Australia’s population to hit 25 million – a decade earlier than forecast
Australia’s population has officially hit the 25 million mark, almost a decade earlier than projected, according to projections from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The historic milestone was recorded by the ABS’s “population clock” which tallies up births and deaths, as well as those migrating or leaving the country.
Australia’s population is thought to have been boosted by new Australians, with net migration continuing to outpace births.
The ABS population clock estimates Australia’s population increases by one person every 83 seconds. It assumes a new Australian is born every one minute and 42 seconds, while one dies every 3 minutes and 16 seconds.
Overseas migration accounts for 62 percent of Australia’s population growth, with one new resident arriving every 61 seconds.
Of these 25 million, many are most likely a young, female Chinese student or skilled worker, author and political commentator George Megalogenis was quoted as saying by the ABC News. “The two biggest migrant groups in Australia are Chinese and Indians since the turn of the 21st century,” he told The World program.
“So we’re getting an extraordinary number of Chinese and Indians from two countries that are actually rising.
Associate Professor Amanda Davies, a geographer at Curtin University’s School of Design and the Built Environment, urged governments to come up with a population strategy as Australia’s cities will hit a limit in terms of how many people they can accommodate.
“The long-term disinvestment in regional and rural communities by successive governments has made it all the more difficult for these places to diversify their economic activities, grow employment opportunities and attract new residents,” she said.
