Regional Australia’s population nudges 10 million people 

New data reveals the nation’s regional renaissance is showing no signs of slowing down, with the population of regional, rural and remote Australia now at nearly 10 million people.

Analysis of recently released Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) shows the number of people living in the regions increased from 9.78 million in 2023 to 9.91 million in 2024 – a growth rate of 1.3 per cent over the past 12 months and 6.3 per cent since 2019.

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RAI CEO Liz Ritchie said the statistics build on a fascinating narrative that’s been playing out across regional Australia over the last two decades.

“Australia’s migration patterns are changing and more people are choosing a life beyond the boundaries of our largest cities,” she said. 

“The RAI first identified this shift five years ago in its Big Movers report which found more people left metropolitan areas for regional Australia than the other way around. That finding was then further magnified in the Big Movers 2023 report, which found net migration from capitals to regional Australia almost tripled between 2016-2021, compared to the previous five-year period.

“This new data proves that trend has retained momentum and is a sustained migration pattern, rather than a short-lived effect of the global pandemic.

The data reveals regional Australia’s population rise over the past 12 months was driven by:

•  Natural increases (births minus deaths) – 20,457 people or 15.6 per cent of total growth.
  Between 2021-2022 and 2023-2024, the number of births declined by 5.2 per cent in regional Australia, compared to 7.0 per cent in metropolitan areas.
• Net internal migration (net capital to regional relocations) – 38, 217 people or 29.1 per cent of total growth.
  This represents a 29.3 per cent increase from the previous year, when net capital-to-regional migration was 29,554.
•  Net overseas migration (new overseas arrivals minus departures) – 72, 808 people or 55.4 per cent of total growth.
  Between 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 net overseas migration declined by 16.1 per cent in regional Australia and 19.2 per centin metropolitan areas.

Despite net overseas migration contributing to more than half of regional Australia’s growth, the regional share of total overseas arrivals sits at just 16.7 per cent.

Interested in the full report? Check it out here. 

words by staff writer