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The Wide Bay Region is 170km North of Brisbane, above Noosa. It is a vast area with widely dispersed population centres along various landscapes. It contains the Local Governments of Bundaberg, Fraser Coast, Gympie, South Burnett, and North Burnett.

Being relatively affordable compared to the rest of Southeast Queensland and on the northern-most border, and with a fair range of housing options, it is expected to experience a strong share of State growth.

Map image: via Google Map Data

Key findings

Wide Bay

Fraser Coast is expected to receive a significant amount of growth due to its affordability and vast swathes of developable land. The council has taken the initiative with its current urban expansion areas located in the Craignish – Dundowran Beach SA2. Furthermore, more land has been identified through their Nikenbah & Dundowran Structure Plan which unlocks more land in the Booral – River Heads SA2. It is also worth noting that Maryborough within the Maryborough SA2 is receiving its share of growth and will continue to develop into its own centre.

Furthermore, Bundaberg itself is receiving a steady amount of growth with its various growth fronts. The Hughes & Seaview Bargara Structure Plan in the Bargara - Burnett Heads SA2 contains the bulk of the coastal greenfield areas, with a current high demand for housing. A cheaper alternative is the Ashfield & Kalkie areas closer to the Bundaberg CBD, with identified greenfield land. Additionally, Bundaberg has identified even more supply with Branyan Structure Plan located in the Branyan - Kensington SA2.

Aside from these main populations hubs, there will be further growth in the in-land communities such as Gympie, which receives a steady rate of growth further supported by infrastructure support from the Queensland State government.

It is also worth noting that these areas mentioned are currently being supported by the Queensland Residential Activation Fund which is providing the funds to help build key water infrastructure to unlock new homes.

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 the Wide Bay Region.

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	310,692	340,252	357,980	374,280	389,530	402,627
Change (five year)	-	29,560	17,728	16,300	15,250	13,097
Average Annual Change (%)	-	1.8%	1.0%	0.9%	0.8%	0.7%
Forecast Dwellings	145,030	152,485	162,150	171,334	180,374	189,321
Change (five year	-	7,455	9,665	9,184	9,040	8,947
Average Annual Change (%)	-	1.0%	1.20%	1.1%	1.0%	1.0%

Access

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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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