A considerable populace of Australians, falling in the tens of thousands, have embarked on a mass exodus from New South Wales (NSW), opting to embrace the welcoming warmth and more temperate weather of Queensland, says recently disclosed data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
It was calculated that a net figure of around 30,000 individuals left NSW within the past year concluding on March 31st this year. Concurrently, the Sunshine State observed over 31,000 new faces from interstate.
This same period witnessed Victoria, Tasmania, Northern Territory, and ACT all confronting negative interstate migratory patterns, displaying losses of -5644, -1994, -2745, and -1752 respectively. NSW, however, still managed to thrive amidst the outward migration, reporting a net growth of an impressive 156,000 populace, primarily facilitated by overseas immigration.
Despite the significant departures, NSW profited from an enriching “natural” boost to the population, documenting a gain of 33,000, a product of 96,000 births overshadowing the 63,000 deaths. This was compounded with an influx of approximately 234,010 international arrivals, while acknowledging an outflow of a further 80,000 emigrating oversea.
Although NSW exhibited a population growth of 1.9% over the year in question, all states also marked net growth, with Western Australia notching the most significant rise at 2.8%. Following closely were Victoria at 2.4%, Queensland at 2.3% and the ACT with a 2% increase. Australia, as a whole, saw a population bloom of 2.2% ( a wholesome 563,000 heads) to reach a cumulative 26.5 million.
As shared by Beidar Cho, head of demography at ABS, with the re-opening of international borders now thirteen months in the past, net overseas migration can be credited for a formidable 81% of this growth bringing in an additional 454,400 individuals to Australia in the year leading up to March 2023.
The country heralded the arrival of just over 680,000 international visitors during these twelve months, a significant rise of 103% year-over-year, while acknowledging the departure of 226,000 overseas migrants. The low departure rate, the bureau asserted, is attributed to a “catch-up effect” caused by prior border closures, coaxing back international students who were unavoidably absent during the pandemic. However, this trend is expected to normalize in time as an increase in departures is inevitable once overseas students take flight in their usual counts.
