Geelong Leads Regional Migration Surge
Victoria’s Greater Geelong has toppled a two-year winning streak by overtaking Queensland’s Sunshine Coast to become the country’s most popular destination among Australian movers, after securing regional Australia’s biggest share of net internal migration.
The latest Regional Movers Index (RMI) report shows in the 12 months to March, the Greater Geelong local government (LGA) had a 9.3 per cent share of total net internal migration, compared with the Sunshine Coast’s 8.9 per cent.
The southern change comes amid an uptick of movement out of metropolitan areas to the regions, with capital city to regional relocations increasing by almost 11 per cent on last quarter to sit 20.5 per cent above the pre-COVID average.
The RMI is a partnership between the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), which analyses quarterly and annual trends in people moving to and from Australia’s regional areas.
RAI CEO Liz Ritchie said the data in this quarter’s report demonstrates shifting migration patterns within Australia.
“The nation’s love affair with regional life is showing no signs of abating with 25 per cent more people moving from capital cities to the regions, than back in the opposite direction. Further, net migration to regional Australia is now sitting 40 per cent higher than the prevailing level in the pre-pandemic era,” Ms Ritchie said.
“Regional Australia is being reimagined. The regions’ enviable lifestyle offerings, buoyant jobs market, position as an economic leader and diverse communities are proving to be an ongoing lure, particularly for those in metropolitan areas. Contemporary regional Australia has what people are looking for and it’s clear clichéd images and misconceptions about regional living are well and truly a thing of the past.”
Greater Geelong’s ascent on the leaderboard was set against a background of a rise in popularity in regional Victoria as a whole. The state captured 34 per cent of the total net inflows into all of regional Australia during the March 2025 quarter, larger than the 28 per cent share in the March 2024 quarter.
In addition, the two LGAs that recorded the highest annual growth in total net internal migration inflows were also in Victoria: Latrobe and Murrindindi.
https://www.commbank.com.au/articles/newsroom/2025/05/regional-movers-index-geelong.html