Tasmania’s population is growing at its fastest rate since 1990.
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And net interstate migration - closely linked to the state’s jobs performance - is at its strongest since the days of the “Bacon Boom” in 2004.
The state gained 1837 extra residents in the March quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated.
That was the most in a quarter since the first quarter of 1990, when the state added 2118 people.
The state gained 750 more people from the mainland than it lost to the mainland.
The state gained 14,075 people from the mainland and lost 11,879 people to the mainland during the quarter.
That was the strongest quarter for net interstate migration since the March quarter of 2004, during Tasmania’s last economic boom.
March 2004 was the month Labor premier Jim Bacon announced he was stepping down after a diagnosis of the cancer which claimed his life later that year.
Tasmania also gained 361 people through natural increase (births less deaths).
That was up from 260 and negative 68 in the previous two quarters.
It was the strongest quarter for natural increase in two years.
Tasmania was also climbing the population growth “league table”.
Its annual growth rate of 1 per cent was still below national growth of 1.6 per cent.
However, Tasmania’s population grew at a faster rate than population in Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Victoria had the strongest annual growth (2.2 per cent).
Australia added about 380,700 people in the year to March and about 125,100 people in the March quarter.
That took national population to an estimated 24.899 million.
ABS demography director Anthony Grubb said Queensland had the biggest annual net interstate migration gain of 24,000 people.
Victoria followed with a net gain of 15,100.
The most common move between states was from New South Wales to Queensland.
The nation gained a net 236,800 people from overseas in the year to March.
The ABS said that accounted for 62 per cent of total population growth.
The nation gained 143,900 people through natural increase.
It had 307,200 births and 163,200 deaths.