Notifications

Government mail service may be affected by the Canada Post labour disruption. See how to send and receive government mail during this time

Current provincial population estimates

See population estimates and statistics, components of change, demographic spotlight reports and a list of demographic terms.

Highlights

A population estimate is a measure of the current or historical population at a particular point in time. These are the key highlights for the second quarter of 2024:

  • As of July 1, 2024, Alberta’s population was estimated to be 4,888,723, an addition of 46,200 people between April 1 and June 30, 2024.
  • Alberta’s population growth rate remains elevated at 1.0% in the second quarter of 2024. This was the highest growth among all provinces and territories.
  • International net migration was the biggest driver of Alberta’s growth in the second quarter, contributing 0.7%, followed by net interprovincial migration at 0.2% and natural increase with 0.1%.
  • Between July 1, 2023 and July 1, 2024, the province’s population expanded by 204,209 people, which translates to annual growth of 4.4%.
    • This represents a significant increase from the previous year (3.9% between 2022 and 2023) and the highest July 1 year-over-year growth rate since 1981.

For more information and analysis, see the Second Quarter Population Report.

Detailed population tables

Population change components

Population change is a result of the relationship between births, deaths and migration.

Definitions

  • Natural increase – The difference between the number of births and deaths.
  • Migration (net) – The difference between movements into a region and those out of a region.
  • International migration (net) – This includes immigrants, emigrants, non-permanent residents (net), temporarily abroad (net) and returning migrants:
    • Immigrants – permanent residents moving to Canada from other countries and landing in Alberta.
    • Emigrants – people permanently leaving Canada
    • Non-permanent residents (net) – in and out movements of foreign students, workers and refugee claimants, and the families of each of these categories
    • Temporarily abroad (net) – movements of people who do not have a residence in Canada, but intend to return
    • Returning migrants – former emigrants who have returned to Canada to live
  • Interprovincial migration (net) – The movement between the provinces and territories of Canada, which equals 0 at the national level.
  • Intraprovincial migration (net) – The movement within the province of Alberta, which equals 0 at the provincial level.

Archived publications

These detail Alberta population estimates between 2002 and 2019 on a quarterly basis.

  1. 2002 First Quarter to 2009 First Quarter
  2. 2009 Second Quarter to 2019 Second Quarter

Archived annual report: 2021-22 Annual Population Report (January 19, 2022)

Sign up for updates

Subscribe to get our statistical publications by email

Contact

General OSI enquiries

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-427-2071
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Fax: 780-426-3951
Email: [email protected]

Media enquiries

Contact the Treasury Board and Finance Spokesperson.