WA population growth slowdown

Western Australia has experienced its first year of negative interstate migration since 2002, according to the latest population data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The state’s population grew by 1.6 per cent in 2014, representing a significant reduction from the lofty 2.9 per cent population increase in 2013.

The ABS report found that WA had a net interstate migration of negative 400 in 2014.

This positioned WA with one of the most dramatic declines in net interstate migration, compared with the gain of 5,200 in 2013.

WA has also experienced a substantial slowdown in net overseas migration, to 18,900 in 2014, a fall of nearly 48 per cent.

The national average was a 15 per cent drop.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia economist Gareth Aird said population growth rates across the states were converging partly due to the downturn in mining-related employment.

Victoria has now taken the lead in annual growth rate, reporting a 1.8 per cent increase in 2014.

Off the back of record interstate migration figures, it is the first time that Victoria has registered the fastest annual population growth in the nation since quarterly records were first maintained more than 30 years ago.

All states and territories recorded positive population growth, with the lowest results coming from Tasmania and the Northern Territory at only 0.27 per cent and 0.38 per cent respectively.

Australia’s population has grown by 330,202 people on 2014 figures to a total of 23,625,600.

Of those, 2,581,300 reside in WA.

During the December quarter, population growth was 64,010 nationally, representing the smallest quarterly increase in more than eight years.

The national population growth rate has fallen from 1.5 per cent in 2013 to 1.4 per cent in 2014, the lowest in more than three years.

“Notwithstanding at 1.4 per cent per annum, Australia’s population growth rate is a lot faster than most other OECD countries,” Mr Aird said.