Many countries around the world are in perilous demographic shape, because there simply aren’t enough younger people to sustain markets and contribute to national productivity. With that fact in mind any population growth is welcome news.
So the good news for Australia is that its population grew by 1.9% in 2022, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures.
Beidar Cho, ABS head of Demography, said: “Our population at 31 December 2022 is 26.3 million people, after we recorded an increase of 496,800 people over the year – a growth rate of 1.9%, the highest seen since 2008.”
There were 619,600 overseas migration arrivals and 232,600 departures, resulting in Australia’s population growing by 387,000 people from overseas migration.
Cho continued: “Recovery of international student arrivals is driving net overseas migration to historic highs, while departures are lagging behind levels typically seen over the past decade. This pattern is expected to continue as international students return following the reopening of international borders, however there are fewer students ready to depart because very few arrived during the pandemic.
Natural increase was 109,800 people, a decrease of 23.4% from the previous year, with 300,700 births and 190,900 deaths registered during this time. COVID-19 mortality was the main contributor to an increased number of deaths and lower natural increase in 2022.