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Every Person Counts: Planning for WA’s future population
About Every Person Counts: Planning for WA’s future population
This twentieth report in the BCEC’s Focus on Western Australia series examines the state’s population story through that wider lens. It asks a set of fundamental questions. What is driving WA’s population growth, and how predictable are those drivers? How do migration, economic cycles and housing capacity shape the state’s demographic trajectory? Why do some regions grow while others struggle to sustain population? And what do these patterns mean for planning, productivity and long-term prosperity?
This report draws on new empirical analysis to better understand these dynamics. Using multiple data sources and advanced modelling, we link population outcomes to their economic drivers, identify leading indicators of migration and population change, and explore how different economic and policy scenarios could shape Western Australia’s future growth. The analysis moves beyond trend-based projections to capture how migration responds to labour markets, investment and housing, and how these forces affect population growth over time.
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Population Growth by SA2 area 2002-2024 – Australia
Indigenous population growth and projections by area 2022-2031 – Australia
Components of population growth by SA2 2017-2024 – Australia
The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre team acknowledges the Wadjuk Nyungar people as the traditional owners of the land on which the Centre is situated.