In 2022, Australia’s population grew at a rate that was the fastest it had been in more than 13 years, thanks in part to a boom in migration after the epidemic.
However, while these numbers are considerable, demographer Dr Elin Charles-Edwards has warned that a large portion of the migrants is only in Australia temporarily to address severe labour shortages and that the number of migrants will decrease over the next several years.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has also announced the release of new statistics indicating that the population of Australia increased by 1.9% in the year 2022.
According to Beidar Cho, in charge of demography at ABS, this is the most significant growth rate witnessed since 2008.
“We recorded an increase of 496,800 people over the year, bringing our total population to 26.3 million as of the 31st of December 2022,” she stated.
“There were 619,600 people who arrived in Australia as a result of overseas migration, and there were 232,600 people who left; as a result, Australia’s population increased by 387,000 due to overseas migration.”
Cho stated that a resurgence of foreign student arrivals drove the net overseas migration rate to “historic highs.” On the other hand, departures were trailing behind levels that were generally witnessed over the previous decade.
“This pattern is expected to continue as international students return following the reopening of international borders,” she added. “However, fewer students are ready to depart because very few arrived during the pandemic.” “This pattern is expected to continue as international students return following the reopening of international borders.”
According to Charles-Edwards, the numbers may appear frightening at first glance; nevertheless, there is more depth to them than meets the eye due to the timing of reopening of international borders and the demographics of migrants arriving in Australia.
She explained that most were transient migrants, such as international students and tourists.
There are labour force shortages in many different businesses, despite our historically low unemployment rate. Having these groups return poses several challenges for the housing system, but many opportunities are made available due to their return.
“It’s a rebound effect, and it’s not a figure that I expect to be carried forward for years and years because once those people who are here temporarily have been here for a couple of years, they’ll start departing.”
According to the statistics, the population in every state and territory in the country increased during the last year.
Queensland’s economic expansion pace was 2.2%, just slightly lower than Western Australia’s 2.3%. In the meantime, Tasmania’s growth rate of 0.5% was the weakest of any state.
Natural increase was the primary factor responsible for the population shift in the Northern Territory. At the same time, net migration from other countries was the primary factor responsible for the change in population in all of the states and the Australian Capital Territory.
Regarding the short-term influence on housing, Charles Edwards stated that populations might be concentrated in certain regions, such as nearby colleges and inner city areas.
She predicted some degree of spatial concentration in the phenomenon’s effects.
“In some of these areas,” she said, “their rental vacancies went up quite high during the Covid period, and now we’re going through this adjustment period again.” In some of these regions, we might see a trend toward group living and a change away from lone-person families, which we did observe throughout the Covid project in those inner-city areas.
The year 2022 saw 300,700 births and 190,900 deaths, resulting in a population gain of 109,800 individuals due to natural causes. While deliveries dropped by 4.6%, fatalities climbed by 11.1%.
According to demographer Nick Parr, the sharp increase in newborns in 2021 could be directly responsible for the comparatively low birth rate in 2022.
“The link comes from the typical patterns of differences in ages of the children that people have,” he added. “The link comes from the typical patterns.”
It is unusual to find two children with an age difference of less than one year; the most common age gaps between children are two and three years. “The most common age gaps between children are two and three years.” Therefore, we are finding that those vast numbers of mothers who gave birth in 2021 and 2022 were in that phase when it was doubtful that they would have another child.
Based on the data that she has collected, Charles Edwards anticipates that the fertility rate will continue to fall over the long run.
“We’ve sort of reached the age at which women are having babies at their peak; women delayed having babies for a long time, so there’s not much room for growth,” she said. “We’ve reached the age at which women are having babies at their peak.”
