 | MEDIA RELEASE | |
| 22 March 2018 | Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time) | |
May day: Queensland's population to reach 5 million
Queensland's population is projected to reach the 5 million milestone in May, according to the latest population figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
ABS Demography Director Anthony Grubb said that by the end of September 2017 Queensland's population had reached 4.9 million and was growing at 1.7 per cent.
Overall, Australia's population grew by 395,600 to reach 24.7 million by the end of September 2017. Victoria continued to close the population gap on New South Wales and was the fastest growing state or territory with a population increase of 2.4 per cent, followed by the Australian Capital Territory, at 1.8 per cent.
Mr Grubb said there had been two main drivers behind Queensland's population growth: "Natural increase and net overseas migration each added an additional 31,000 people to the state's population in the year preceding September 2017. The third component, net interstate migration, contributed 19,000 over the same period, including a net flow of 12,000 from New South Wales."
Mr Grubb said Queensland's population had come a long way since the start of the last century.
"In 1901, the population was half a million; a tenth of what it is today," Mr Grubb said. "It took 37 years to hit the one million milestone in 1938 and another 36 years to reach two million in 1974. After that, population growth picked up its pace, taking only 18 years to get to three million in 1992, and just 14 years to reach four million in 2006. "
Nationally, net overseas migration added 250,100 people to the population and accounted for 63 per cent of Australia's total population growth.
Natural increase contributed 145,500 additional people to Australia's population, made up of 306,500 births and 161,000 deaths.
The lowest rates of population growth were in the Northern Territory, which remained flat, South Australia (0.6 per cent) and Tasmania (0.7 per cent).
Further information is available in Australian Demographic Statistics, September Quarter 2017 (cat. no. 3101.0).
For population estimates at the regional level, see Regional Population Growth, Australia (cat. no. 3218.0), available for free download from https://www.abs.gov.au/.
| Population at end September Qtr 2017 | Change over previous year | Change over previous year |
| PRELIMINARY DATA | '000 | '000 | % |
|
| New South Wales | 7 895.8 | 123.1 | 1.6 |
| Victoria | 6 358.9 | 147.4 | 2.4 |
| Queensland | 4 948.7 | 81.3 | 1.7 |
| South Australia | 1 726.9 | 10.8 | 0.6 |
| Western Australia | 2 587.1 | 22.0 | 0.9 |
| Tasmania | 522.0 | 3.7 | 0.7 |
| Northern Territory | 246.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 412.6 | 7.2 | 1.8 |
| Australia | 24 702.9 | 395.6 | 1.6 |
|
Media notes:
- When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
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