Australia Day has come and gone and now is the time to sit and reflect on the evolving face of Australia and what it means to be an Australian.
A record number of people (close to 18,000) took the pledge to become Australian citizens at Australia Day ceremonies over the weekend. This has contributed to making close to a third of the country’s population foreign-born, with 43.1 per cent of people having at least one parent born overseas. The United Kingdom is the leading country of birth for the overseas-born population (20.8 per cent). It is followed by New Zealand (9.1 per cent), China (6.0 per cent) and India (5.6 per cent).
Demographer Bernard Salt says the country’s population is growing at close to record rates. According to Salt, the current surge in population growth is largely driven by overseas migration, which is tracking at around 230,000 people per year. The Australian Bureau of Statistics puts forward three sets of projections based on different assumptions about birth rates, death rates, migration levels and interstate movements, which provide a range around its central projection.
The high projections envisage an Australia of 42 million people by 2050 and 70 million by 2100. Even the low projections would see the population grow from 23 million now to 34 million in 2050 and 42 million by 2100. Its central projections would see Australia grow to 37.5 million in 2050, and 53 million by 2100.
According to long-time financial market economist Craig James, population growth necessitates a ‘fundamental reassessment of all of our key resource requirements, including our social and economic infrastructure’. One thing is certain: if projections eventuate there will be a sustained increase in demand for social and economic infrastructure, particularly the demand for residential accommodation. At Blue Wealth, we help your clients take advantage of this potential increase in demand by identifying regions and suburbs with high population growth rates, both current and potential.
