Ten years of growth: Australia's population hot spots
Regional population data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that the number of people living in Australia's capital cities grew by 2.9 million between June 2006 and June 2016. This accounted for 77 per cent of the country's total population growth over the decade.
Melbourne experienced the largest growth of all capital cities, increasing by 964,600 people, followed by Sydney (773,600), Brisbane (452,000) and Perth (445,100).
"Tarneit, in Melbourne's outer west, was the largest-growing area in Australia between 2006 and 2016, increasing by 28,800 people," said Beidar Cho, ABS Director of Demography. "This was followed by Baldivis, an outer southern suburb of Perth (up by 27,400 people) and the inner city area of Melbourne (26,200).
"Darwin had the fastest population growth of all capital cities between 2006 and 2016, increasing by 29 per cent. This was followed by Perth (28 per cent), Melbourne (26 per cent) and Brisbane (24 per cent)."
Highlights for each state and territory include:
New South Wales
Over three-quarters of population growth in New South Wales between 2006 and 2016 occurred in Sydney, which also reached the population milestone of 5 million residents during 2016. The areas with the largest growth were Parklea - Kellyville Ridge (up by 22,200 people), an outer suburb in Sydney's north-west, and the inner city area of Waterloo - Beaconsfield (17,800).
Victoria
Five of the 10 largest-growing areas in Australia between 2006 and 2016 were in Melbourne. These were the outer western suburb of Tarneit (up by 28,800 people), inner city Melbourne (26,200) and the outer suburbs of Cranbourne East (22,600), Truganina (21,800) and Doreen (19,200).
Queensland
The largest-growing area in Queensland between 2006 and 2016 was North Lakes - Mango Hill (up by 22,000 people) in the Moreton Bay region north of Brisbane. Three of the five largest-growing areas in the state were located outside the Queensland capital, including Upper Coomera - Willow Vale (17,400) on the Gold Coast and Deeragun (14,200) in the outer suburbs of Townsville.
South Australia
Mawson Lakes - Globe Derby Park in Adelaide's north was the largest-growing area in South Australia between 2006 and 2016, increasing by 8,400 people. This was followed by Munno Para West - Angle Vale (up by 7,900) and the southern areas of Seaford (6,800) and Aldinga (5,700).
Western Australia
Baldivis, in Perth's outer south, was the largest-growing area in Western Australia in the decade to 2016, increasing by 27,400 people. Other areas to experience large growth included Ellenbrook (up by 23,600 people) in Perth's north-east and Forrestdale - Harrisdale - Piara Waters (18,800) in the south-east.
Tasmania
The largest-growing area in Tasmania between 2006 and 2016 was Margate - Snug (up by 1,900 people) south of Hobart. This was followed by Kingston - Huntingfield (1,700) also south of the Hobart CBD.
Northern Territory
Darwin's population increased by almost seven times the rate (29 per cent) of the rest of the Northern Territory (4.4 per cent) and was the fastest-growing capital city in Australia between 2006 and 2016. Rosebery - Bellamack, in the satellite city of Palmerston, was the largest-growing area (up by 5,500 people) in the Northern Territory during this period.
Australian Capital Territory
From June 2006 to June 2016, the areas with the largest population increases in the Australian Capital Territory were located in the northern outskirts of Canberra. These included Harrison (up by 7,100 people), Bonner (6,900), Franklin (6,500), Casey (5,900) and Crace (4,500).
