Western Australia’s population grew by a strong 1.8 per cent in the year to September 2022, helped by an unusually large increase in overseas migration into the state.
Western Australia’s population grew by a strong 1.8 per cent in the year to September 2022, helped by an unusually large increase in overseas migration into the state.
The annual growth rate reflected a 0.6 per cent population jump in the September quarter. the latest data from the Bureau of Statistics shows.
The state’s population expanded by a net 17,136 people in the September quarter.
The largest contributor was net overseas migration, which added 11,561 people to the state’s population.
That’s the largest quarterly increase since March 2013, when WA attracted a large number of overseas workers for the last mining construction boom.
For context, net overseas migration added about 6,000 people in each of the two previous quarters and was negative in the two years before that, when the whole country was affected by COVID restrictions.
Net interstate migration continued to make a strong contribution to WA’s population growth, adding 2,420 in the September quarter.
There have been only a handful of quarters over the past decade when the figure was higher.
One of those was the December 2021 quarter, when net interstate migration added 4,970 to the state’s population – that looks increasingly like an aberration.
Natural increase (births minus deaths) added an unusually low 3,155 people.
That was the lowest quarterly figure in about 15 years.
WA’s annual population growth rate of 1.8 per cent was above the national figure of 1.6 per cent.
The Bureau of Statistics said the national growth rate was similar to what Australia saw in the years before COVID.
It noted some big shifts in the components of growth, with overseas migration very strong.
"Migrant arrivals have returned to similar levels to those prior to the pandemic but departures remain lower - mainly because there are fewer recently arrived temporary migrants, like international students, who are due to leave," the ABS said.
Queensland was the country’s fastest growing state, with its population up 2.2 per cent.
Queensland has consistently been the country’s fastest growing state, mainly a result of very strong net interstate migration.
WA’s population as at September 30 was 2,805,019, equivalent to 10.7 per cent of the national total.
