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The Townsville region, located in North Queensland, encompasses the Local Government Areas of Charters Tower, Hinchinbrook, Burdekin and the City of Townsville.

Located 1350km away from Brisbane, it’s known for its proximity to the Great Barrier Reef and tropical climate. It stretches from the township of Ingham at the northern portion, encompassing all of Townsville and Charters Towers with Ayr in the southernmost part of the region.

With a few pockets of density, most of the development within this region is mainly greenfield growth along the western half and the southeast of Townsville.

Map image: via Google Map Data

Key findings

Townsville

Queensland is forecasted to add 2.1 million people by 2046. The Townsville region contributes around 3% of this growth. This reflects the importance of this region as a major growth area in Northern Queensland.

Townsville is expected to reach 300,000 in population in 2043.
The population in 2046 for Townsville is 306,496. From 2021, the population grew about 69,113.
In 2046, the Townsville region is expected to have an additional 27,276 dwellings.

The Townsville North Rail Yards redevelopment plan is an opportunity to provide more density within the centre of Townsville.
There are various growth corridors as seen with Mount Low; Burdell and Bohle Plains SA2, with new infrastructure unlocking greenfield developments such as the Sanctum Estate.
The State Government Residential Activation Fund is providing funding for various trunk infrastructure projects to enable new housing developments such as the Cosgrove Estate in the Mount Louisa SA2.
Elliot Springs Estate by Lendlease is supported by the Residential Activation Fund for key infrastructure to provide up to 10,000 new homes in Townsville – South SA2.

What share of Australia's growth will occur in Queensland?

We set the context for our local area forecasts with a presentation of our state- and regional-level forecasts for Queensland.

Access the presentation slides (including our forecast data for each region), and a short recap or the full webinar presentation on-demand. Learn what's driving change and how much growth will go to each region of the state over the 25 years to 2046.

The population forecast for Queensland

Forecast results

The following forecast information presents the numbers for Townsville.

Learn more about the different options to access these forecasts for Local Government Areas (LGAs), suburbs, custom catchments or the entire state or nation here.

	2021	2026	2031	2036	2041	2046
Forecast Population	237,383	253668	267,125	280,985	294,023	306,496
Change (five year)	-	16,285	13,458	13,859	13,038	12,473
Average Annual Change (%)	-	1.3%	1.00%	1.00%	0.90%	0.80%
Forecast Dwellings	103,967	107,111	112,417	118,757	125,006	131,073
Change (five year	-	3,144	5,306	6,340	6,249	6,067
Average Annual Change (%)	-	0.60%	1.00%	1.10%	1.00%	1.00%

Access

How to access the National Forecasting Program

Our National Forecasting Program is the backbone of all of our forecasting products and services for government and business.

Government Toolkit

Our Government Toolkit gives users access to the proprietary datasets maintained by .id through a suite of intuitive online tools.
See the National Forecasting Program in action in our Population Forecast online tool, or get in touch.

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