Research

Growing our Population - the key to the Territory's bright future

Growing the Northern Territory’s (NT) population is critical to growing our economy.

A larger, more diverse population will mean better services, a stronger retail sector, more opportunity, more jobs, more significant private investment and more revenue for the Territory.

The NT has been in a low population growth era for some time and the NT Government is facing this issue head on.

In 2017 the NT Government commissioned demographers at Charles Darwin University (CDU) to provide a summary of 12 years of population research and advise on strategies for stimulating the Territory’s population growth. The study provides a strong research-based platform to tackle population.

CDU’s research indicates that the best ‘return on investment’ targets are likely to be:

• Overseas migrants (for attraction and retention) with a focus on those countries already migrating to the Territory
• Return and repeat migrants (Territory ‘alumni’ or past residents who act as ambassadors for the Territory) (for re-attraction)
• Late career workers and those heading into retirement (for retention); and
• Early career women (for attraction and retention)