Tasmania has had 13 coronavirus deaths so far, but the response to the global pandemic appears to have decreased overall deaths in Tasmania, demographer Lisa Denny believes.

Dr Denny said the pandemic forced Tasmanians to be more conscious of their health, and its impact on the health of other people.

"Stay at home orders, physical distancing, washing hands and sanitising regularly contributed to lowering the infections circulating in our community, particularly influenza," Dr Denny said in a blog post following the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday releasing population data to the end of June.

"This resulted in a decline in both the death rate and the number of deaths in the state, particularly in the older age groups.

"This also contributes to population growth due to increasing natural increase (births minus deaths) and, in turn, contributes to the rate of ageing of our population."

The ABS figures showed Tasmania averaged 4504 deaths per year in the last three financial years, two of which featured the pandemic and the response to it.

That was down from an average of 4642 in the previous three years, despite continued population growth and population ageing.

The pandemic also affected migration patterns.

Dr Denny said Tasmania lost 444 more people overseas than it gained from overseas in the year to June.

She said that was the first time on record net overseas migration had been negative.

"Prior to the pandemic, the considerable growth in net overseas migration for Tasmania, and the age profile of those migrants, contributed to both population growth and slowing the rate of population ageing," she said.

"Even with the opening of borders to Australia, it is unlikely that Tasmania will experience the same level of overseas migration in the short to medium term."

Tasmania had just a trickle of net gains from the mainland during the year, adding 49 more residents from the "big island" than it lost to the other states and territories.

That left babies to do the heavy lifting on population growth, with the 5867 births exceeding the 4529 deaths by 1338.

The state gained a net 943 people during the year, taking population to 541,479.

Economist Saul Eslake said 327 more people left Tasmania for the mainland than moved to the state from the mainland in the June quarter.

He said it was the first time net interstate migration had been negative since the last quarter of 2015.

"It's to be hoped - but yet to be proved - that this is a temporary, COVID-related development rather than the beginning of a new trend," Mr Eslake said.