KWINANA Town Centre’s population has increased a massive 1283 per cent in the past five years, according to 2016 Census data.
The number of people living in the centre was just 18 in 2011, which had increased to 249 last year.
Other major growth areas in the region included Wandi, Wellard and Baldivis, up 253.2, 180.3 and 99.3 per cent respectively.
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READ NOWCity of Kwinana was statistically WA’s second fastest growing region, with its population increasing to 39,000 people from 29,000 (up 33 per cent), behind the Shire of Serpentine Jarrahdale.
Mayor Carol Adams said the City’s population had grown by 4.5 per cent from 2015 to 2016, more than four times the WA rate.
“Kwinana has transformed into a vibrant metropolitan city proud of our rich heritage and cultural diversity,” she said.
She said the council had worked hard over the past several years to put Kwinana “on the map” and to get ahead of this anticipated growth.
“If you had visited Kwinana 10 years ago you might not recognise it today,” she said.
Curtin University senior lecturer in planning and geography Amanda Davies said a lot of the growth was down to the large number of affordable and quality houses available for young families.
She also said there had been a large increase of people from the United Kingdom and India moving into the City.
“Kwinana is still drawing in people with a European ancestry, most specifically from the UK,” she said.
“And it has also seen very large growth of people from an Indian background, much higher than the WA average.
“They appear to be moving to the new family homes that have been developed.”
Dr Davies said there was a changing demographic in Kwinana, with the high level of amenities in the area and job market accessibility also being key factors.
City of Rockingham’s population increased by 19,000 to 125,000.
The state’s population increased by 10.5 per cent to 2,239,170 people, with the median age 36.
Individual weekly median incomes increased from $662 to $724 while median rents increased from $300 to $347.
WA is home to the largest number of residents born outside of Australia, with 32 per cent of the state’s population reporting they were born overseas, up from 31 per cent in 2011.
The top five foreign countries were England (8.6 per cent), New Zealand (3.2 per cent), South Africa (1.6 per cent), India (1.3 per cent) and Scotland (1.2 per cent).
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