Federal Budget: NT population forecast to drop by 7000 in three years

FEDERAL budget papers have revealed the Territory’s population is still expected to drop by thousands in three years despite a recent wave of ‘coronavirus refugees’ heading to the NT

• EXPLAINER: What the 2020 Federal Budget means for Territorians
• How the Northern Territory’s population has fallen in the past two years

THE Territory’s population is still expected to drop by 7000 in three years despite a recent wave of ‘coronavirus refugees’ heading to the NT, according to federal budget forecasts.

The federal budget forecasts the NT will continue to be the only jurisdiction in Australia to record a decline in population over the next three years.

The NT’s population is estimated to fall by 7000 between 2020-23. Source: Federal Budget 2020-21

The budget documents estimate the Territory’s population will drop by about 2000 from 241,000 in 2020 to about 238,000 in 2021.

The population is then expected to drop down further to 235,000 in 2022 and then to 234,000 in 2023.

These federal budget estimations were based on the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and have been used to update GST entitlements.

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The budget papers also said the NT will receive $2.7bn in GST payments this financial year.

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