1304.5 - Stats Talk WA, Jun 2008  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 30/06/2008   
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WASI
Western Australian Statistical Indicators
(cat. no. 1367.5)

Migration & Mobility in WA
Migration has been the most influential component of population growth in WA over the last ten years.

ABS Graph: COMPONENTS OF POPULATION GROWTH, Western Australia


Between June 1996 and June 2006, net migration (both overseas and inter-state) accounted for 53.4% of WA’s population growth, a net increase of 85,939 persons. At the time of the 2006 Census, 43.8% of persons (aged 5 years or more) living in WA had moved between the 2001 and 2006 Census. Of these, 12.6% had moved from overseas and 7.9% from inter-state.

Overseas Migration
Since 2000, overseas migration has been the largest contributor to population growth in WA, due to the current economic boom and associated employment opportunities. Overseas migration contributed 53.1% of WA’s population growth in 2006.

Of the 93,527 recent arrivals that were counted as living in WA at the time of the 2006 Census, 31.5% were born in North-West Europe, 17% were born in South-East Asia and 16.6% were born in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Inter-state Migration
Net inter-state migration has fluctuated over the last twenty years, though from 2003, WA has had a positive net flow of people from other states and territories. There were 62,930 persons who moved to WA from another state or territory between the 2001 and 2006 Census. The majority came from NSW (29.5%) and Victoria (23.8%).

As a proportion of the total number of people who moved in each region of WA, the Kimberley had the highest proportion of people moving from inter-state (20.5%), followed by the Pilbara region (16.7%). The resources boom has been an influential factor in the high proportion of inter-state movers to the Pilbara region, but to a lesser extent to the Kimberley.

Internal Mobility
Of the people who lived in WA between the 2001 and 2006 Censuses, more than two-fifths had moved within WA over the five year period (42.2%), and 37.8% had moved within the same Statistical Local Area (SLA).

Employees in the Pilbara and South Eastern regions of WA were highly mobile; 48.1% of employed people counted in the Pilbara region had moved in the five years prior to the 2006 Census and 42.5% of employed people in the South Eastern region (compared to 39.5% for WA).

The Western Australian Statistical Indicators (cat. no. 1367.5) publication will be released 16 July, 2008. For more information, please contact Trevor Draper on 9360 5394.