AUSTRALIA'S population is growing at twice the rate of the rest of the world, after crashing through 22 million late last year.
A demographic report shows the population grew at 2.1 per cent in the year to the end of September, outstripping the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Indonesia and Vietnam. The world population grew 1.1 per cent in the same period.
Economists had expected a slight dip in population growth after the government dropped the number of skilled migrant places in last year's budget - but the lower quotas have had little effect so far.
The population rose by more than the number of people in the Australian Capital Territory in the year to September, increasing by 451,900. And the pace did not slack as the year went on, growing by 110,400 in the three months to September.
Migration accounted for the bulk of the increase.
''Natural'' population growth - births less deaths - came to 154,500 for the year, while migration contributed 297,400 people.
The figures feed into a debate about whether the country has the resources and infrastructure to cope with growing cities.
A former Labor frontbencher, Kelvin Thomson, has regularly voiced his concerns about the environmental impact of a more populous Australia.
He said the Bureau of Statistics figures represented a ''recipe for environmental devastation, rising interest rates, and unaffordable housing''.
''This is the reason for the 22 per cent decline in housing affordability we saw during 2009 - rising house prices fuelled by demand outstripping supply,'' Mr Thomson said.
The Macquarie Group economist Rory Robertson said the people coming to Australia in recent years had mostly settled in coastal capitals. ''Obviously there has been a big deal for housing demand and city infrastructure needs.''
But Mr Robertson added: ''Immigration may have peaked for the next few years at least, given that Canberra now is taking a tougher line on foreign students becoming permanent residents, and with the surge in Australians rushing home to escape offshore recessions having peaked.''
The Treasurer, Wayne Swan, will today press state treasurers to agree on timelines to lock in the supply of new housing.
At a meeting in Canberra, the treasurers will be under pressure to agree on audits to look at ''underutilised'' land, and to examine large private holdings of land that could be used to increase the housing stock.
The opposition spokesman on housing, Gary Humphries, questioned whether the meeting would achieve anything.
''These Labor governments have been pursuing this approach for a decade, and Labor has been in power nationally for more than two years, so what's Mr Swan doing about this problem?''
NSW grew by 1.7 per cent, behind Western Australia at 2.9 per cent, Queensland at 2.7 per cent, the Northern Territory at 2.3 per cent and Victoria at 2.2 per cent.
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