December 24, 2025 — 2:00am
Save
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.
Remove items from your saved list to add more.
Save this article for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.
Got it
Western Australia’s net population is growing faster than any other Australian state, increasing by 65,600 people in the year to June 2025.
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released last week, most of the state’s new residents were overseas migrants (40,406), followed by natural increase (14,890) and interstate migration (10,288).
All other states except Queensland experienced a decline in interstate migration over the same period – a trend that has occurred for the past few years since the pandemic.
More than 2000 Australian citizens moved abroad in the past year, replaced by migrants arriving from countries including the United Kingdom (6470), India (5390), New Zealand (3650) and the Philippines (3430).
Western Australia’s total population was 3.04 million, representing a growth rate of 17 per cent in the past decade.
Births typically doubled the number of deaths, with 32,906 babies born in WA in the year to June 2025, marking a 5.5 per cent increase on the previous financial year and equating to around 90 births a day.
Just over 18,000 deaths were recorded.
The majority of those arriving from overseas were international students (30,460), followed by those on working holidays (13,930) and on permanent (8810) and temporary skilled visas (8170).
The median age nationally was 26.
ABS head of demography Beidar Cho said the nation’s population had grown to 27.6 million people, 420,100 more than in June 2024.
“Western Australia again had the fastest rise in population of 2.2 per cent, with Victoria and Queensland equal second highest, as both grew by 1.8 per cent,” she said.
To help manage WA’s growing population, two new primary schools were opened in the outer suburbs of Eglinton and Brabham this year, with two more scheduled to open in Wellard and Hilbert in 2026.
Construction or planning is also under way for new high schools in Brabham, Dawesville and Alkimos, as well as a new primary school in Mount Lawley.
Components of annual population growth, by state. ABS
Perth’s housing market also felt the strain of the increased demand, with 14,662 houses approved to be built to date this year.
It comes after the median price for a property in WA surged by 83 per cent from $534,336 in late 2020 to $981,000 in late 2025.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Save
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.
Remove items from your saved list to add more.
Most Viewed in NationalFrom our partners