WA’s population grows just 0.7%

Growth in Western Australia’s population has continued near historically low levels, with almost 1,000 people per month leaving WA to live in other states, primarily Victoria.

In the March 2017 quarter, a net 2,860 people migrated interstate, while a net 5,496 people migrated to WA from overseas and natural population growth added 5,546, according to the Bureau of Statistics.

Over the year to March, the state’s population grew by just 18,400 people to 2,576,000.

This reflected positive contributions from natural increase and net overseas migration, partly offset by the loss of 11,800 people (in net terms) to other states.

The net loss of people via interstate migration has been the norm for WA over more than a decade.

This pattern was briefly and dramatically reversed during the mining construction boom, when about 5,000 people per month moved to WA from the eastern states.

As a result, the state’s population growth rate peaked at 3.1 per cent in 2012-13.

In the recent state budget, the Treasury department projected WA’s population growth was expected to remain subdued at 1.0 per cent in 2017-18 and 1.2 per cent in 2018-19.

The national population growth rate rose to a three-year high of 1.61 per cent.

Australia’s population expanded by 389,072 people over the year to March 2017 to 24,511,773 people.

Population growth was strongest in Victoria at 2.43 per cent, the fastest population growth since 1960.

It was followed by the ACT (1.78 per cent), NSW (1.60 per cent) and Queensland (1.56 per cent).