The number of people living in regional Australia has increased by 11% in the past decade.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows an additional 832,000 people now live outside the capital cities, confirming the strength of the Exodus to Affordable Lifestyle trend.
In NSW, Maitland in the Hunter Valley had the highest growth, with its population up by 29.5% (20,629 people).
In Victoria, Mitchell had the highest growth of 41.5% (14,579) while in Queensland, Mapoon in the Cape York Peninsula grew by 57.3% although that only represented an additional 161 residents.
South Australia’s biggest regional growth was in the remote region of Maralinga Tjarutja with a 36% increase which represented a fairly small 27 additional residents.
In Western Australia the Augusta-Margaret River and Menzies local government areas had the highest growth of 41.5% each, which was an additional 5,070 and 167 people respectively.
Tasmania’s biggest growth was in the Sorrell LGA with an increase of 27.2% (3,629) while the Northern Territory’s was Litchfield with a 14% (2,830) increase.
While many regions recorded population growth there were still some where it declined, including Mt Isa in north-west Queensland with a drop of 12.9%, Ashburton in north-west Western Australia was down 23.9% and outback South Australia recorded a 40% drop in population.
