Australia’s population has raced past the 24 million people mark, thanks in part to a significant increase in net immigration.
New official figures show that Australia’s population increased by nearly 350,000 in the year to September 2016, hitting 24.2 million.
The figures show that net immigration hit 200,000 for the first time in four years.
Unsurprisingly the biggest population increases were seen in Australia’s two most popular states for immigrants. Victoria’s population grew by 127,500 people while New South Wales saw an increase of 109,600 residents.
In Queensland, the total number of people rose by 67,700, while Western Australia welcomed 25,200 residents.
Elsewhere, South Australia added 9,500 new residents, the Australian Capital Territory grew by 5,800 people, while Tasmania and the Northern Territory saw increases of 2,600 and 800 respectively.
Australia’s population by state
New South Wales, 7,757,800
Victoria, 6,100,900
Queensland, 4,860,400
Western Australia, 2,623,200
South Australia, 1,710,800
Tasmania, 519,800
ACT, 398,300
Northern Territory 245,700
Total, 24,220,200
Article published 28th March 2017