The population forecast for Western Australia

While a significant proportion of the Western Australian population are in pre-retirement and retiree age groups, the most populous cohort in the population is those aged between 30 to 40. 

So although there will be an increasing demand for aged services in the years ahead, the state will maintain a healthy demographic balance.

Despite intentions to densify Perth's inner metropolitan areas, growth in recent years has been predominantly on the capital's outskirts in greenfield developments that are now being supported by hundreds of kilometres of new or upgraded rail infrastructure in the Northern, North-Eastern and South-Eastern growth corridors - the state has both the land and plan for growth. 

We invite you to join us as we present our new forecasts for Western Australia, as we explore how demographic drivers are changing the makeup of the population, and how development and land-use pipeline is affecting when and where growth is forecast to occur in both Greater Perth and the State's regions over the next 25 years.

The North East growth corridor, including the City of Swan and the Shire of Mundaring, has been a driver of growth in metropolitan Perth for the last 10 to 15 years, with significant growth around Ellenbrook and West Swan.

However, in recent times, growth has slowed in this area, with a greater share of the State's growth occurring in the North West corridor around Wanneroo, and our forecasts showing sustained growth all the way up to Yanchep along the railway line.

With so much greenfield land available, zoned for development, and supported by the expanding metropolitan railway service, despite some evidence of densification, the lion's share of forecast growth is around Greater Perth's greenfield development sites, with Inner-Perth region forecast to account for just over 5% of the State's growth in the forecast period.

While many of Australia's larger capital cities are restricted in their growth either by geography, topography or a lack of planning preparation, Perth has an abundance of greenfield growth opportunities with plenty of land available for development, well-prepared planning schemes and future-looking investments in infrastructure.