Most of the Riverina has escaped the kind of population decline seen in regions to the far west and north of NSW, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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Wagga's northern suburbs were in the state's top 15 regions for growth rate between 2013 and 2018, including Sydney metropolitan areas, with a 29 per cent surge in population.
Over the past five years, the combined population of Wagga, Junee, Gundagai, Cootamundra, Temora and their surrounding areas increased by just under 3.5 per cent to a projected 96,627 people.
Committee 4 Wagga chief executive Alan Johnston said it was a good result for Wagga and the region as a whole, which most areas at least managing to hold their population steady.
"It shows about 2600 in additional numbers for Wagga since 2013, which is a 3.75 per cent growth and is reasonably healthy," he said.
"Of that, about 1100 of those are identified as north (suburbs) which is the equivalent of 43 per cent of all growth in Wagga.
"With the pretty evident growth out at the Estella area, that supports what people have seen day-in, day-out.
"All areas of Wagga have shown some growth, but obviously the north is where we have seen the most."
The Junee region grew by just over 6 per cent and Temora grew by nearly 4 per cent over the past five years, with Cootamundra staying about level and Gundagai showing a 0.5 per cent decline.
Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional Council mayor Abb McAlister said the ABS appeared to be using an area extending beyond Gundagai's town limits to calculate its population.
"From what I can see, (the town's population) certainly hasn't dropped, it has increased," he said.
"We have got the abattoirs, we have had people come in from Tumut, we have our trades where they previously had one apprentice they now have two, and that's keeping people in the town.
"I can tell you, being a real estate agent who recently retired, we were getting more and more enquiries from people in the city areas wanting to come and live and retire in the country.
"There are even some business people who are able to operate their businesses especially in consulting in the bush instead of the city and we are seeing more of them."
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Wagga's growth was outpaced by Griffith and Albury, which increased their populations by about 6 per cent over the past few years, but was ahead of Parkes and the Tamworth - Gunnedah region.
Wagga's southern suburbs had the youngest population, with 21.9 per cent of residents aged zero to 14 years, while the city's east had the most people aged 65 and over at 17.3 per cent of the population.
Mr Johnston said the Wagga still had the capacity to grow outwards as well as upwards, with residential subdivisions working their way through the planning system as well as more high-rise buildings for the city centre.