ABS data shows WA population is booming

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Created on Friday, 30 March 2012 14:51

Written by Editorial staff

While the east coast has traditionally been a preferred vector for migrants entering the country for the first time, new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) helps paint a picture that could see the dynamic start to change.

The latest ABS figures show that over the 12 month to September 30 2011, Western Australia saw its population grow by an additional 60,700 - or 2.6 per cent.

This accounts for 18.9 per cent of the increase across the entire country, with an additional 319,600 new faces arriving in total.

More than half of this figure is due to net overseas migration - with 172,500 individuals hailing from overseas.

While this was two per cent lower than at the same time period in 2010 - 176,000 persons - the positive growth indicates that Australia is proving to be highly attractive to overseas visitors.

Of course, when it comes to net migration in WA the main driving force is often thought to be the plethora of resource projects currently underway in the state.

Some of the more notable of these are the mines owned by Rio Tinto in The Pilbara - with 14 operations currently producing an annual load of 225 million tonnes of iron ore.

Naturally, all of these extra bodies in the state require somewhere to stay - the residential market in Perth has been remarkably tight of late - meaning that housing and construction markets are also starting to pick up.

The flow-on effect means that other business sectors are experiencing an increase in business as well - higher cashflow means that people can afford more in the way of professional services and in many cases discretionary spending is on the rise.

For international visitors on migrant visas, this means that there is greater opportunity for them to explore their options with regard to finding full-time employment or even establishing a business of their own.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has a number of avenues available to support these choices - and of course it places migration agents in prime position to be of assistance.

While preliminary trips can be performed easily on a tourist entry, a dedicated business or employment immigration visa is required in many cases to start full-time work.

With many resource projects planning to ramp up activity over the next few years, it will be interesting to see what the state's future holds for net migration and what it means for the economy as a whole.