People wait in line at a coronavirus disease testing clinic in the city centre after new cases were reported in Sydney, Australia, May 6, 2021.People wait in line at a coronavirus disease testing clinic in the city centre after new cases were reported in Sydney, Australia, May 6, 2021.
Pandemic border closures in 2020 and 2021 saw population growth crater to just 0.1%, far below the 1.6% average of the previous decade, while net migration turned negative for the first time since World War Two. Population growth is expected to rebound to 1.4% in the year to June 2023 and hold around there in coming years, but that would still mean there will be 1.2 million less Australians by 2032/33 than forecast before the pandemic.
Fortunately for frustrated employers, net migration is recovering faster than first feared and is expected to match the pre-pandemic trend of 235 000 a year in 2022/23, a major turnaround from 2020/21 when there was a net outflow of 85 000.