City dwellers are continuing to move regional, in even greater numbers than during the height of COVID lockdowns.
The latest Regional Movers Index by the Regional Australia Institute and Commonwealth Bank revealed migration to regional Australia was at the highest level since March 2022, with inflows 80% above the pre-pandemic average.
The index tracks quarterly and annual movement trends among CBA’s 17 million-plus customers, and also found that 35.6% more people were moving from capital cities to regional area than back in the opposite direction.
The Sunshine Coast accounted for the largest share of 11.6% of net internal migration, but arrivals there fell by a huge 26.6% from last quarter, while the Gold Coast dropped from its long-held top five position down to eighth place.
Greater Geelong, Victoria, came in second with an 8.6% share and Lake Macquarie in New South Wales came third at 4.8%, but scored the highest annual growth rate among the top five at 55.8%.
Maitland, also in NSW, joined the top performers with 3.4% of interstate arrivals.
Following the release of the index, CEO of the RAI Liz Ritchie called on policymakers to prioritise the regions as Australia's "new frontier”.