Migration from Australia’s capital cities to regional areas continued to rise last quarter, with Greater Geelong becoming the most popular destination.
Relocations from capital cities to regions rose by 10.5% over the previous quarter, according to the Regional Australia Institute and Commonwealth Bank’s Regional Movers Index. This is around 20.5% higher than the pre-2020 average.
“The nation’s love affair with regional life is showing no signs of abating with 25% more people moving from capital cities to the regions, than back in the opposite direction,” said Regional Australia Institute CEO Liz Ritchie.
“Regional Australia is being reimagined. The regions’ enviable lifestyle offerings, buoyant jobs market, position as an economic leader and diverse communities are proving to be an ongoing lure, particularly for those in metropolitan areas.”
Sydney and Melbourne represented the vast majority of migrants into Australia’s regions, with Sydneysiders making up 64% of the net migration outflow and Melburnians at 38%. Regional New South Wales and Victoria also accounted for 74% of net migration to all regions.
Victoria’s Greater Geelong received the largest influx of net internal migration over the past twelve months, besting Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, the previous leader.
Across the year, Greater Geelong saw a 96.4% surge in net internal migrants, and represented 9.3% of all net internal regional migration.
Movement between capital cities represented 66.4% of all Australian internal migration last quarter. Net migration to regions also declined by 7.7% quarter-over-quarter, though it remained 40% higher than the average before 2020.
