABS figures show 7400 people left the city.

More than 100,000 Australians moved interstate last year, 37 per cent more than interstate moves reported in the September 2020 quarter.

Meanwhile, New South Wales also lost most of its people to Queensland as 4600 left the state last year, but gained most of its new residents from Victoria.

New South Wales’ interstate departures rose from 23,100 to more than 30,000 in December.