Opposition housing spokesman Michael Sukkar said the figures confirmed that the country’s housing crisis was worsening because the number of overseas arrivals was four times the rate of new home builds.

But Treasurer Jim Chalmers,who accused the Coalition of opposing almost all of the government’s programs to increase housing construction,said the most recent population figures pre-date a series of measures aimed at slowing the migrant intake.

Some of those,such as a genuine-student test for those coming into the country on student visas and the targeting of questionable education providers,start on Saturday.

“We’re taking action when it comes to net overseas migration,but we recognise that it is largely a story about students and the strength of our university sector,” Chalmers said.

AMP senior economist Diana Mousina said population growth was adding to demand in the economy,making policy settings for the Reserve Bank more difficult.

“Surging population growth is keeping housing demand too strong at a time that housing supply is constrained,putting upward pressure on rents and home prices and broader inflation in Australia,” she said.

The figures also highlighted the slowdown in birth rates and increase in death rates across the country.

Natural population growth – births minus deaths – added 111,025 people to the country in the 12 months to the end of September. This was a 3.9 per cent fall on the previous 12-month period and the lowest recorded level this century.

Deaths spiked in 2022 due to a surge in the number of COVID-related deaths,while the short-lived baby boom of late 2020 has come to an end.

Demographic director at KPMG,Terry Rawnsley,said the figures confirmed how quickly the overall population was ageing.

The proportion of people over the age of 65 has reached a record high of 17.1 per cent. The proportion of people 17 or younger,which in the late 1970s was around 31 per cent,has now fallen to 21.6 per cent.

Rawnsley said the proportion of working-age Australians was shrinking. Without the recent lift in net migration,and an uptick in people in their 60s increasing their share of part-time work,the situation would be much worse.

“People who were getting ready to prune their roses or warm up the golf clubs have instead turned their laptops back on,” he said.

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