NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2007/12/07 - Australia’s population is growing at its fastest rate in more than 20 years thanks to an increase in fertility rates and to Australia’s immigration boom which now means more people are emigrating to Australia than did following WWII.

The Australian population now tops 21 million and has grown by 315,700 people (1.5 per cent growth compared to the world average of 1.2 per cent). Australia is only just behind India’s growth rate which is at a rate of 1.6 per cent, and India is expected to overtake China as the most populous country by 2050.

The growth in Australia’s population is being driven by immigration. Australia had a record net immigration of 177,600 people. Net immigration is the number of people that emigrate to Australia minus those that leave Australia. This breaks the previous record set in 1988.

A chief economist at a leading bank explained that the record growth in Australia Immigration was due to the booming Australia job market. Skilled workers are in demand and are in short supply so businesses are resorting to recruiting workers from overseas. Western Australia has now the fastest population growth of any Australian state with 2.3 per cent per year. NSW has the least with a net loss for the year.

The booming economy has lead to an increase in confidence and an increase in the number of babies being born. The birth rate has risen to 1.85 births per woman up from its lowest rate in 2003 of 1.72.

Again Western Australia leads the way with 1.98 births per woman and NSW is one of the lowest.

The growth in Australia’s population is likely to remain strong while there is high demand for skilled workers and professional who are in such short demand that they have to be recruited from overseas.

About immigration2australia.com

Immigration to Australia has been launched as an essential guide to help the increasing number of people thinking of Australian immigration. The website provides information on Australian Visas, information on finding Australian jobs, somewhere to live and the Australian lifestyle you could expect.

Agency / Source: Immigration2Australia.com

Availability: All Regions (Including Int'l)

Traffic Booster: [/] Quick NewswireToday Visibility Checker

Distribution / Indexing: [+]