Queensland remains a population magnet

While there was a relative lull in the late 1990s, Queensland's population growth has resumed its earlier rapidity. In the past the main driver was immigration from other states, chiefly New South Wales and, to a lesser extent, Victoria. Now overseas immigration to Queensland is growing fast and it, together with natural increase, is likely to be the key determinant of Queensland's future growth. This paper analyses the factors which have contributed to Queensland's population growth, including an examination of the sources of interstate migration and the age structure of those migrants, the role of overseas migration, the effects of intrastate migration on different regions within the state and the role of the resources boom. There is also a projection of future population trends and their effects.