CANBERRA, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Victoria has been identified as Australia's fastest growing state by population, comfortably beating out New South Wales and Queensland, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.
After Australia's overall population ticked over 24 million in March this year, the ABS has found that Victoria, with Melbourne as its capital city, was the fastest growing state, having experienced a 1.9 percent population increase to the year ending March 31, 2016.
ABS acting Director of Demography Phil Browning said Victoria was not only the the fastest growing state by population, but it also hit the population milestone of 6 million for the first time.
Browning added that Victoria's population growth was 0.5 percent more than the next fastest growing state, New South Wales, and he cited net interstate migration as a major factor in the state's rapid growth.
"This is the fastest population growth for Victoria since 2009 and is well above Australia's growth rate of 1.4 percent. New South Wales was the next fastest state, increasing by 1.4 percent. Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory were not far behind, with both growing at 1.3 percent," Browning said in a statement on Thursday.
"The last time Victoria was growing this fast, back in 2009, the breakdown of Victoria's growth was different, with net overseas migration at 84,200 (compared to 62,800 in 2016), natural increase 34,600 and a net interstate migration inflow of just 500 people."
In the year ending March 31, 2016, net interstate migration was at 14,500 - a difference of 14,000 compared to 2009 - while Browning said he expects the Victorian population to reach 7 million in 2024.
Overall, the ABS said it was net overseas migration that was the major contributor to population change in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, whilst natural increase was the major contributor in all other states and territories.
