STATE POPULATION BOOM

The equivalent of more than two capacity crowds at Suncorp Stadium has migrated into Queensland in the past year, population data reveals.

Queensland has the third-fastest growing population in the country, Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show, with more than 138,000 additions to the Sunshine State.

Almost 5.5 million people now call Queensland home, with 83,995 people migrating to the state from overseas, 32,255 from interstate and a natural increase of 22,222 as at June 30 this year.

Queensland had the highest interstate migration in the nation, as people fled NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory in droves, leaving those states and territories with a negative net interstate migration – while 38,283 people died in Queensland in the year to June 30.

The new figures come as the federal government prepares to slash the number of migrants into the country by 185,000, under sweeping reforms announced this week.

The reforms will include measures to attract and keep highly skilled workers where they are needed – giving priority to regional Australia – as well as closing loopholes that allow some visa holders to remain on a “permanently temporary” basis.

Australia’s total population ballooned to 26.6 million people, growing by 2.4 per cent, an increase of 624,100 people.

NSW remained the most popular destination for overseas migrants, with more than 174,000 people flocking to the state. Victoria was next, with a net migration rate of 154,256 people, ahead of Queensland and South Australia.

ABS head of demography Beidar Cho said the large uptick in the country’s population growth was down to temporary visas.

“There were 737,200 overseas migration arrivals and 219,100 departures, adding 518,100 people to our population from overseas migration,” she said.

“People arriving on temporary visas, such as international students, were the main contributor to the arrivals, with the number of departures remaining low as the cycle of arrivals and departures have not yet returned to typical pre-pandemic patterns.”

The ABS also revealed that across the country “natural increase was 106,100 people, a decrease of 15.4 per cent from the previous year, while there were 295,900 births and 189,900 deaths registered in this time, with deaths increasing 3.6 per cent and births decreasing 4.1 per cent”.

Ms Cho said Queensland was the third-fastest growing state in the country.

“Western Australia had the fastest rise in population, growing 3.1 per cent over the previous year,” she said.

“This was followed by Victoria, which grew by 2.7 per cent, and Queensland which saw a 2.6 per cent rise.”

Tasmania experienced the least amount of growth in the year, with just a 0.3 per cent increase in population.