Community
21 May, 2024
Region can’t stop growing
CAIRNS is the fastest growing regional city in the north, adding 3413 people to total just over 175,000 people.
The growth of two per cent outpaces Townsville (3299), Rockhampton/Gladstone (2454) and Mackay (1957).
Economist Bill Cummings said the two per cent increase was more than the 1.7 per cent of the previous year.
“The latest figures are most welcome. It is good to see the population growth rate getting back up to longer term averages after a number of years when the growth rate slumped down to about one per cent and lower, bottoming out during Covid at only 0.3 per cent,” he said.
“The reasons are partly demographic, rather than economic, due to people preferring regional areas rather than being attracted to major metropolitan areas following the Covid experience.
“While interstate migration into Queensland was down in 2022-23 on the previous year, the last few years have seen a rise in migration from overseas.
“Post-Covid population growth rates throughout regional Queensland have been up tending to confirm a post-Covid trend observed by others for living in regional areas to be more attractive compared with the major metropolitan areas.
“Clearly the impacts of the recent heavy and prolonged wet season of cyclone Jasper present a challenge to getting the economy fully operational again and restoring confidence in the area as a place to live.”
Mr Cummings said, while Cairns had grown to more than 175,000, Townsville’s slightly lower growth at 3299 had now taken it over an important benchmark of 200,000.
“On recent growth rates, Cairns should be expected to also follow and pass over the 200,000 mark in about an eight year timeframe. That is about the time of the Brisbane Olympics,” he said.
“At a wider regional level, the Cairns/ Far North Region (stretching out to the NT border and up to the PNG border), again led growth by a substantial margin, further consolidating the region’s position as the most populous region in the north with a population of now over 300,000.”
Mr Cummings said a review of figures over the last six months showed the ‘hit’ taken by the Cairns economy from cyclone Jasper but a bounce back was evident by March.
