Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt. Credit:Chris Hyde - Net interstate migration to Queensland is at its lowest level in 10 years (88,320 arrived and 82,570 left); - A net increase of 5750 people from interstate; with international immigration also slowing; - Queensland is losing population to interstate rivals Victoria and New South Wales; - However, Queensland is still the only state to show net interstate migration growth every year since 1981.

- The biggest net shifts to Queensland in 2013-14 were 4260 from New South Wales and 1560 from Northern Territory; - The biggest net losses from Queensland were 1120 to Victoria and 460 to Western Australia; - Overall, Queensland's population growth in 2013-14 was 1.5 per cent, down from 1.8 per cent the previous year (2012-13). - However, in 2007, 2008 and 2009 Queensland's population growth rate averaged 2.6 per cent. The implications of falling interstate migration

Queensland is beginning to lose its young workforce, with young people aged between 20 and 34 beginning to shift interstate, the reports shows. "Queensland recorded a net loss of 1,510 persons aged 25–29 years, the largest net loss by age group in 2013–14," the report says. "It is the only age group to have recorded net losses from interstate migration every year for the past five years. "The 20–24 year and 30–34 year age groups also recorded net interstate migration losses in 2013–14 (110 persons and 60 persons respectively)." Queensland's population is also ageing faster because migration traditionally brings younger people to the state. This opens the door to increased medical and retirement infrastructure costs.

Is the Queensland Government planning a strategy to counter the population shift? Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt said "What it says is we need to give people from interstate reasons to come to Queensland," Mr Pitt said. "The best way we can do that is to get Queenslanders – both individually and as businesses - re-engaged and getting them to talk positively about our economy." He said the government's "pro-skills agenda" included the Advance Queensland plan to reinvigorate the science sector, and Building Queensland for major project assessment.

Proposed projects like the Aquis resort in Cairns and Adani's proposed Carmichael mine would help Queensland carve out a larger share of the Australian economy, he said. "We're also offering a series of incentives to make Brisbane a more attractive destination for investment, such as an extra 25 per cent payroll rebate for bosses who employ apprentices and trainees," he said. Would a population strategy to encourage people to shift to Queensland? University of Queensland population and migration expert Dr Elin Charles-Edwards said a campaign could have some impact but economic factors were the biggest influencers of where people decide to live. "There is not that many mechanisms that governments can use to try to leverage and try to increase migration flows," she said.

Dr Charles-Edwards said states experimented with stamp duty concessions and tax incentives, while Victoria had experimented with regional first home owner grant schemes, a consideration of the Bligh Government. But she said the impact of those measures was minor. "It's really things like differences in housing prices and what the employment market is in Queensland compared to other states," she said. "And the fact is that, with jobs in mining drying up, to a certain extent Queensland is becoming a less attractive place to move to with respect to the economic conditions." Dr Charles-Edwards said this was worsened by the winding back of large engineering and infrastructure projects.

"That is one of the issues. If we don't have the jobs, we don't have the (population) growth and you aren't are going to see a flow-on effect into migration." She said a massive public relations campaign like 2008's "Queensland; Beautiful One Day, Perfect the Next" could work again, but only as a reminder of Queensland's natural features. "You can have these marketing campaigns and I'm sure they do have some sort of impact," she said. "But at the end of the day, people are going to be driven really by the economics and what they can afford." Queensland will host a major international population growth seminar, "International Conference on Population Geographies" at the University of Queensland from June 30 to July 3.