The most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics assumes that on average, Australia's population increases by one person every 83 seconds. According to the Bureau, Australia’s population grew by 1.6 per cent over 2017. That's higher than the global population, which a United Nations report estimates grew by 1.1 per cent. Professor Nick Parr, a Professor of Demography at Macquarie University, says Australia is experiencing relatively high population growth for a country of its kind.
World Bank data suggest most countries with high population growth are developing nations, where access to sex education and birth control is limited. The figures show the countries that experienced the highest population growth in 2017 - between 4.5 and 5 per cent - were Oman (with a 4.7 per cent increase), Bahrain (4.6%) and Nauru (4.5%). But Dr Liz Allen, a Demographer at the Australian National University Centre for Social Research and Methods, argues people too often fixate on population size and growth. She says there are other factors that need to be considered.
Over the last three years, Australia’s overall population has grown by around 400,000 per annum. If this trend continues, the Bureau of Statistics projects it could hit 26 million as early as 2020, 30 million in 2030 and 40 million in 2048.
Source: SBS
World population day 2018 Source: SBS Tamil
Australia's 25-million milestone comes amid concerns infrastructure in some of Australia’s biggest cities, particularly in those along the east coast, is being put under pressure by the growing population.
Dr Liz Allen says there’s plenty of room for new Australians, and migrants in particular, away from the east coast and in regional areas. She says many regional areas are looking for skilled migrants and population growth.
But keeping people in regional areas is easier said than done and, according to some, unfair.
In July the Turnbull government said it looked at ways to bind migrants to rural areas, perhaps under visa conditions. That followed data from Home Affairs claiming one skilled migrant in every 10, after settling in regional areas, moved to a city within 18 months.
جمعیت استرالیا به زودی بیست و پنج میلیون نفر خواهد شد Source: SBS News
Professor Nick Parr says Australia should be able to cope with sustained population growth for the foreseeable future, but admits it's a new situation.
Demographic researcher Mark McCrindle says better planning is the answer.
Australia has the 53rd-largest population in the world, one place behind North Korea and one place ahead of Côte d’Ivoire. Australia’s population accounts for 0.33 per cent - that’s one third of one per cent - of the world's people.
