Regional areas - all about a two-hour drive from major cities - have seen population surges as lockdowns spark an exodus from Australia's metropolitan centres.
A staggering 96 per cent of Australians escaping a state capital during the last financial year were leaving either Sydney or Melbourne, new customer data from the Commonwealth Bank showed.
'Capital-city dwellers are moving to the regions in greater numbers, while regional people are electing to stay in place in greater numbers,' the bank said in a new report.
Those fed up with the big smoke are increasingly embracing the 'sea change' phenomenon by relocating to somewhere a two-hour drive from a major city, or heading inland for a 'tree change' a three-hour car journey from the skyscrapers.
Regional areas a two-hour drive from a major capital city have been seen a population surge as lockdowns spark an exodus from Australia's metropolitan centres. The Gold Coast remains the most popular place for Australians fleeing a big city, having an 11 per cent market share in 2020-21 (pictured are children cycling at Surfers Paradise)
Very few people leaving a capital city for good were packing up in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth or Darwin.
Those who did leave a capital city were more likely to move for warmer weather, with south-east Queensland topping the list, but regional areas near Melbourne had the biggest growth in people escaping the crowds.
The Gold Coast remains the most popular place for Australians fleeing a capital city, having an 11 per cent market share in 2020-21, more than double the Sunshine Coast's 5 per cent, with both lifestyle cities about an hour drive from Brisbane.
Geelong, south-west of Melbourne, was the third most common new destination for capital city leavers, with a 4 per cent market share.
Wollongong, with a 3 per cent share, and Newcastle on 2 per cent, rounded out the top five regional areas, with both these coastal cities a two-hour drive from Sydney.
The pandemic has made higher-density living far less appealing with 49 per cent of those leaving a capital city for a regional area fleeing Sydney compared with 47 per cent who were moving out of Melbourne.
By comparison, only 2 per cent of people leaving a capital city for a regional area came from Brisbane.
