Australia's population fastest growing in the developed world

From The Australian:

Migrants, births fuel rise in numbers

David Uren, Economics correspondent | June 25, 2008

A FLOOD of migrants and a continuing rise in the birth rate gave Australia its fastest population growth in almost two decades last year.

Queensland is leading the population boom, attracting migrants from overseas and across the border in NSW.

The number of Queenslanders rose by just under 100,000 last year, almost a third of the national population increase of 331,000.

The 1.6 per cent increase in the population lifted the national total to 21.2 million.

Australian National University demographer Peter McDonald said the rise made Australia the fastest-growing nation in the developed world.

"The United States has a slightly higher fertility rate but our migration rate is much higher," he said.

The population was boosted by an extraordinary influx of 410,900 migrants and long-term visitors from overseas, far in excess of the 226,400 long-term visitors returning and Australian residents leaving the country.

Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia were thebig magnets for overseas migrants.

Western Australia lifted its migrant intake by 24.6per cent last year to 28,880 people, while Queensland attracted 35,800, an increase of 19.1 per cent.

Professor McDonald said NSW was the big loser, as a result of efforts by former premier Bob Carr to close the state to migration.

"Over the last seven years, NSW's share of international migration has dropped from 42per cent to 29 per cent," Professor McDonald said.

NSW still accounted for 42 per cent of the people leaving the country, he said.

Western Australia was the biggest destination for British migrants, while Queensland attracted the most New Zealanders.

Victoria and NSW appealed more to Chinese and Indian migrants.

"South Australia has also achieved a remarkable increase in its migrant intake from 2000 five years ago to 13,000 in the last year," Professor McDonald said.

With about 24,000 people leaving NSW, mostly for Queensland last year, NSW had lower population growth than Queensland and Victoria.

Despite the resources boom, Western Australia failed to attract a significant flow of migrants from the eastern states, with only 3775 people making the trek across the Nullarbor last year. Queensland lured 25,650 people.

The fertility rate continued to climb, reaching 1.85 births per woman, up from a level of 1.72 four years ago.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said this number might have been exaggerated by the new requirement that births be registered before parents can claim the baby bonus.

However, Professor McDonald said even accounting for that change, the fertility rate was above 1.8 births per woman.

The death rate also declined, from 6.6 deaths per 1000 people in 2002-3 to 5.9, the lowest on record, last year.

Natural population increase added 147,400 people last year, an 11.3 per cent increase from 2006, while migration added 184,400, a 16.2 per cent increase.

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