Regional population surges as SEQ remains country’s largest growing area: Fraser

March 21 2007

Regional population surges as SEQ remains country’s largest growing area: Fraser

Brisbane and the Gold Coast have retained their rankings as the country’s largest growing cities despite a modest decline in South East Queensland’s phenomenal annual population growth.

The latest Queensland Population Update, released today, shows that while population growth in the south-east corner eased by more than 11,000 people in 2006 - dropping from 64,000 people in 2005 to 52,000 last year – Brisbane and the Gold Coast were the nation’s number one and two largest growing cities for the 10^th consecutive year.

Launching the report, Local Government and Planning Minister Andrew Fraser said other areas of the state – particularly Central Queensland and the Far North – had at the same time experienced significant population growth.

“Population growth in the state’s central region was up an extraordinary 19 per cent on 2005 figures, primarily fuelled by the BowenBasin mining boom,” Mr Fraser said.

“People in Central Queensland are well aware of the region’s growth and these figures quantify what many people have known for a while.

“The 19 per cent increase in growth equated to a net gain of 2,700 residents in the region.

“The Far North also surged ahead, up 11 per cent on the previous year.

“Cairns City was the Far North’s star performer, surging forward with an increase of 4,100 people.”

While the Far North and Central Queensland regions were the standouts, others areas outside South East Queensland continued to grow strongly.

Mr Fraser said the Wide Bay-Burnett region (increase of 6,400 people), the Townsville region (increase of 4,700 people) and the Mackay region (increase of 3,700 people) also showed strong growth.

“Overall there was a modest slowing of Queensland’s population growth, however the State still accounted for four of the top ten largest growing local government areas in the nation.

“BrisbaneCity (14,000 people) and GoldCoastCity (13,500 people) were once again Australia’s largest growing local government areas, while IpswichCity (4,200 people) and CairnsCity (4,100 people) ranked at numbers nine and 10 respectively in the listing of largest growth local government areas in 2006.”

The top ten largest growing local government areas in regional Queensland and South East Queensland are shown in the tables below.

Regional Queensland – Top 10 fastest growing Local Government Areas

South East Queensland – Top 10 fastest growing Local Government Areas

Queensland still leading the way

Meanwhile, the new statistics show the state recorded the highest population growth in Australia for the fifth consecutive year.

Mr Fraser said the report showed the state’s population increased by 76,392 in the year ending June 2006.

Victoria recorded the second highest increase with 68,502, while New South Wales had 58,753 and Western Australia 39,920.

The report also shows:

• Queensland received a net gain of 25,800 people from other states – an average of about 500 each week;

• There were 53,455births registered in the period – the highest number ever recorded and an increase of 2.6 per cent on the previous year; and

• Queensland recorded a net increase of more than 400 new residents each week from overseas (total increase of 21,380 new arrivals).

“Overall, Queensland’s annual growth of 1.9 per cent – from 3,977,000 people in June 2005 to 4,053,000 people in June 2006 – was well above the national average of 1.3 per cent.

“Although Western Australia recorded a slightly higher growth rate of 2 per cent, this only translated to an extra 39,000 people, compared to the more than 76,000 new Queenslanders.

“This is more proof that people from across Australia – and indeed the world – continue to be attracted to Queensland because of our perfect climate, fantastic outdoor lifestyle and our booming economy.”

Mr Fraser said Queensland’s record number of births represented more than one-third of the state’s population growth and was more than double the number of deaths recorded for the year.

“These are significant statistics given the nature of Queensland’s ageing population.

“But while the advantages of population growth are many, it also puts pressure on water resources, infrastructure, housing, energy and the environment.

“Planning information like this is essential for the State Government and local councils so we can put in place solid planning for the future.

“It’s absolutely critical that we manage our population growth in the smartest possible ways to ensure our communities remain strong and healthy for future generations.”

Media Contact Chris Taylor 3227 8825