The wave of internal migration to Queensland is continuing with the Sunshine Coast grabbing the greatest share of movement of people, according to the Regional Australia Institute.
The RAI report said the share of internal migration that was heading to regional Australia was edging down from its Covid highs and now net migration to the regions was actually at its lowest since 2019. The level of net migration from cities to the regions was 58 per cent below this time last year, but was still significantly higher than pre-Covid years.
Capital city movement to regional areas increased 7.9 per cent, its third highest level in five years.
Regional Victoria and Queensland were the key destinations for capital city movers while the Gold Coast is now seeing an outflow of people to other regional areas of Queensland.
The people moving to the Sunshine and Gold coasts were largely from the capitals, mainly Brisbane. While these two centres remain among the most popular destinations.
RAI said its research showed that one in five city dwellers wanted to move to regional Australia. The most common reason was the cost of living.
Top 10 destinations by share of movement was Sunshine Coast at 14.9 per cent.
Source: https://inqld.com.au/news/2023/05/31