{"id":329346,"date":"2023-03-01T18:30:59","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T08:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=329346"},"modified":"2023-03-01T20:25:41","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T10:25:41","slug":"population-growing-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2023\/03\/01\/population-growing-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Population Growing Again"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The quarterly Regional Movers Index report shows the South Burnett received inflows of new residents from both city areas like Brisbane – as well as other regions – during 2022 (Photo: Flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

March 1, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Dafyd Martindale<\/strong><\/p>\n

The South Burnett experienced strong population growth in 2022 according to the latest Regional Growth Index (RGI).<\/p>\n

The RGI is a quarterly study of population movements within Australia which tracks migration from cities to regions as well as region-to-region migration.<\/p>\n

It is jointly prepared by the Commonwealth Bank and the Regional Australia Institute, and measures population movements using CBA customer addresses.<\/p>\n

All Australian local government areas need to record a minimum of 100 customer movements per quarter to be included in the national totals.<\/p>\n

The latest study – covering the December quarter of 2022 – shows that the South Burnett received 1 per cent of all city-to-region migration in that period, as well as 1 per cent of all region-to-region migration.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While this was lower than Gympie and Toowoomba – which received 3 per cent and 2 per cent of city-to-region migration during the same period, respectively – the growth was still much larger than 2020 and 2021 when pandemic lockdowns slowed internal migration in Australia significantly.<\/p>\n

Importantly, the South Burnett appeared in all four of 2022’s quarterly surveys, which indicates the inflow of new residents was sustained throughout the year.<\/p>\n

This growth – roughly equivalent to the annual population growth the South Burnett used to enjoy until 2014 – may also go some way to explaining the shortage of housing and difficulty in obtaining tradespeople that has bedevilled the region.<\/p>\n

The latest report found\u00a0 Queensland and Victoria were the two most popular States for city-to-region migration, with Queensland eclipsing Victoria by almost four to one.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast were the top two Queensland regions attracting city-dwellers in search of a better lifestyle but the Fraser Coast, Bundaberg and Toowoomba scored highly as well.<\/p>\n

The study also found that once people moved from cities to regional areas, many relocated to a different region rather than return to the city.<\/p>\n