Australia’s Population

Australia’s population is going to be smaller and older than expected due to COVID-19 restrictions halting migration. But we’re still going to be growing faster than almost every other developing country. The government’s baseline case is for our population to then grow to 39.2 million by 2060-61.

However, a high migration scenario would see Australia’s population almost doubling to close to 50 million by 2060. These latest forecasts come from the federal government’s Centre for Population which suggests the nation’s rate of population growth will remain steady over the next decade, rising from around 26 million now to nearly 30 million people by 2032–33. However there is a sting in the tail for taxpayers as the closure of the international border to migrants for two years means Australia will be older and have fewer workers compared to projections if COVID-19 had not hit our shores. Meaning fewer taxpayers to pay for a larger ageing population and all the health care and pension costs that go with this.

In my mind, the government has two options:

1) Tax Australian workers more (not a politically palatable option) or..
2) Increase migration.

With such population growth, this could only mean positivity for our property markets.