Today I have released the Centre for Population’s 2024 Population Statement providing updated and comprehensive data on Australia’s population.
The Government is already managing the major population trends covered in the Statement.
Our Migration Strategy is ensuring our migration system works in the national interest. Net overseas migration has come down from its peak and is at its lowest level since the pandemic.
While departures are taking longer to normalise than forecast at Budget, we’re already starting to see overseas arrivals come down to more manageable levels and they’ll fall further as more of our policies take effect.
Many of the Government’s reforms that will help to further reduce net overseas migration kicked in on 1 July 2024, after the latest data, including to restrict onshore visa hopping, increase the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold, and reduce the duration and age eligibility for Temporary Graduate Visas.
Net overseas migration is forecast to return to around pre-pandemic levels over the next couple of years as arrivals stabilise and departures pick up.
The Statement will help us prepare for the population changes and challenges for our economy and budget in the years ahead.
The Statement projects that by 2064‑65, nearly one-quarter of the population will be over 65, which will pose a significant fiscal and social policy challenge. The Government’s recent reforms to the Aged Care Act will make aged care more equitable and sustainable and help to provide more services for older Australians.
While higher than many of our international counterparts, birth rates in Australia are at a record low and expected to stay low in the near term. We are rolling out policies to make it easier for people to have children if they want to, including by taking the next steps in building a universal early education and care system, which will be a game changer for families.
The evidence and insights from the Population Statement will inform further policy as we continue to build a better future for Australia.
The Government’s focus is on fighting inflation and delivering cost-of-living relief without ignoring the risks to growth, while also laying the foundations for a stronger economy into the future.
The Statement and population projections are available on the Centre for Population website.