Australia’s Fastest Growing Areas
September 2, 2013, 10:53 am Kochie’s Business Builders Yahoo!7
New ABS data paints an interesting picture of the Australian population…
The great migration from rural to urban Australia continues with new figures showing regional communities are among the fastest declining populations in the country as suburban headcounts swell.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics shows this trend is strongest in Victoria, with six Greater Melbourne regions featuring in the top 20 fastest growing areas in Australia between 2007 and 2012.
Balancing that out, the Murray River – Swan Hill region of Victoria has the second fastest contracting population in the country.
Commsec analysis of the data makes interesting reading, especially for policymakers and businesses wanting to factor population growth rates into decision making.
Across the board, Commsec’s Savanth Sebastian points out that population growth is poised to lift further, underpinned by migration, and the implications for the economy are unequivocally positive.
“Stronger population growth equals stronger spending. For any business this is clearly good news. If there are more people coming to live and work in Australia, it means more spending, investment, employment and thus momentum for the economy.”
“But clearly businesses and governments must closely model population shifts to target infrastructure and spending demands over the next decade,” Sebastian cautions.
Mining states like Western Australia, Queensland and Northern Territory have recorded significant double-digit population growth rates over the past five years, while larger key states like Victoria and NSW have also performed relatively well in terms of population growth.
Gungahlin in the ACT was the fastest growing suburb in the country, jumping by 18,475, or 52%, over the last five years. The fastest declining population was the Lower Murray region of NSW, which shed 527 people to contract by 4%.
But it’s not just absolute numbers the analysis covers, with age demographics also telling data to look at.
The research shows Australia’s youth are concentrated in the north of the country, while senior Australians dominate the NSW central and mid-north coast.
The oldest region in Australia is Tuncurry, just north of Newcastle, with an average age of 59.3 years. The youngest is Thamarrurr with an average age of just 22.1 years.