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$vuetify.icons.faPhone1300 650 620

Migration and housing supply out of balance

Media release

Migration and housing supply out of balance

Media release
“The Government has not balanced the goal of stable and reliable migration pathways with the removal of restrictions on new home building necessary to meet demand,” stated HIA Chief Economist, Tim Reardon.

The ABS today released its National, State and Territory Population data for the March quarter 2024, covering births, deaths and migration.

“Australia’s population officially hit the 27 million-mark in the first quarter of the year,” added Mr Reardon.

“The national population grew by 0.6 per cent or 164,635 people in the March quarter 2024 compared to the previous quarter. This leaves the population growth rate in the twelve months to March 2024 at 2.3 per cent, or the addition of 648,100 people to Australia’s population.

“Of the 164,635 people added to Australia’s population over the first three months of 2024, 30,833 were attributed to natural increase while 133,802 were from net overseas migration.

“Western Australia led the way with 3.1 per cent annual population growth, driven by both strong interstate and overseas migration inflows.

“New South Wales and Victoria took the largest share of population growth and attracted the largest share of overseas migration.

“Leading indicators of the finalised population figure, from the National Accounts and Overseas Arrivals and Departures data, indicate that growth is slowing from very high levels.

“This is attributed to recent measures taken by the Australian Government to slow down growth in migration, with a particular focus on overseas student numbers.

“The underestimation of population growth is a systemic policy failure that compounds the challenge of delivering sufficient housing.

“State governments and local councils need accurate guidance on population to assist with planning for growth. This is not just a short-term problem emerging due to a spike in population after the pandemic,” 

“The HIA has always sought stable and reliable migration settings to avoid boom-bust cycles in home building,” concluded Mr Reardon.

Across the different states and territories, Western Australia saw the strongest annual growth in population, up by 3.1 per cent, followed by Victoria (+2.7 per cent), Queensland (+2.5 per cent), New South Wales (+2.0 per cent), the Australian Capital Territory (+1.8 per cent), South Australia (+1.5 per cent), the Northern Territory (+0.8 per cent) and Tasmania (+0.4 per cent).

For more information please contact:

Tim Reardon

HIA Chief Economist

Maurice Tapang

HIA Economist
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