Australia’s best chance of avoiding a recession is to encourage strong migration growth. However, Australia’s population growth is quickly fading in part caused by falling migration numbers, thus threatening to rob the country of one of its strongest pillars of growth at a time of rising risk of recession, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Australia's population growth rate has slowed to a rate last seen nearly 10 years ago, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) latest statistical survey revealed.

"In the year to March 2015, Australia's population growth rate continued to slow from its peak in 2008-09 and is now just below the 20-year average growth rate," said Denise Carlton from the ABS.

"The Northern Territory recorded its lowest growth rate in 11 years, at 0.2 per cent for the year ending March 2015. This is 80 per cent lower than that of March 2014. Net interstate migration losses were the greatest contributor to this slower growth, with the territory recording its largest ever interstate migration loss in the year to March 2015," said Ms. Carlton.

"Western Australia also recorded slower growth. In the past two years, net overseas migration to the state has dropped by 71 per cent, while net interstate migration has dropped to the point where the state has seen a net interstate loss. This has not been seen in over 10 years in this state."

"Victoria and Queensland were the only states recording a net gain from interstate migration."

Australia's population grew by 316,000 people (1.4 per cent) to reach 23.7 million by the end of March 2015.

Net overseas migration contributed 173,100 people to the population (16 per cent lower than the previous year), and accounted for 55 per cent of Australia's total population growth.

Victoria continues to have the fastest population growth rate in the country, growing by 1.7 per cent (97,500 people).

Over the year, natural increase contributed 142,900 people to Australia's population, made up of 298,400 births (3 per cent lower than the previous year) and 155,500 deaths (4 per cent higher than the previous year).

The Wall Street journal notes that the latest migration data follows a recent string of gloomy data releases that stoked fears the country is at risk of sliding into recession after avoiding one for 24 years.

“The slower pace of migration now adds to those risks. Thousands of people are leaving Australia as a decadelong resources boom grinds to a halt, hurt by slowing demand from China and other emerging economies for raw materials used to build skyscrapers, bridges and railways.

"With few industries able to match the hundreds of billions of dollars that were plowed into resources projects in recent years, Australia needs population increases to fuel consumer spending on everything from real estate to flat-screen TVs."