Population to hit 3 million by 2026

Western Australia’s population is forecast to grow to 3,061,000 by 2026, according to the latest population projections released by the state government.

The reports projection is nearly 400,000 higher state-wide than a previous projection made in 2006.

The report adopted a new form a measurement, not used in previous projections, based upon a focus on the most likely projection, taken from a range of options.

The City of Perth is forecast to be the fastest growing local government area in WA, with an annual growth rate of 6.7 per cent over the 20 year projected period.

A total of ten local governments will experience a doubling of their current populations between now and 2026, the end of current projections.

These areas include, Wanneroo, Kwinana and Serpentine-Jarrahdale in the metropolitan region and Mandurah, Busselton and Murray, which are designated non-metropolitan.

The majority of population expansion is expected to occur in the Perth and Peel regions, with the combined areas accounting for between 2,275,000 and 2,356,000.

Planning minister John Day said that the state governments’ key planning strategy Directions 2031 remained the central tool for government planning to meet the demands of an increasing population.

“Population projections evolve as circumstance and conditions change so it is important that our planning is informed by the most relevant and accurate data, these new projections take into consideration both new and existing trends,” he said.

The report used a median projection from a total of 5 bands to gauge a middle point in all the forecast simulations which were carried out for the report.

The median was supported by two alternatives which represented the lowest forecast simulation and the highest.

At the lowest projection population would grow by 2.93 million and at the highest band by 3.2 million.

The expected increase of nearly 1 million between 2006 and 2026 shows the increased speed at which WA’s population is projected to expand; it took the state 35 years to add its previous million, from 1971 to 2006.