3218.0 - Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2015-16 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 30/03/2017   
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MAIN FEATURES

  • Australia's estimated resident population (ERP) reached 24.1 million at 30 June 2016, increasing by 337,800 people or 1.4% since 30 June 2015. This growth rate was unchanged from 2014-15.
  • All states and territories experienced population growth between 2015 and 2016. Victoria had the greatest growth (123,100 people), followed by New South Wales (105,600) and Queensland (64,700).
  • Victoria also grew fastest, increasing by 2.1%, followed by New South Wales and Queensland (both 1.4%), the Australian Capital Territory (1.3%) and Western Australia (1.0%). The Northern Territory had the slowest growth (0.2%), followed by South Australia and Tasmania (both 0.5%).
  • The combined population of Greater Capital Cities increased by 276,500 people (1.7%) between 30 June 2015 and 30 June 2016, accounting for 82% of the country's total population growth.
  • Melbourne had the largest growth of all Greater Capital Cities (107,800), followed by Sydney (82,800), Brisbane (41,100) and Perth (27,400).
  • Melbourne also had the fastest growth (2.4%), ahead of Brisbane (1.8%) and Sydney (1.7%).
  • Sydney's population reached 5 million in 2015-16. While it took almost 30 years (1971 to 2000) for Sydney's population to increase from 3 million to 4 million people, it took only another 16 years to reach its next million.


    ESTIMATED RESIDENT POPULATION, States and Territories - Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (GCCSAs)
    ERP AT 30 JUNE
    CHANGE
    2016p
    2015r-2016p
    GCCSA
    no.
    no.
    %
    NSW
    Greater Sydney
    5 005 358
    82 797
    1.7
    Rest of NSW
    2 721 566
    22 788
    0.8
    Total
    7 726 924
    105 585
    1.4
    Vic.
    Greater Melbourne
    4 641 636
    107 770
    2.4
    Rest of Vic.
    1 428 000
    15 361
    1.1
    Total
    6 069 636
    123 131
    2.1
    Qld
    Greater Brisbane
    2 349 699
    41 135
    1.8
    Rest of Qld
    2 493 604
    23 524
    1.0
    Total
    4 843 303
    64 659
    1.4
    SA
    Greater Adelaide
    1 326 354
    9 371
    0.7
    Rest of SA
    381 781
    -109
    0.0
    Total
    1 708 135
    9 262
    0.5
    WA
    Greater Perth
    2 066 564
    27 428
    1.3
    Rest of WA
    550 510
    -291
    -0.1
    Total
    2 617 074
    27 137
    1.0
    Tas.
    Greater Hobart
    222 802
    1 786
    0.8
    Rest of Tas.
    296 261
    685
    0.2
    Total
    519 063
    2 471
    0.5
    NT
    Greater Darwin
    143 629
    1 147
    0.8
    Rest of NT
    101 562
    -613
    -0.6
    Total
    245 191
    534
    0.2
    ACT
    396 294
    5 020
    1.3
    Australia(a)
    Greater Capital City
    16 152 336
    276 454
    1.7
    Rest of Australia
    7 976 540
    61 367
    0.8
    Total
    24 128 876
    337 821
    1.4
(a) Includes Other Territories.

  • The three Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2s) with the largest population growth in Australia in 2015-16 were outer suburbs of Greater Melbourne: South Morang in the city's north, Cranbourne East in the south-east (both 5,000), and Craigieburn - Mickleham (4,500) in the north. Other outer SA2s to experience high growth included the coastal area of Yanchep (4,300) in Perth's north and Cobbitty - Leppington (3,300) in Sydney's south-west.
  • The SA2 of ACT - South West, which contains the recently developed suburbs of Wright and Coombs, had the fastest growth in Australia (38%), followed by Pimpama on Queensland's Gold Coast (35%), Yanchep (29%) and Cobbitty - Leppington (28%).


    SA2s WITH LARGEST AND FASTEST POPULATION GROWTH IN 2015-2016     (a)
    ERP AT 30 JUNE
    CHANGE
    2016p
    2015r-2016p
    National rank & SA2(b) GCCSA
    no.
    no.
    %
    LARGEST GROWTH
    1 South MorangGreater Melbourne
    64 354
    4 971
    8.4
    2 Cranbourne EastGreater Melbourne
    23 901
    4 956
    26.2
    3 Craigieburn - MicklehamGreater Melbourne
    52 848
    4 491
    9.3
    4 YanchepGreater Perth
    18 904
    4 289
    29.3
    5 Point CookGreater Melbourne
    50 774
    3 512
    7.4
    6 BaldivisGreater Perth
    32 817
    3 389
    11.5
    7 Cobbitty - LeppingtonGreater Sydney
    15 450
    3 338
    27.6
    8 EppingGreater Melbourne
    42 236
    3 226
    8.3
    9 Riverstone - Marsden ParkGreater Sydney
    16 492
    3 146
    23.6
    10 EllenbrookGreater Perth
    37 204
    3 141
    9.2
    FASTEST GROWTH
    1 ACT - South WestAustralian Capital Territory
    5 042
    1 394
    38.2
    2 PimpamaRest of Qld
    8 161
    2 120
    35.1
    3 YanchepGreater Perth
    18 904
    4 289
    29.3
    4 Cobbitty - LeppingtonGreater Sydney
    15 450
    3 338
    27.6
    5 Palmerston - SouthGreater Darwin
    1 667
    348
    26.4
    6 Cranbourne EastGreater Melbourne
    23 901
    4 956
    26.2
    7 Riverstone - Marsden ParkGreater Sydney
    16 492
    3 146
    23.6
    8 North CoogeeGreater Perth
    2 042
    341
    20.0
    9 Forrestdale - Harrisdale - Piara WatersGreater Perth
    18 442
    2 803
    17.9
    10 Beaconsfield - OfficerGreater Melbourne
    13 605
    1 817
    15.4
    (a) Excludes SA2s whose 2015 population was less than 1,000 persons.
    (b) National Rank based on population change between June 2015 and June 2016. See paragraphs 24 and 25 of the Explanatory Notes.

  • Eight of the ten SA2s that experienced the highest population decline were mining areas or service centres associated with mining. These included Mount Isa (-510 people) and Emerald (-260) in Queensland, Broken Hill (-310) in New South Wales, and Leinster - Leonora (-330), Boulder (-270), Kambalda - Coolgardie - Norseman and Meekatharra (both -210), all in Western Australia.
  • Leinster - Leonora, in the northern goldfields area of Western Australia also recorded the fastest decline in population, falling by 6.1% in 2015-16. This was followed by Meekatharra (-5.1%) in Western Australia's mid-west, the outer Perth suburb of Cooloongup (-4.6%) and Kambalda - Coolgardie - Norseman (-3.8%) in Western Australia's south-west.



POPULATION CHANGE BY SA2, Australia - 2015-16