Australia's population hits 28m decades earlier than forecast

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Population Clock, the nation’s population has passed 28 million, with the latest million added in less than 2.5 years – equivalent to adding two Canberras.

The driver of Australia’s extreme population growth has obviously been the federal government’s mass migration, which was more than doubled from the mid-2000s and has been historically high in the post-pandemic period:

It is worth remembering that in 2003, the ABS released its Population Projections 2002 to 2101, which contained a baseline (Series B) forecast for the nation’s population of 26.4 million by 2051, based on an assumed net overseas migration (NOM) of 100,000 annually.

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.

Australia’s population hits 28m decades earlier than forecast