Regional Australia Institute publishes report on LGA migrant population changes

Overseas migrants are helping bolster population growth in regional communities, with 80 per cent of local government areas (LGAs) that saw an increase in their overseas-born population in the five years to 2021, being located in regional areas.

The RAI has been analysing the latest census data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and looking at the status of the region’s overseas-born population between 2016 and 2021. Of the 358 LGAs that reported an increase in overseas-born population, 288 were in regional Australia.

The RAI’s Regionalisation Ambition 2032, includes a target to double the number of new migrants settling in Australia by 2032.