Migrant influx puts population into overdrive

A RUSH of overseas migrants is pushing up Australia’s population faster than the rest of the developed world.

The number of people in the country will reach 25 million just after 11pm tonight.

We’ve hit the milestone 33 years ahead of official predictions made by the Australian Bureau of Statistics a couple of decades ago. And on current trends, the number will pass 40 million before the middle of this century.

“It’s not that they got their calculations wrong, it’s that changes to migration policy and longevity increases and a solid birthrate have defied the trends that were evident then,” social demographer Mark McCrindle said.

While Australia remains only the 53rd biggest country in the world – just behind North Korea and ahead of Ivory Coast – our growth is outpacing most of the planet.

The 1.6 per cent national rate is well ahead of the global 1.2 per cent, and more than double that of OECD countries. Only the Middle East and Africa are rising more quickly.

Southeast Queensland’s popularity is helping to drive it, with the Gold and Sunshine Coasts both growing at a remarkable 2.5 per cent and Bris- bane at 2 per cent. The national numbers rose by almost 388,000 last year – the most ever in a year. “That’s more than a new Canberra per annum. That’s a lot of people,” Mr McCrindle said.

Overseas migration accounted for nearly two- thirds of the total, with another person arriving every 61 seconds.

“We are definitely the place to be from an international perspective,” Mr McCrindle said.