Australia's population grew at its fastest pace in almost two decades in 2007-08, eclipsing the growth rates of India and Indonesia, and beating Britain's by five times.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said yesterday that a migration and baby boom had pushed the nation's population to 21,374,000 as at June 30, -- 359,000 (1.7 per cent) more than a year earlier. "All states and territories experienced positive population growth over the 12 months," the ABS said.

A surge in births pushed the nation still closer to the natural replacement rate of 2.1, with the total fertility rate for 2007-08 hitting 1.935.

Record migration accounted for 60 per cent of the growth.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24743204-5013871,00.html