That is the reality of analysis undertaken by the Northern Tasmanian Development Corporation, which analysed recent data released by the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research.

NTDC has joined forces with the Launceston Chamber of Commerce and the Tasmanian Government to push for a population strategy for Northern Tasmania.

The strategy, which is currently being developed, is calling for federal funding commitment ahead of the election, with the consortium seeking $200,000 for its proposal.

Population was identified as a key issue that needed to be addressed in the region, and the population plan has been developed over the past 12 months

It was recently named as one of the top five priority projects the NTDC was seeking funding for this election.

"What's at stake here, if we do nothing, is the economic viability of the region," Launceston Chamber of Commerce executive officer Neil Grose said.

"We have a decline in the number of people aged between 18-55 who are leaving Tasmania and an increase in the number of people who are over 55."

Mr Grose said while it was positive to see the growth in the over-55 market, often those people had come to Tasmania to retire and were not contributing to the local economy.

The population plan aims to attract and retain younger families and those of working age, by trying to make the region more affordable and increase its livability and attractiveness.

"We want to give people in that age cohort a reason to stay in Tasmania," Mr Grose said.

NTDC's population strategy involves several initiatives, including:

University of Tasmania Pro Vice-Chancellor David Adams said some of the NIER and recent Treasury data were "sobering" but stakeholders should be looking at it as a challenge, and not a crisis.

Treasury data released last week shows that between 2017 and 2067 the number of young people in Tasmania aged between 20-24 is projected to decline from 31,692 to 31,580 while those over 85 are projected to rise from 11,894 to 29, 233.

"The data reinforces that young people will continue to choose to live for a period of time outside of Tasmania, not always because we don't offer enough, but because they see the world as their community and want to spend time in it," Professor Adams said.

"The key question here is not how to stop people leaving but rather under what conditions can we attract people back to Tasmania to visit, invest, learn, live. "

NTDC appointed Edward Obi as the population attraction coordinator in 2018 to work with stakeholders to maximise the skills and experience of international migrants in the region's workforce.

The Tasmanian Government has a population strategy for the entire state, with the goal of increasing population to 650,000 Tasmanians by 2050.

The strategy will target the areas of migration, liveability, job creation and workforce development to meet that goal and the government will invest $10 million over four years for the initiative.

Mr Grose said the strategy needed some support on the ground to enact it for Northern Tasmania, but most of the hard work had already been done.

He said one of the things that was on the line if the strategy wasn't implemented was the ability for Tasmania to meet some of its impending infrastructure projects such as the University of Tasmania Inveresk campus.

Professor Adams said UTAS would play a key role, not only in helping to develop the workforce but through its new campus, to attract more domestic and international students to live in Northern Tasmania.

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