Media release – Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 14 December 2023

Australia’s population grows by 2.4 per cent

Source: National, state and territory population, June 2023

Australia’s population grew by 2.4 per cent in the year to 30 June 2023, according to the latest figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Beidar Cho, ABS head of demography, said: “Our population at 30 June 2023 was 26.6 million people, an increase of 624,100 people over the year.

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

“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.”

Natural increase was 106,100 people, a decrease of 15.4 per cent from the previous year. 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.

“Western Australia had the fastest rise in population, growing 3.1 per cent over the previous year. This was followed by Victoria, which grew by 2.7 per cent, and Queensland which saw a 2.6 per cent rise,” Ms Cho said.

Tasmania saw the least growth, with a 0.3 per cent increase in population in the same period.

 
Population at 30 June 2023 (‘000) Change over previous year (‘000) Change over previous year (%)
New South Wales 8339.3 172.6 2.1
Victoria 6812.5 181.8 2.7
Queensland 5459.4 138.5 2.6
South Australia 1851.7 30.5 1.7
Western Australia 2878.6 86.8 3.1
Tasmania 572.8 1.7 0.3
Northern Territory 252.5 2.2 0.9
Australian Capital Territory 466.8 9.9 2.2
Australia (a) 26638.5 624.1 2.4

a. Includes Other Territories comprising Jervis Bay Territory, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Norfolk Island.

Media release – Dean Winter MP, Shadow Minister for Economic Development, 18 December 2023

Talented Tasmanians leaving state under Rockliff Minority Government

In more bad news for the economy, Tasmanians are leaving the state in record numbers as opportunities run dry after 10 years of a Liberal government.

Jeremy Rockliff’s minority government is draining our state of talent, with more than 15,000 Tasmanians leaving in the past year alone.

This equates to a Jetstar plane full of young people leaving Tasmania for good, every four days.

Figures released by the ABS show the state had the worst 12-month period for “brain drain” since the 90s, and has now recorded five consecutive quarters of net interstate migration loss.

Population growth is a critical indicator of economic performance – and Tasmania’s is the weakest in the country.

Under Jeremy Rockliff, Tasmania has plummeted down the CommSec rankings, business confidence is negative and our economy is shrinking.

Jeremy Rockliff and the Liberals are out of ideas after 10 years in office, and are taking Tasmania back to the dark days of the Liberal-Green minority Government of 1996-1998, when young people were leaving our state in droves.

In contrast, Labor has a plan to keep young people in Tasmania.

We’ll provide more help for aspiring first homeowners, we’ll back renewable energy and other exciting new industries, and we’ll provide scholarships for an extra 500 Tasmanians to attend university each and every year.